Evidence map›Paper›PMID 10548589›Full record

Trial reportClinical and diagnostic laboratory immunology1999

Tuberculin-purified protein derivative-, MPT-64-, and ESAT-6-stimulated gamma interferon responses in medical students before and after Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccination and in patients with tuberculosis.

P D Johnson, R L Stuart, M L Grayson, D Olden, A Clancy, P Ravn, P Andersen, W J Britton, J S Rothel

Abstract readClinical TrialComparative Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Clinical and diagnostic laboratory immunology, 1999. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
35citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

35 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Evaluation of interferon-gamma release assays for the diagnosis of tuberculosis: an updated meta-analysis.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2012
    Pooled it
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  5. Tissue-specific T cell profiles inFrontiers in tuberculosis · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

P D JohnsonDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Epidemiology, Monash Medical Centre, Clayton, Victoria, Australia. Paul.Johnson@med.monash.edu.au
R L Stuart
M L Grayson
D Olden
A Clancy
P Ravn
P Andersen
W J Britton
J S Rothel

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

QuantiFERON-TB (QIFN) (CSL Limited) is a whole-blood assay for the recognition of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. QIFN measures gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) production when purified protein derivatives (PPDs) of mycobacteria are incubated with venous blood samples. The specificity of QIFN in medical students before and after BCG immunization was assessed, and sensitivity in patients with tuberculosis was assessed. Antigens were PPD derived from M. tuberculosis and two M. tuberculosis-specific proteins, ESAT-6 and MPT-64. Of 60 medical students, all of whom had 0-mm tuberculin skin tests (TSTs) at study entry, 58 (97%) were initially classified as negative for M. tuberculosis infection by PPD QIFN. Five months after BCG immunization, 7 of 54 students (13%) had a TST result of >/=10 mm and 11 of 54 students (20%) tested positive by PPD QIFN. ESAT-6- and MPT-64-stimulated IFN-gamma responses in the medical students were negative prior to and after BCG immunization. For patients with active tuberculosis, 12 of 19 (63%) were positive by PPD QIFN, 11 of 19 (58%) were positive by ESAT-6 QIFN, and 0 of 12 were positive by MPT-64 QIFN. In conclusion, PPD QIFN was negative in 97% of a low-risk population who had not received BCG and who had negative TSTs. The specificities of both the TST and PPD QIFN were reduced following BCG immunization. PPD QIFN and ESAT-6 QIFN were of similar and moderate sensitivity in patients with active tuberculosis, but ESAT-6 QIFN is likely to be more specific because it is not influenced by past BCG exposure.

Indexed as

Antibodies, BacterialAntibody SpecificityAntigens, BacterialBacterial ProteinsBCG VaccineEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent AssayHumansInterferon-gammaMycobacterium bovisMycobacterium tuberculosisStudents, MedicalTuberculinTuberculosis, PulmonaryAntibodies, BacterialAntigens, BacterialBacterial ProteinsBCG VaccineESAT-6 protein, Mycobacterium tuberculosisInterferon-gammaTuberculin

Identifiers

PMID10548589
PMCPMC95801

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.