title: Serodiagnosis and follow up of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
abstract: A new ELISA assay based on antigen A60 from M. bovis BCG was used to quantitate specific anti-mycobacterial antibodies in 250 sera from 133 subjects: 90 tuberculosis cases and 43 controls. Controls were all negative, suggesting the specificity of this assay. In subjects with secondary pulmonary tuberculosis, a correlation was observed between the anti-mycobacterial antibody titer and culture positivity. In fact, positive ELISA assays were found in 88.8% of patients with positive cultures for M. tuberculosis and in 45% of culture-negative tuberculosis patients under therapy. According to our results the A60 ELISA assay is useful in monitoring the efficacy of anti-mycobacterial drugs. In pulmonary tuberculosis cases with positive cultures for M. tuberculosis higher levels of specific anti-mycobacterial IgGs were found after therapy.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Microbiologia, Università degli studi, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fadda
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grillo
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ginesu
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Santoru
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zanetti
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dettori
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000276:immunology*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000254:growth & development; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012698:Serologic Tests; D012882:Skin Tests; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D000995:Antitubercular Agents