Research on the occurrence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens in the circulating immune complexes isolated from serum of patients with tuberculosis

摘要

BackgroundTuberculosis is one of the most dangerous infectious diseases and has among the highest mortality rates of all infectious diseases. There are 9 million cases of active tuberculosis reported annually; however, an estimated one-third of the world’s population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and remains asymptomatic. Despite the great progress in its diagnosis and treatment, tuberculosis is still a serious health and social problem. The contact between the immune system and Mycobacterium tuberculosis initiates cell-specific (Th1) and humoral-specific (Th2) responses. Many studies about the presence of antituberculotic antibodies in the serum have produced inconsistent results because of a high proportion of false-positive or false-negative results. The purpose of this study was to confirm whether circulating immune complexes (CIC) isolated from the serum of patients with tuberculosis are accompanied by antigenic proteins typical of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.