Preliminary study on circulating serum levels of tumor necrosis factor—Alpha in patients of tuberculosis

摘要

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several non-infectious and infectious diseases including tuberculosis. In a prospective longitudinal study, TNF-α level in blood was estimated by sandwich ELISA using anti human TNF-α antibody, in 22 patients with active pleuro-pulmonary and lymphnode tuberculosis before and after chemotherapy and 8 healthy controls. Six patients and six controls had detectable levels (> 5 pg/ml) of TNF-α in blood. The mean TNF-α levels in controls and cases before and after treatment were 182.4pg/ml, 896.7 pg/ml and 678.7pg/ml pg/ml respectively. Though not statistically significant, there was a trend towards younger age, shorter duration of symptoms, presence of fever and anorexia, and high ESR, in patient with high serum TNF-α levels.