title: Evaluation of immunodiagnostic potential of ESAT-6 synthetic peptides mixture in Egyptian pulmonary tuberculosis patients.
abstract: Identification of M. tuberculosis ESAT-6 proteins has enhanced research for developing new specific and reliable in vitro diagnostic tests for pulmonary tuberculosis. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic potential of ESAT-6 synthetic overlapping peptides mixture (Pepmix) for diagnosis of pulmonary M. tuberculosis infection in Egypt. IFN-gammaand IL-17 production was assessed in whole-blood culture assay after overnight stimulation with M. tuberculosis crude culture filtrate (CF), purified 38 kDa antigen, and ESAT-6 Pepmix. Concentration of IFN-gamma and IL-17 was evaluated in the culture supernatant by ELISA. Patients with active pulmonary TB patients (n = 37), Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) positive healthy subjects (n = 16) and TST negative healthy subjects (n = 16) were included. Results indicated that IFN-gammaproduction following stimulation with crude CF, and 38 kDa purified antigen was not significantly different between patients and TST+ healthy controls. In contrast, Pepmix clearly distinguished between patients and TST+ healthy subjects with sensitivity of 70.3 % and specificity 96.9 %. The concentration of secreted IL-17 was significantly lower than IFN-gamma, and no statistically significant difference was found between groups. It is concluded that IFN-gamma assay using ESAT-6 Pepmix, as antigenic stimulus, has the potential to rapidly diagnose pulmonary TB infection.
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Salman
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Abdel-Ghaffar
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: El-Sheikh
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: A O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Egiza
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002648:Child; D004534:Egypt; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D020381:Interleukin-17 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010455:Peptides; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C093276:ESAT-6 protein, Mycobacterium tuberculosis; D020381:Interleukin-17; D010455:Peptides; D007371:Interferon-gamma