title: Diagnostic role of the antibody response to the 38kDa, 16kDa proteins and lipoarabinomannan of mycobacterium tuberculosis.
abstract: The antibody response to the 38kDa, 16kDa and Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) antigens ofMycobacterium tuberculosis was evaluated using three different ELISAs based on these antigens. The study group included tuberculosis patients (n=52), patients with HIV and TB co-infection (n=10), other chest symptomatics (n=5), HIV infected individuals (n=10), leprosy cases (n=7) and healthy controls (n=75). The results indicate that the 38kDa and LAM based ELISA for IgM/IgG has a low specificity (ranging from 69-85%) and sensitivity (ranging from 55-78%). When three ELISAs are carried out on a single patient the probability of detection of tuberculosis was significantly increased to 95.2% indicating that a single ELISA test is of low sensitivity and that a combination of ELISA's may be needed to be of any value as a diagnostic test for tuberculosis. Additionally, a western blot assay of the serum antibody response to protein fraction ofM. tuberculosis was analysed in 15 tuberculosis patients and five healthy controls. A multiple antibody response to various M.tuberculosis proteins was observed which varied from patient to patient as compared to controls who showed a single 38-39 kDa protein band positivity. These finding suggest that a western blot assay which determines the antibody response to a set of antigenic components ofM. tuberculosis could be a better serological test for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in our population.
authors.affiliation: Blue Peter Research Centre, LEPRA India, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: Renuka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Raju
authors.forename: Sujai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suneetha
authors.forename: Karuna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sagili
authors.forename: Vani C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Meher
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Saraswathi
authors.forename: A V V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Satyanarayana
authors.forename: Lavanya M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Suneetha
keywords: 38kDa and 16kDa M.tb protein; ELISA; Lipoarabinomannan; Serodiagnosis; Tuberculosis; Western blot