Measurement of human antibody activity against Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa using formalin treated whole organisms in an ELISA technique.

Using an ELISA technique, specific IgG and specific IgM antibodies to several strains of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were measured in 100 normal adults. The distribution of antibody activity to E. coli was narrow, with mean values less than 0.50 OD units. The one exception was in IgG activity to E. coli O.. Mean values for activity against P. aeruginosa ranged from 0.35 to 0.79 OD units. Significant rank order correlations were found for IgM activity among all E. coli and P. aeruginosa strains. The correlations were less consistent for the IgG activity. This baseline data will be used to monitor antibody activity to these common microbes along with several other parameters in a group of ill surgical patients.