Evaluation of a western blot serum test for the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection

Eur Respir J. 1996 Feb;9(2):288-92. doi: 10.1183/09031936.96.09020288.

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the possibility of monitoring Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection using a serological assay. A discriminant score comprising antigen fractions of 38, 28, 24 and 19 kDa, identified in western blots using the Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) A60 antigen complex was established in a sample of 57 purified protein derivative (PPD)-negative and 47 PPD-positive individuals. It was then tested in a group of 140 subjects undergoing BCG vaccination as a model of tuberculosis complex infection and in a group of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals as a model of cell-mediated immunodeficiency-related risk of tuberculosis. The discriminant score identified 57 out of 57 (100%) PPD-positives and none (0%) of the 47 PPD-negatives. In the BCG vaccinated subjects, 1.4% tested positive before vaccination and 90% after vaccination. In the HIV-positive subjects, 90% of the PPD-positive and 5% of the PPD-negative subjects had a positive score. This study suggests that the western blot discriminant score is an accurate test to survey M. tuberculosis infection in serum samples.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Antibodies, Bacterial / analysis*
  • Antigens, Bacterial / immunology
  • BCG Vaccine / therapeutic use
  • Blotting, Western / methods
  • Female
  • HIV Infections / complications
  • HIV Seropositivity / complications
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Membrane Glycoproteins / immunology
  • Mycobacterium bovis / immunology
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / immunology*
  • Serologic Tests / methods
  • Tuberculin Test
  • Tuberculosis / diagnosis*
  • Tuberculosis / prevention & control
  • Vaccination

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • Antigens, Bacterial
  • BCG Vaccine
  • Membrane Glycoproteins
  • mycobacterial A60 antigen