title: Rapid immunochromatographic serum assay of nontuberculous mycobacterial infections.
abstract: A rapid immunochromatographic serologic assay (Dot assay) is proposed to be applied on patients infected with nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). This assay could evidentiate the infecting species and allow the beginning of the treatment. The test is based on the principle of immunoblotting chromatography, a rapid membrane-based assay, capable of diagnosing NTM infections in serum, in less than 1 hour, with no need of special equipment or skilled staff. The secreted extracellular antigens have been isolated from the unheated culture filtrates of the clinically significant NTM (M. avium, MAI, M. kansasii, M. xenopi, M. chelonaei, M. scrofulaceum, M. marinum, M. fortuitum, M. abscesus, M. szulgai). The patients have been tested against these antigens, as well as from M. tuberculosis H37Rv, due to the possibility of co-infection with tuberculous bacilli. A number of 385 tests on patient sera have been performed (10, with NTM suspected infection, with or without M. tuberculosis co-infection, 5 with confirmed diagnosis of NTM infection, 10 with TB, 10 with other respiratory diseases). The preliminary results presented in this paper support the fact that the rapid immunochromatographic serum assay, combined with clinical and radiographic evidence, could evidentiate the infecting NTM species and allow the start of an earlier treatment, but must be confirmed on a higher number of patients.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Research-Development for Microbiology and Immunology "Cantacuzino", Mycobacterial Antigens Department, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Henriette
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stavri
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brânaru-Gheorghiu
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Moldovan
authors.forename: Marinela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raileanu
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Popa
authors.forename: Loredana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Popa
authors.forename: Luminiţa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ene
mesh_terms: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D002845:Chromatography; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods*; D009165:Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009170:Nontuberculous Mycobacteria / Q000276:immunology*; D012698:Serologic Tests
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins