Describe how and why the heterophile antibody associated with infectious
mononucleosis is identified.
What will be an ideal response
Heterophile antibodies are antibodies produced by humans against a particular pathogen but which react against
antigens of another species. Humans infected with Epstein Barr virus with clinical symptoms of infectious
mononucleosis often produce heterophile antibodies that react with sheep, beef, and horse erythrocytes. Since
heterophile antibodies can occur for other reasons, testing for infectious mononucleosis exploits the fact that the
antibodies in this disease can be absorbed by beef erythrocytes but not guinea pig kidney cells. Thus, a specimen is
split into two aliquots. One aliquot is absorbed with guinea pig kidney cells, and the other aliquot is absorbed with
beef red blood cells. Sheep or horse erythrocytes are added to each aliquot as an indicator. If the aliquot absorbed
with guinea pig kidney agglutinates the horse red blood cells and the aliquot absorbed with beef red blood cells
does not, then the specimen is considered positive for the heterophile antibody associated with infectious
mononucleosis.
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