Abstract
The immunodominance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins malate synthase (MS) and MPT51 has been demonstrated in case-control studies with patients from countries in which tuberculosis (TB) is endemic. The value of these antigens for the serodiagnosis of TB now is evaluated in a cross-sectional study of pulmonary TB suspects in the United States diagnosed to have TB, HIV-associated TB, or other respiratory diseases (ORD). Serum antibody reactivity to recombinant purified MS and MPT51 was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) of samples from TB suspects and well-characterized control groups. TB suspects were diagnosed with TB (n = 87; 49% sputum microscopy negative, 20% HIV(+)) or ORD (n = 63; 58% HIV(+)). Antibody reactivity to MS and MPT51 was significantly higher in U.S. HIV(+)/TB samples than in HIV(-)/TB samples (P < 0.001), and it was significantly higher in both TB groups than in control groups with latent TB infection (P < 0.001). Antibody reactivity to both antigens was higher in U.S. HIV(+)/TB samples than in HIV(+)/ORD samples (P = 0.052 for MS, P = 0.001 for MPT51) but not significantly different between HIV(-)/TB and HIV(-)/ORD. Among U.S. HIV(+) TB suspects, a positive anti-MPT51 antibody response was strongly and significantly associated with TB (odds ratio, 11.0; 95% confidence interval, 2.3 to 51.2; P = 0.002). These findings have implications for the adjunctive use of TB serodiagnosis with these antigens in HIV(+) subjects.