Cold agglutinins in HIV-seropositive participants and diagnosis of respiratory disease due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
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.
Shankar
Easki Muthu
EM
Division of Mycoplasmology, Bacteriology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dr ALM PG Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Madras, Chennai, India.
Vignesh
Ramachandran
R
Balakrishnan
Pachamuthu
P
Velu
Vijayakumar
V
Ponmalar
Esakimuthu
E
Murugavel
Kailapuri G
KG
Saravanan
Shanmugam
S
Nandagopal
Panneerselvam
P
Hayath
Kownhar
K
Solomon
Suniti
S
Vengatesan
Appasamy
A
Rao
Usha Anand
UA
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
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D003450:Cryoglobulins; C029443:cold agglutinins