Serum proteins in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and controls in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains an important communicable disease especially in the developing world. The complex relationship that exists between TB and poverty, homelessness, Human Immunodeficieny Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and malnutrition has made the devastating effects of TB well known. We therefore undertook to evaluate this complex relationship. Methods: A total of 420 subjects were studied, comprising 210 newly diagnosed sputum smear positive Pulmonary TB (PTB) patients (aged 18 years and above from Lagos metropolis) and 210 controls. We determined serum total proteins levels in the study population colorimetrically using the Biuret method, while serum albumin was measured by the bromocresol green method. Screening for HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies was done using ELISA (Wellcome Diagnostics, pasteur, Marnes-la-cognetee, France). Positive samples were subjected to Western Blotting (Dupont de Nemours, USA) for confirmation. Results: Hypoalbuminaemia was found in 184 (87.60%) of the cases vs. 26 (12.38%) of the controls (P = 0.001) (see Table 1). The protein sub-fraction, gammaglobulin was however, much higher in the cases than in the controls [mean 41.45± 11.21% vs. 29.42± 6.76% (p = 0.005)] (see Table 2). HIV antibody test was positive in 11/153 (7.19%) of those who accepted to be screened for HIV co-infection. Conclusion: PTB cases had lower total serum proteins and lower serum albumin but higher plasma gammaglobu-