A dot-immunobinding assay for the laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis and its comparison with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
In an attempt to establish an alternative to standard bacteriological methods in the laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM), a simple dot-immunobinding assay (Dot-Iba) was standardized to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen 5 and antimycobacterial antibody in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens of patients with TBM. Sensitivity and specificity of Dot-Iba was compared with conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and standard bacteriological techniques. The Dot-Iba showed excellent correlation with indirect ELISA for the detection of antimycobacterial antibody in CSF and showed 60% sensitivity and 100% specificity in culture-negative patients with TBM. However Dot-Iba was less sensitive for the detection of antigen 5 in CSFs and showed false negative results (60%) in culture-positive patients with TBM.
Radhakrishnan
V V
VV
Department of Pathology, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, India.
Mathai
A
A
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D014390:Tuberculosis, Meningeal / Q000175:diagnosis*
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial