Abid Mahmood, Abdul Hannan, Tariq Butt.
Serodiagnosis of Tuberculosis using Lipopolysaccharide and 38kDa Protein as Antigens: An Evaluation Study.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;10(2):47-9.

A study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) from Omega Diagnostics to diagnose tuberculosis in our patients. It used Lipopolysaccharide and 38-kDa antigen to determine the genus-specific and species-specific antibodies (GSA and SSA) against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A total of 196 suspected tuberculosis cases were investigated along with a group of laboratory workers/medical students included as control. Among 196 cases 174 were of pulmonary tuberculosis and the rest 22 had extra pulmonary tuberculosis (EPT). Out of the pulmonary tuberculosis cases (n=174) 122(70.11%) were picked by this serological test whereas only 66 were positive on smear examination and Mycobacterium tuberculosis could be isolated in only 30 (17.24%) cases. The test has shown a sensitivity of 73.3% and specificity of 98% in 30 culture positive cases of pulmonary tuberculosis. This serological test can help a lot in the early and rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis.

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