Detection of Antibody to Mycobacterium tuberculosis Protein Antigens in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of Patients with Tuberculous Meningitis

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases 2002-09, Vol.186 (5), p.678-683
• Main Authors: Chandramuki, Akepati, Lyashchenko, Konstantin, Kumari, Haradara Bahubali Veena, Khanna, Neelam, Brusasca, PierNatale, Gourie-Devi, Mandavalli, Satishchandra, Parthasarathy, Shankar, Sursarla Krishna, Ravi, Vasanthapuram, Alcabes, Philip, Kanaujia, Ganga Vishnu, Gennaro, Maria Laura
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibodies; Antibodies, Bacterial - cerebrospinal fluid; Antibodies, Bacterial - immunology; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Antigens; Antigens, Bacterial - immunology; Bacterial diseases; Biological and medical sciences; Central nervous system tuberculosis; Cerebrospinal fluid; Cultural groups; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - methods; HIV; HIV - immunology; HIV Infections - blood; HIV Infections - complications; HIV Infections - immunology; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; India; Infectious diseases; Major Article; Medical sciences; Meningeal tuberculosis; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - immunology; Retrospective Studies; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis and atypical mycobacterial infections; Tuberculosis, Meningeal - cerebrospinal fluid; Tuberculosis, Meningeal - complications; Tuberculosis, Meningeal - immunology; Viral meningitis
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/342293

Antibodies against Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples obtained from 442 patients with tuberculous meningitis (TBM) and 102 control patients. Antibodies were found in the CSF of 87% of patients with clinical (culture-negative) TBM, 72% of patients with culture-positive TBM, and 65% of patients with autopsy-proven TBM. That anti–M. tuberculosis antibodies were detected in the CSF of patients with clinically diagnosed cases more frequently than in patients with culture-positive cases suggests that the detection of antibodies in CSF tends to decrease as bacillary load increases. Of the patients with clinical TBM who were coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), 70% exhibited anti–M. tuberculosis antibody in CSF, which suggests that antibody responses in this group were substantially weaker than those in HIV-negative patients with clinical TBM. Some groups showed a stronger response to certain antigens, which suggests that antigen recognition patterns may be specific for the stage of disease