Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026
Whole Blood Assay with Dual Co-Stimulation for Antigen-Specific Analysis of Host Immunity to Fungal and Viral Pathogens
Published on: September 20, 2024
Biomarkers in QuantiFERON Supernatants May Help Distinguish Latent Tuberculosis Infection From Active Tuberculosis:
Dagmara Borkowska-Tatar1, Anna Zabost1, Michał Czopowicz2
1Department of Microbiology, National Reference Laboratory for Mycobacteria, Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Płocka Street 26, Warsaw, 01-138, Poland.
Background:
Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is an important public health problem and a major source of future active tuberculosis (ATB) cases. In this preliminary study, we sought to identify host biomarkers that could potential differentiate between LTBI and ATB.
Methods:
A total of 145 plasma samples obtained from antigen tubes of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus assay were analysed. Concentrations of 20 selected cytokines were determined using a multiplex bead-based immunoassay (Luminex xMAP Technology). Cytokine profiles were compared between patients with ATB, LTBI, and non-tuberculosis (TB)/LTBI controls. Diagnostic performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and multivariable logistic regression modelling.
Results:
Comparison of cytokine profiles showed significant differences in 13 of 20 analysed markers between LTBI and ATB. Among all evaluated biomarkers, interleukin-7 (IL-7) demonstrated the highest diagnostic potential in differentiating the two conditions (95.9%), outperforming interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), the key component of current IFN-γ release assay (IGRA) assays. A logistic regression model based on IL-7 and IFN-γ achieved high diagnostic accuracy (98.1%) in this study cohort.
Conclusion:
These preliminary findings suggest that IL-7, in combination with IFN-γ, may serve as a promising candidate biomarker signature for distinguishing LTBI from ATB. Nevertheless, these findings are based on a single-centre dataset and represent internal, non-externally validated results. Therefore, external validation in independent multicentre cohorts is essential before any clinical application can be considered.
