title: Rapid diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis by a dot immunobinding assay To detect mycobacterial antigen in cerebrospinal fluid specimens.
abstract: In the present prospective study, a dot immunobinding assay (Dot-Iba) was standardized to measure the circulating mycobacterial antigen in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens for the laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM). Immunoglobulin G antibody specific for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a CSF specimen from a patient with culture-proven TBM was isolated and was coupled with activated cyanogen bromide-Sepharose 4B. By immunosorbent affinity chromatography, a 14-kDa antigen was isolated from the culture filtrate of M. tuberculosis. Antibody to the 14-kDa mycobacterial antigen was raised in rabbits. The Dot-Iba in this study gave no false-positive results with CSF specimens from patients with nontuberculous neurological diseases. The assay gave positive results for all five patients with culture-proven TBM. The Dot-Iba described in the present report is simple, rapid, sensitive, specific, and, more importantly, suitable for routine application in laboratories in developing countries.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram 695 011, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Sumi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mathai
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sarada
authors.forename: V V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Radhakrishnan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000382:microbiology; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting / Q000379:methods*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011817:Rabbits; D014390:Tuberculosis, Meningeal / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial