Diagnostic utility of urinary lipoarabinomannan in pulmonary tuberculosis

Background Urinary lipoarabinomannan (LAM) detection is a promising approach for the rapid diagnosis of active tuberculosis (TB). Objective to assess the diagnostic accuracy of quantitative urine Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) test in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis and evaluate its efficacy as a follow up test after 3 months of the first line of antituberculous therapy. Methods This study was carried out on 40 patients (32 male and 8 female) with active tubercular infection LAM level was measured in urine by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Results Patients with smear positive specimens had higher urine LAM level: grade 1+ (mean ± SD of 1.47 ± 0.85 ng/ml), grade 2+ (1.63 ± 1.05 ng/ml), grade 3+ (4.32 ± 2.56 ng/ml) than that of smear negative (1.42 ± 0.50 ng/ml) (P < 0.001). Quantitative urine LAM test results positively correlate with the degree of bacillary burden. Lipoarabinomannan level before treatment (2.74 ± 2.25ng/ml) decreased significantly after 3 months of anti tuberculous treatment (1.28 ± 1.65ng/ml) (p