Serodiagnosis of Mycobacterium avium-complex pulmonary disease using an enzyme immunoassay kit.

RATIONALE

The diagnosis of Mycobacterium avium-complex pulmonary disease (MAC-PD) and/or its discrimination from pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is sometimes complicated and time consuming.

OBJECTIVES

We investigated in a six-institution multicenter study whether a serologic test based on an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kit was useful for diagnosing MAC-PD and for distinguishing it from other lung diseases.

METHODS

An EIA kit detecting serum IgA antibody to glycopeptidolipid core antigen specific for MAC was developed. Antibody levels were measured in sera from 70 patients with MAC-PD, 18 with MAC contamination, 37 with pulmonary TB, 45 with other lung diseases, and 76 healthy subjects.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Significantly higher serum IgA antibody levels were detected in patients with MAC-PD than in the other groups (P < 0.0001). Setting the cutoff point at 0.7 U/ml resulted in a sensitivity and specificity of the kit for diagnosing MAC-PD of 84.3 and 100%, respectively. Significantly higher antibody levels were also found in patients with nodular-bronchiectatic disease compared with fibrocavitary disease in MAC-PD (P < 0.05). There was a positive correlation between the extent of disease on chest computed tomography scans and the levels of antibody (r = 0.43, P < 0.05) in patients with MAC-PD.

CONCLUSIONS

The EIA kit is useful for the rapid diagnosis of MAC-PD and for differentiating MAC-PD from pulmonary TB and, if validated by studies in other populations, could find wide application in clinical practice.