ABSTRACT
Objective To construct the recombinant plasmid of protein CFP10-MPT48-TB8.4 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and to investigate the diagnosis potential of this fusion protein in tuberculosis serodiagnosis.Methods The recombinant fusion protein CFP10-MPT48-TB8.4 was expressed, and identified by Western blot.The ELSIA based on the purified fusion protein was done,and used for screening in 230 cases of clinical serum samples including pulmonary tuberculosis patients ( n =150 ),pulmonary disease patients other than tuberculosis (n =70) and health controls (n =103 ).The test result was analyzed by Medcale11.5 software.Results The fusion protein CFP10-MPT48-TB8.4 was successfully expressed with a purity over 95％.Specific immunogenicity of the recombinant protein was confirmed by Western blot.The overall sensitivity and specificity obtained of ELISA were 56.7％ (85/150) and 90.8％ ( 157/173 ),respectively.The specificity was 85.7 ％ (60/70) in non-tuberculosis group and 94.2％ (97/103 ) in healthy group,respectively.Conclusion The recombinant protein of CFP10-MPT48-TB8.4 has a high sensitivity and specificity and may be a potential candidate antigen in tuberculosis serodiagnosis.