title: Defective yeast opsonisation of serum in tuberculosis.
abstract: We have studied the opsonising ability of the sera of 92 patients with tuberculosis. Fourteen per cent of these patients showed defective opsonising ability compared with 4% in a clinic control group. This increased frequency in TB was accounted for by the greatly increased proportion with defects found in patients with intrathoracic TB (21%). We may have identified a section of the population with a specific genetically linked abnormality of a host defence mechanism which renders them more susceptible to intrathoracic TB. Further population studies are required.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009895:Opsonin Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000276:immunology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D009895:Opsonin Proteins