Skip to main content

Evaluation of panels of Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens for serodiagnosis of tuberculosis

Buy Article:

$34.78 + tax (Refund Policy)

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate antibody responses to panels of Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens for serological diagnosis of active tuberculosis (TB).

DESIGN: We cloned, expressed and purified 10 M. tuberculosis recombinant proteins 38KD, MPT32 (M. tuberculosis protein 32), MPT64, EspC (ESX-1 secretion-associated protein), Mtb81, Rv3881, Rv3425, Rv0222, Rv3872 and CFP21 (culture filtrate protein 21), and obtained lipoarabinomannan (LAM) polysaccharide antigen from BEI Resources. The plasma immunoglobulin (Ig)G titre responses to the 11 antigens based on 45 patients with pulmonary TB (PTB) and 30 healthy controls (HCs) were first evaluated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Antigens with high sensitivities were then selected for further investigation in 200 PTB patients (121 smear- or culture-positive patients, 79 smear- or culture-negative patients) and 152 HCs.

RESULTS: LAM, 38KD, MPT32, MPT64, EspC and Mtb81 were chosen. The LAM, 38KD, MPT32 and EspC IgG titres were significantly higher in Bacterium-negative TB patients than in HCs, except for MPT64 and Mtb81. The sensitivity of the individual antigens for detecting antibodies ranged from 21.5% to 67.0%, with 74.3–98.0% specificity. The sensitivity of MPT32 was higher than that of 38KD at a high level of specificity. The six-antigen combination reached a sensitivity of 69.6% in bacterium-negative TB patients, with 77.0% specificity.

CONCLUSION: The combination panel had markedly improved sensitivity, but specificity requires further enhancement.

Keywords: ELISA; IgG; TB

Document Type: Research Article

Affiliations: 1: Department of Central Laboratory 2: Department of Beijing Key Laboratory for Drug Resistance Tuberculosis Research, Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumour Research Institute, Beijing 3: Department of National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China

Publication date: 01 August 2018

More about this publication?
  • The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IJTLD) is for clinical research and epidemiological studies on lung health, including articles on TB, TB-HIV and respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, asthma, COPD, child lung health and the hazards of tobacco and air pollution. Individuals and institutes can subscribe to the IJTLD online or in print – simply email us at [email protected] for details.

    The IJTLD is dedicated to understanding lung disease and to the dissemination of knowledge leading to better lung health. To allow us to share scientific research as rapidly as possible, the IJTLD is fast-tracking the publication of certain articles as preprints prior to their publication. Read fast-track articles.

  • Editorial Board
  • Information for Authors
  • Subscribe to this Title
  • International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
  • Public Health Action
  • Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites
  • Access Key
  • Free content
  • Partial Free content
  • New content
  • Open access content
  • Partial Open access content
  • Subscribed content
  • Partial Subscribed content
  • Free trial content