Reduced anti-mycobacterium tuberculosis antibody response in tuberculosis p0atients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

RESUMO

When the sera of patients with tuberculosis were tested for anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis IgG using an indirect ELISA, the test was positive for 94.1% of the samples from patients not having AIDS (N=51), but for only 37,5% of the samples from patients with AIDS (N=16). False-positive results were obtained for 7,3% of patients not infected with HIV (N=96) and for 4,7% of patients infected with HIV (N=64). In most serum samples obtained from patients with tuberculosis and AIDS after the beginning of specific treatment there was a reduction of the ELISA absorbance at 490 nm with time. These results indicate that serological tests for the detection of anti-M. tuberculosis IgG in patients with AIDS are of limited value for the diagnosis of tuberculosis, most likely as a consequence of the underlying immune defect of the patients