The Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol 26, Issue 4 241-243, Copyright © 1988 by Society for General Microbiology
False-positive reactions with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens in pleural fluid
R. Dhand, N. K. Ganguly, C. Vaishnavi, R. Gilhotra and S. K. Malik
Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
The value of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the diagnosis of
tuberculous pleural effusion has not been defined. We performed ELISA by a
double antibody sandwich technique with anti-BCG antibody in the solid
phase to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen in pleural fluid from 36
patients with pleural effusion (tuberculosis 15, lung cancer 12,
miscellaneous 9). Pleural fluids from 12 of the tuberculosis patients, 12
of the cancer patients and one patient in the miscellaneous group had
optical densities above the cut-off point. False-positive reactions in
patients with lung cancer limit the usefulness of ELISA with conventional
anti-BCG antibody for detection of M. tuberculosis antigen.
