Antibody immobilization on swollen polystyrene tubes for the radioimmunological determination of total human serum IgE

A new technique for preparing activated polystyrene tubes was developed involving the controlled swelling of plastic. The quantity of antibodies immobilized on these tubes, and consequently the quantity of bound IgE, was considerably increased. Calibration curves were plotted and the determination of total IgE in 200 serum samples confirmed the expected increase in sensitivity compared to a standard method. Thus, swollen polystyrene tubes constitute an advantageous solid stage in teh assay of total IgE, which can improve the sensitivity of various radioimmunological determinations