Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Heat Shock Protein 16 as a Potential Marker for Latent TB: A Preliminary Findings

Abstract

Identifying latent Tuberculosis (TB) is a key component of global efforts to eliminate TB. Heat shock proteins (Hsps) of mycobacteria are up regulated in response to various environmental stresses during infection. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) Hsp16, MTB Hsp65 and MTB Hsp71 in latent and active TB in a high TB prevalence area by ELISA method. The mean optical density for Hsp16 as compared to Hsp65 and Hsp71 in latent TB subjects was significantly higher than the active subjects with significant P value of 0.0004. A preliminary finding indicates that the Hsp16 is more specific to latency and may be useful as a diagnostic marker for latent TB infection.