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T-cell responses to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antigens in active tuberculosis patients at the beginning, during, and after antituberculosis treatment

  • Jose Domínguez*
  • , Malú De Souza-Galvão
  • , Juan Ruiz-Manzano
  • , Irene Latorre
  • , Cristina Prat
  • , Alicia Lacoma
  • , Celia Milà
  • , Maria Ángeles Jiménez
  • , Silvia Blanco
  • , José Maldonado
  • , Neus Altet
  • , Vicente Ausina
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

48 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The objectives of the study were to assess the performance of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFN-G-IT) and the T-SPOT.TB tests in the immunodiagnosis of active tuberculosis (TB) in adult patients, and to study the T-cell interferon γ (IFN-γ) responses during treatment and in patients who have recovered after curative treatment and self-healed TB patients. When only analyzing patients included at the beginning of treatment, the sensitivity was 83.3% for T-SPOT.TB and 69.4% for QFN-G-IT. In contrast, when evaluating patients during treatment, the sensitivity of the T-SPOT.TB and QFN-G-IT decreased to 69.8% and 48.8%, respectively. The response to the specific antigens increased after finishing the treatment compared with the values during the treatment. The T-SPOT.TB was more sensitive in diagnosing active TB than the QFN-G-IT. The IFN-γ tests could be used as a complementary method in the diagnosis of active TB.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)43-51
Number of pages9
JournalDiagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease
Volume63
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Active tuberculosis
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis

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