Diagnostic accuracy of interferon gamma-induced protein 10 for tuberculosis: a meta-analysis

The diagnostic accuracy of tuberculosis (TB) remains a clinical challenge, and a number of studies have used the interferon gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10) in the diagnosis of TB. The aim of the present meta-analysis was to determine the overall accuracy of IP-10 in the diagnosis of TB. A systematic review of studies published in English from Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library was conducted and the data concerning the accuracy of IP-10 in the diagnosis of TB were pooled. The methodological quality of each study was assessed by QUADAS (quality assessment for studies of diagnostic accuracy). Statistical analysis was performed by employing Meta-Disc 1.4 soft-ware and STATA. The overall test performance was summarized using receiver operating characteristic curves. 14 studies, based on 2075 subjects, met the inclusion criteria. The summary estimates for IP-10 in the diagnosis of TB were: sensitivity 0.73 (95% CI, 0.71-0.76), specificity 0.83 (95% CI, 0.81-0.86), positive likelihood ratio 7.08 (95% CI, 3.94-12.72), negative likelihood ratio 0.26 (95% CI, 0.20-0.35) and diagnostic odds ratio 29.50 (95% CI, 14.43-60.30), and the area under the curve was 0.88. Our findings suggest that IP-10 may improve the accuracy of TB diagnosis, while the results of IP-10 assays should be interpreted in parallel with conventional test results and other clinical findings.