AEM
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rasooly, L.
Right arrow Articles by Rasooly, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rasooly, L.
Right arrow Articles by Rasooly, A.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Rasooly, L.
Right arrow Articles by Rasooly, A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 06 1997, 2361-2365, Vol 63, No. 6
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology

In vitro assay of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin A activity in food

L Rasooly, NR Rose, DB Shah and A Rasooly
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin A (SEA) is a leading cause of food poisoning. The current test for functional activity of SEA requires monkeys or kittens. The major drawbacks of animal assays are lack of quantitation, poor reproducibility, low sensitivity, and high cost. In this report we describe and evaluate an alternative assay using T-cell proliferation to measure SEA activity in food. Human and rat lymphocytes proliferate in response to concentrations of SEA as low as 1 pg/ml, well below the pathogenic dose of 100 ng. This proliferation assay is highly sensitive, quantitative, and simple. Nonradioactive assays of T-cell proliferation were also suitable for detecting and measuring SEA, although with a 10-fold lower sensitivity. To evaluate the utility of this assay for food testing, four different food samples were mixed with SEA. In each sample, SEA was detected at a concentration of 1 ng/ml. Heat-inactivated SEA produced no detectable proliferation. These results demonstrate that an in vitro cell proliferation assay is an advantageous alternative to existing animal assays for measuring SEA activity in food.




Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Eukaryot. Cell All ASM Journals

Copyright © 1997 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.