Use of the SL-IV and the PGL-Tb1 glycolipid antigens in ELISA for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in AIDS patients.

At a predetermined specificity of 100.0%, the sensitivity of ELISA using the PGL-Tb1 and SL-IV antigens and IgG assays was 35.0% for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in AIDS patients (44.1% when tuberculosis was diagnosed before AIDS, 21.7% when AIDS was diagnosed before tuberculosis). Serial assays in sera collected from 11 AIDS patients before tuberculosis was diagnosed indicated that significant antibody titres were detected 10 months before the onset of clinical tuberculosis. Consequently, it was proposed that serodiagnosis using the glycolipid specific antigens should help in deciding on preventive antituberculosis treatment in these patients.