title: Cold agglutinins in HIV-seropositive participants and diagnosis of respiratory disease due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cold agglutinin (CA) titers are one among the first pathological indicators for diagnosing Mycoplasma pneumoniae disease. We prospectively studied the prevalence of CAs in 300 HIV-positive and 75 HIV-negative individuals with respiratory disease in Chennai, India.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cold agglutination test was used and retrospectively compared with the results of a particle agglutination test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While CAs were positive in 51 HIV cases, particle agglutination test detected anti-M pneumoniae antibodies from 43 cases with HIV disease (P = .001). The seroprevalence of CAs was 2.6% (n = 2) among HIV-negative participants. The mean CD4 count in CApositive and -negative HIV cases was 107.4 + 121.2 and 259.2 + 247.2 cells/microL (P = .001), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our report suggests a basis for the existence of CAs in HIV-positive cases. Definitive diagnosis may be done only when CA detection is used in conjunction with a specific test.
authors.affiliation: Division of Mycoplasmology, Bacteriology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dr ALM PG Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Madras, Chennai, India.
authors.forename: Easki Muthu
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Shankar
authors.forename: Ramachandran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vignesh
authors.forename: Pachamuthu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Balakrishnan
authors.forename: Vijayakumar
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Velu
authors.forename: Esakimuthu
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ponmalar
authors.forename: Kailapuri G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Murugavel
authors.forename: Shanmugam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saravanan
authors.forename: Panneerselvam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nandagopal
authors.forename: Kownhar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hayath
authors.forename: Suniti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Solomon
authors.forename: Appasamy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vengatesan
authors.forename: Usha Anand
authors.initials: UA
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D003080:Cold Temperature; D003450:Cryoglobulins / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009177:Mycoplasma pneumoniae / Q000276:immunology*; D011019:Pneumonia, Mycoplasma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology*; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D003450:Cryoglobulins; C029443:cold agglutinins