Diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis by ELISA using serologically active glycolipid antigens

Abstract

Culture and identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is slow, and prognosis depends on early diagnosis and treatment. A rapid and reliable test to detect mycobacterial antigens in body fluids is therefore needed. In this study, the sensitivity of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with serologically active glycolipid (SAG) antigens was found 100 %'in the CSF of 7 culture positive and 19 culture negative patients with TBM. The specificity of the assay was found 95 %>: in the CSF of 20 patients with non-tuberculous neu¬rological diseases (control group). In conclusion, we-think that SAG antigens may be sensitive and specific as other mycobacterial antigens and even superior to the others by its rapid and practical extraction in the laboratory diagnosis of TBM.