The diagnostic test for TB meningitis that uses DNA aptamer is being evaluated on clinical samples. A diagnostic test for TB meningitis (the most severe form of TB) with nearly 100% sensitivity and about 91% specificity has been developed by a multi-institutional team led from the Department of Biotechnology at AIIMS. The performance of the diagnostic test was evaluated in 87 cerebrospinal fluid samples obtained from paediatric subjects (39 TB meningitis patients and 48 controls).
The results of the study were published recently in the journal Tuberculosis. The diagnostic test is based on a derivative of a DNA aptamer (a small single-stranded DNA molecule that binds to a specific target molecule and is a chemical rival of antibodies) that shows high binding affinity in nanomolar range and high specificity to a TB antigen (HspX). Besides higher binding affinity, there is significantly…
