Diagnostic value of cerebrospinal fluid CFP-10 and Ag85 detection on tuberculous meningitis

Background Nowadays, the early diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is still one of the clinical difficulties, so the research focus is to seek out a specific marker of early TBM. This study is to evaluate the value of culture filtrate protein -10 (CFP-10) and Ag85 complex in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the diagnosis of TBM. Methods According to the diagnostic criteria of TBM, 86 patients were divided into 3 groups: 30 patients with TBM; 27 with intracranial infection of non-TBM; 29 controls. CSF samples were collected by standard lumbar puncture and were used for detection of CFP-10 and Ag85 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results The median concentrations of CFP-10 and Ag85 in CSF of the TBM group were 0.74 and 1.10 pg/ml. The average concentrations of CFP-10 and Ag85 in the intracranial infection of non-TBM group and control group were (0.02 ± 0.01), (0.54 ± 0.10) and (0.02 ± 0.01), (0.52± 0.11)pg/ml respectively. The levels of CFP-10 and Ag85 in the TBM group were higher than that in the intracranial infection of non-TBM and the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (H = 60.958, P = 0.000; H = 57.972, P = 0.000), but there was no significant difference bewteen the intracranial infection of non-TBM group and the control group (t = 1.128, P = 0.253; t = 0.980, P = 0.329). Conclusion The levels of CFP-10 and Ag85 in the TBM group were significantly different from non-TBM group and control group. Detection of the two markers can be helpful in the early diagnosis of TBM.