Western blot
Applications

The confirmatory HIV test employs a western blot to detect anti-HIV antibody in a human serum sample. Proteins from known HIV -infected cells are separated and blotted on a membrane as above. Then, the serum to be tested is applied in the primary antibody incubation step; free antibody is washed away, and a secondary anti-human antibody linked to an enzyme signal is added. The stained bands then indicate the proteins to which the patient's serum contains antibody. A western blot is also used as the definitive test for variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, a type of prion disease linked to the consumption of contaminated beef from cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, commonly referred to as 'mad cow disease'). Another application is in the diagnosis of tularemia. An evaluation of the western blot's ability to detect antibodies against F. tularensis revealed that its sensitivity is almost 100% and the specificity is 99.6%. Some forms of Lyme disease testing employ western blotting. A western blot can also be used as a confirmatory test for Hepatitis B infection and HSV-2 (Herpes Type 2) infection. In veterinary medicine, a western blot is sometimes used to confirm FIV + status in cats.
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