Comparative study of serological activity of native and synthetic antigens of bovine leukemia virus

According to the veterinary rules in force in the Russian Federation, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay is used along with the immunodiffusion reaction to identify animals infected with the bovine leukemia virus. The sensitivity and specificity of ELISA depends largely on the activity of the antigenic component. The article presents data on the comparative serological activity of the native antigen complex from the FLK BLV cell culture, the gp51 glycoprotein, the p24 nucleocapsid protein and the synthetic peptide BLVpep of bovine BLV using hyperimmune sera of rabbits and cattle. It was found that BLVpep showed the greatest serological activity, and the native antigen complex the least. The minimum antibody titer detected by the BLVpep peptide was 1:1600, by the gp51 and p24 antigens – 1:800, by the native antigen complex – 1:400.