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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, July 2003, p. 702-709, Vol. 10, No. 4
1071-412X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.10.4.702-709.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Changes in Avidity and Level of Immunoglobulin G Antibodies to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Sera of Patients Undergoing Treatment for Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Lenka M. Pereira Arias-Bouda,1,2 Sjoukje Kuijper,1 Anouk Van Der Werf,1 Lan N. Nguyen,3 Henk M. Jansen,2 and Arend H. J. Kolk1*

Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen/Royal Tropical Institute Biomedical Research,1 Division of Pulmonary Diseases, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands,2 The Pham Ngoc Thach Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam3

Received 15 March 2002/ Returned for modification 23 January 2003/ Accepted 28 April 2003

Much is known about specific antibodies and their titers in patients with tuberculosis. However, little is known about the avidity of these antibodies or whether changes in avidity occur during the progression of the disease or during treatment. The aims of this study were to determine the avidity of antibodies to Mycobacterium tuberculosis in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, to explore the value of avidity determination for the diagnosis of tuberculosis, and to study changes in levels of antibodies and their avidity during treatment. Antibody avidity was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with thiocyanate elution. Avidity indices and serum levels of immunoglobulin G to M. tuberculosis were determined for 22 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis before and during treatment and for 24 patients with other pulmonary diseases. Antibody levels and avidity were both significantly higher in untreated tuberculosis patients than in the controls. Avidity determination had more diagnostic potential than determination of the antibody levels. Tuberculosis patients with a long duration of symptoms had higher antibody avidity than those with a recent onset of symptoms, indicating affinity maturation of specific antibodies during active disease. In the early phase of treatment, a decrease in antibody avidity was observed for 73% of all tuberculosis patients, accompanied by an initial increase in antibody levels in 36% of these patients. These phenomena could be explained by an intense stimulation of the humoral response by antigens released from killed bacteria, reflecting early bactericidal activity of antituberculous drugs leading to the production of low-affinity antibodies against these released antigens.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen/Royal Tropical Institute Biomedical Research, Meibergdreef 39, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-20-5665463. Fax: 31-20-6971841. E-mail: A.Kolk{at}kit.nl.

Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, July 2003, p. 702-709, Vol. 10, No. 4
1071-412X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.10.4.702-709.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Bothamley, G. H. (2004). Epitope-Specific Antibody Levels Demonstrate Recognition of New Epitopes and Changes in Titer but Not Affinity during Treatment of Tuberculosis. CVI 11: 942-951 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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