HEMAGGLUTINATION TESTS FOR TUBERCULOSIS WITH MYCOBACTERIAL GLYCOLIPID ANTIGENS - RESULTS IN PATIENTS WITH ACTIVE PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS BEFORE AND DURING CHEMOTHERAPY AND IN HEALTHY TUBERCULOSIS CONTACTS

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Abstract
Hemagglutination tests using 3 serologically active mycobacterial glycolipids as antigens were carried out on serum specimens from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and from healthy family contacts of patients with tuberculosis in Singapore. A positive response to any of the 3 antigens was found in 82.5% of 211 patients with newly diagnosed disease and in 21% of 100 contacts. The higher proportion of positive results in the contacts than in other groups of healthy subjects previously reported may be due to subclinical infection with tubercle bacilli or with other environmental mycobacteria. The use of rules derived from discriminant analysis improved discrimination between patients and contacts, so that a positive result was obtained in 72% of patients and 5% of contacts. Serial positive titers during 1 yr of chemotherapy showed an initial slight increase during the 1st mo. and then a slow decrease, although conversion from a serologically positive result to a negative result was uncommon. The occurrence of widely variable patterns of response to the 3 antigens in different patients emphasizes the importance of using a battery of tests, each with a separate antigen.