Concentration dependencies of immunoturbidimetric dose-response curves: immunoturbidimetric titer and reactivity, and relevance to design of turbidimetric immunoassays.

To characterize polyclonal antisera for two-point immunoturbidimetric applications, we defined, as functions of antiserum concentration, two parameters derived from dose-response curves: the maximum bichromatic optical response, Tmax, and the antigen concentration in the region of excess antibody corresponding to one-half Tmax, or C50. We raised monospecific polyclonal antisera in goats against several human immunoglobulins, C-reactive protein, C3, C4, apolipoproteins A-I and B, and several other proteins. We could linearly relate the logarithm of the antiserum concentration to log C50 and to log Tmax. The concentration of polyethylene glycol affected not only C50 and Tmax but also their functional dependencies on antiserum concentration. We devised two definitions of immunoturbidimetric titer and related them to the titer obtained by the single radial immunodiffusion method of Becker (Immunochemistry 1969; 6:539-46).