Pesquisa de IgA contra o antígeno recombinante HspX de Mycobacterium tuberculosis no diagnóstico de tuberculose pleural / Determination of levels of specific IgA to the HspX recombinant antigen of Mycobacterium tuberculosis for the diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis

RESUMO

OBJETIVO: Avaliar a acurácia da dosagem de IgA contra o antígeno recombinante HspX no líquido pleural e no soro de pacientes com derrame pleural para o diagnóstico de tuberculose pleural. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal de teste diagnóstico. Amostras de líquido pleural e de soro de pacientes com derrame pleural e suspeita de tuberculose pleural foram avaliadas para a determinação da densidade óptica de IgA contra HspX utilizando ELISA indireto. RESULTADOS: Foram avaliadas amostras de líquido pleural e de soro de 132 pacientes 97 com tuberculose pleural (grupo de estudo) e 35 com derrame pleural por outras causas (grupo controle). A dosagem de IgA em líquido pleural foi capaz de discriminar os pacientes com tuberculose pleural dos controles. A sensibilidade do teste em líquido pleural e em soro foi, respectivamente, de 69 por cento e 30 por cento, enquanto a especificidade foi de 83 por cento e 84 por cento, respectivamente. CONCLUSÕES: Os dados sugerem o potencial da utilização deste teste no diagnóstico de tuberculose pleural. Estudos com amostras maiores e em diferentes cenários epidemiológicos são necessários.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the accuracy of determining specific IgA to HspX recombinant antigen in pleural fluid and serum samples for the diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis in patients with pleural effusion. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. Serum and pleural fluid samples of patients with pleural effusion and suspected of having pleural tuberculosis were tested with indirect ELISA in order to determine the optical density of specific IgA to HspX. RESULTS: We evaluated serum and pleural fluid samples from 132 patients 97 diagnosed with pleural tuberculosis (study group) and 35 diagnosed with pleural effusion due to other causes (control group). The determination of IgA in pleural fluid satisfactorily discriminated between pleural tuberculosis patients and control patients. The sensitivity of the test in pleural fluid and in serum was 69 percent and 30 percent, respectively, whereas the specificity was 83 percent and 84 percent, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that this test can be used in the diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis. Further studies, involving larger patient samples and different epidemiological scenarios, are warranted.