Skip to main content

Factors associated with humoral response to ESAT-6, 38 kDa and 14 kDa in patients with a spectrum of tuberculosis

Buy Article:

$34.78 + tax (Refund Policy)

SETTING: Tertiary care chest hospital in Montreal, Canada, where the average annual incidence of TB is 10/100000 population.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the clinical correlates of humoral response to three Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens.

METHODS: Humoral response to three M. tuberculosis antigens, 38 kDa, 14 kDa and ESAT-6, was measured with ELISA in patients with a spectrum of TB-related conditions. The association of positive tests for each antigen, defined with receiver operator characteristics (ROC) analysis, and patient characteristics was assessed in multivariate regression.

RESULTS: A total of 383 patients underwent serologic testing. In multivariate analysis, humoral response to 38 kDa was associated with active disease, response to 14 kDa was associated with inactive TB and female sex, and response to ESAT-6 with inactive TB, female sex, prior contact with TB, and recent arrival in Canada from high prevalence countries.

CONCLUSIONS: Response to the 38 kDa antigen was associated with current active disease, and was very different from response to the 14 kDa and ESAT-6 antigens. These latter two antigens were associated with risk factors for future active, but not current disease, suggesting that they might be useful to identify persons with higher risk of reactivation of latent TB.

Keywords: 14 kDa antigen; 38 kDa antigen; ESAT-6; diagnosis; disease; humoral response; infection; tuberculosis

Document Type: Regular Paper

Affiliations: 1: Montreal Chest Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; and Public Health Research Institute, Newark, New Jersey, USA 2: Public Health Research Institute, Newark, New Jersey, USA 3: Montreal Chest Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Publication date: 01 May 2003

More about this publication?
  • The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IJTLD) is for clinical research and epidemiological studies on lung health, including articles on TB, TB-HIV and respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, asthma, COPD, child lung health and the hazards of tobacco and air pollution. Individuals and institutes can subscribe to the IJTLD online or in print – simply email us at [email protected] for details.

    The IJTLD is dedicated to understanding lung disease and to the dissemination of knowledge leading to better lung health. To allow us to share scientific research as rapidly as possible, the IJTLD is fast-tracking the publication of certain articles as preprints prior to their publication. Read fast-track articles.

  • Editorial Board
  • Information for Authors
  • Subscribe to this Title
  • International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
  • Public Health Action
  • Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites
  • Access Key
  • Free content
  • Partial Free content
  • New content
  • Open access content
  • Partial Open access content
  • Subscribed content
  • Partial Subscribed content
  • Free trial content