Detection of respiratory syncytial virus specific antibody response in saliva of healthy Singaporeans

• Main Author: Thiagarajan, Rekha
• Other Authors: Richard J Sugrue
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/72516
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the major viral cause of acute lower respiratory tract infections in children. Though the gold standard of diagnosis is to measure RSV specific antibodies in plasma, it would be relevant to measure salivary RSV specific IgA, IgG and IgM as this may give a good reflection of mucosal immunity. Our findings have shown that RSV Ig M, G and A can be detected in saliva but not in stool while rotavirus antibody response can be measured in both samples. The results suggest that measuring salivary RSV IgM alone might be sufficient to determine RSV exposure or infection. While it is clear that salivary RSV antibodies do not fully reflect systemic antibody responses and cannot substitute plasma analysis, it is a proof of concept on the utility of saliva for the measurement of RSV specific antibodies. This method addresses the challenges faced in blood samplings in studies.