1. Cold agglutinins in HIV-seropositive participants and diagnosis of respiratory disease due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
- Author
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Shankar EM, Vignesh R, Balakrishnan P, Velu V, Ponmalar E, Murugavel KG, Saravanan S, Nandagopal P, Hayath K, Solomon S, Vengatesan A, and Rao UA
- Subjects
- Adult, Agglutination Tests, Antibodies, Bacterial blood, Cold Temperature, Cryoglobulins analysis, Female, HIV-1 immunology, Humans, Male, Prospective Studies, HIV Seropositivity epidemiology, Mycoplasma pneumoniae immunology, Pneumonia, Mycoplasma diagnosis, Pneumonia, Mycoplasma immunology
- Abstract
Objectives: Cold agglutinin (CA) titers are one among the first pathological indicators for diagnosing Mycoplasma pneumoniae disease. We prospectively studied the prevalence of CAs in 300 HIV-positive and 75 HIV-negative individuals with respiratory disease in Chennai, India., Methods: The cold agglutination test was used and retrospectively compared with the results of a particle agglutination test., Results: While CAs were positive in 51 HIV cases, particle agglutination test detected anti-M pneumoniae antibodies from 43 cases with HIV disease (P = .001). The seroprevalence of CAs was 2.6% (n = 2) among HIV-negative participants. The mean CD4 count in CApositive and -negative HIV cases was 107.4 + 121.2 and 259.2 + 247.2 cells/microL (P = .001), respectively., Conclusion: Our report suggests a basis for the existence of CAs in HIV-positive cases. Definitive diagnosis may be done only when CA detection is used in conjunction with a specific test.
- Published
- 2009
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