[Antitubercular antibodies to antigens of various molecular weights in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis]

Antibodies were determined in 72 tuberculous patients and 27 healthy donors using enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and immunoblotting (IB). It was shown that the levels of the antibodies to BCG and H37Rv sonicates were lower in the patients with disseminated tuberculosis than in the patients with fibrocavernous or infiltrative tuberculosis. Significant differences in the antibody spectra in the patients with different forms of tuberculosis were also shown. Thus, in the patients with disseminated tuberculosis IB with BCG and H37Rv sonicates revealed only single bands in the region of the reaction with the antigens of low molecular weights. In the patients with infiltrative tuberculosis the reaction with H37Rv or BCG sonicates most frequently revealed the antibodies to the antigen determinants with molecular weights of 50, 30, 41, 54, 52 and 60.43 or 45.5, 40.5, 57 and 52 kD, respectively. In the patients with fibrocavernous tuberculosis the reaction with H37Rv or BCG sonicates most frequently revealed the antibodies to the antigen determinants with molecular weights of 54, 42, 48, 30 and 13.5 or 24, 57, 37 and 14.5 kD respectively.