Tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a major public health issue, particularly in developing countries, and thus effective diagnostic methods for TB remain a central theme in basic and clinical research.
To evaluate five antigens (38kDa, Rv3621c, Rv3618, 38kDa-ESAT-6 (38E6), and Ag85B-HBHA (AH)) in serological tests for TB patients, we recruited 288 patients and 201 healthy controls. The median IgG reactivity to 38kDa, 38E6 and AH was higher than that to Rv3618 and Rv3621c in pulmonary TB. 38kDa and 38E6 provided high sensitivity in pulmonary TB, but low sensitivity in extra-pulmonary TB (EPTB). The specificity achieved by 38kDa and 38E6 ranged from 82.0% to 93.9% in patients with non-TB respiratory disease (PD) and in controls. 38kDa and 38E6 exhibited lower sensitivity and higher specificity than their combinations with Rv3618.
These findings provide useful information on the relative importance of the above five antigens and suggest that combinations of Rv3618 with 38kDa and 38E6 can increase the sensitivity, but their specificity needs to be further increased.
Authors: He XY, Li J, Hao J, Chen HB, Zhao YZ, Huang XY, He K, Xiao L, Ye LP, Qu YM, Ge LH
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