Assessment of Neopterin Serum Level for Monitoring Therapy of Patients with Mycobacterium Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major health problem worldwide. To date, the standard diagnostic method for TB is still the direct observation of Mycobacterium TB in a sputum smear or culture.

There is an urgent need for a method to detect the disease in a shorter time with acceptable sensitivity and specificity and help monitor the treatment.

A panel of 34 adults newly diagnosed with smear-positive pulmonary TB was followed during their treatment period of five months. Neopterin (NPT) serum levels were measured three times (before treatment and two and five months after treatment) using the Brahms ELItest Neopterin kit, and the results were analyzed using descriptive and graphical methods.

The mean NPT for the first time before treatment was 27.47 ± 20.7 nmol/L. NPT was measured two months after the anti-TB treatment, and the associated mean was 16.97 ± 14.14 nmol/L. At the end of the fifth month, the mean NPT concentration reached 11.3 ± 10.5 nmol/L. The mean serum NPT before treatment had a statistically significant difference with the mean NPT at the end of the second and fifth months of the treatment (P = 0.001).

According to the national protocol for treating TB, a sputum smear is still necessary for patients’ follow-up. It seems that the serum NPT level should be measured to monitor response to treatment in patients that, for any reason are not able to give sputum in TB treatment follow-up.