Immune status changing helps diagnose osteoarticular tuberculosis

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Medical Diagnostics
• Tuberculosis Research

Background:

• Osteoarticular tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis can be challenging.
• Accurate diagnostic tools are crucial for timely treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel nomogram for the clinical diagnosis of osteoarticular TB.
• To identify independent predictive factors for osteoarticular TB.

Main Methods:

• Utilized xCell algorithm for immune cell abundance estimation from gene expression data (GSE83456).
• Analyzed routine blood examination data from 326 osteoarticular TB patients.
• Employed logistic regression and ROC curve analysis to develop and assess the nomogram.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in immune cell scores (basophils, monocytes, neutrophils, platelets, lymphoid) were observed between EPTB and healthy controls.
• Monocyte and lymphocyte counts differed significantly in osteoarticular TB patients.
• The developed nomogram, incorporating ML ratio, BMI, and ESR, achieved an AUC of 0.843.

Conclusions:

• A validated nomogram effectively aids in the clinical diagnosis of osteoarticular TB.
• ML ratio, BMI, and ESR are identified as key independent predictors.
• The nomogram shows satisfactory performance for diagnosing osteoarticular TB.