Chemiluminescence Immunoassay to Detect Anti‐HTLV‐I Antibodies

A fully automated chemiluminescence immunoassay was developed for the detection of antibodies to HTLV‐I. We used partially purified viral antigens coated on small polystyrene beads together with acridinium ester‐labeled anti‐human immunoglobulin G mouse immunoglobulin G in this method. A good agreement was observed between our proposed method, the indirect immunofluorescence assay, the particle‐agglutination test and the enzyme immunoassay. This new method, which is simple, sensitive, specific and rapid, should be useful for mass screening of anti‐HTLV‐I antibodies.