SIMPLE METHOD FOR THE ASSAY OF ADENOSINE-DEAMINASE (ADA) ACTIVITY USED FOR THE RAPID DIAGNOSIS OF TUBERCULOSIS

The diagnosis of the multiple forms of tuberculous diseases was been, until nowadays, a complex and time-consuming challenge. This is particularly true in cases of tuberculous meningitis, specially in children from whom only small samples of cerebrospinal fluid are available for clinical diagnosis and bacterial culture. In this paper, adenosine deaminase (ADA) has been assayed in different body fluids of healthy and tuberculous individuals. Through a series of biochemical modifications, the usual colorimetric procedure to assay ADA activity became more sensitive and stable. Such modifications of the technique also allowed the assay of ADA activity in very small samples of biological fluids. Thus, this technique proved to be a very important method for the clinical diagnosis of tuberculosis.