ArticleThe European respiratory journal2011
Are interferon-γ release assays useful for diagnosing active tuberculosis in a high-burden setting?
Article in The European respiratory journal, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diagnostic accuracy of interferon-gamma release assays for diagnosis of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Body Fluid Interferon-γ Release Assay for Diagnosis of Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Scientific reports · 2015Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
- Diagnostic value of the tuberculosis-specific antigen, CFP10, in renal tuberculosis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Efficacy and Risk Factors of Interferon-Gamma Release Assays among HIV-Positive Individuals.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Review and Updates on the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Review
- Stabilization of Tuberculosis Reporter Enzyme Fluorescence (REFtb) Diagnostic Reagents for Use at the Point of Care.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus Assay in Patients With Latent vs. Active Tuberculosis in a Low Incidence Setting: Level of IFN-γ, CD4/CD8 Responses, and Release of IL-2, IP-10, and MIG.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
- Increased Expression of IL-10 in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Correlates with Negative Interferon-γ Release Assay Results in Culture-Confirmed Tuberculosis Patients.Infection and drug resistance · 2021Article
- Harnessing Big Data to Optimize an Algorithm for Rapid Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in a Real-World Setting.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2021Article
- Combination of Xpert MTB/RIF and TBAg/PHA Ratio for Prompt Diagnosis of Active Tuberculosis: A Two-Center Prospective Cohort Study.Frontiers in medicine · 2020Article
- Application Values of T-SPOT.TB in Clinical Rapid Diagnosis of Tuberculosis.Iranian journal of public health · 2018Article
- Novel interferon-gamma assays for diagnosing tuberculosis in young children in India.The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease · 2017Article
- Article
- High IFN-γ Release and Impaired Capacity of Multi-Cytokine Secretion in IGRA Supernatants Are Associated with Active Tuberculosis.PloS one · 2016Article
- Article
- Evaluation of the characteristics of the enzyme-linked immunospot assay for diagnosis of active tuberculosis in China.Clinical and vaccine immunology : CVI · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Although interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) are intended for diagnosing latent tuberculosis (TB), we hypothesised that in a high-burden setting: 1) the magnitude of the response when using IGRAs can distinguish active TB from other diagnoses; 2) IGRAs may aid in the diagnosis of smear-negative TB; and 3) IGRAs could be useful as rule-out tests for active TB. We evaluated the accuracy of two IGRAs (QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-tube (QFT-GIT) and T-SPOT®.TB) in 395 patients (27% HIV-infected) with suspected TB in Cape Town, South Africa. IGRA sensitivity and specificity (95% CI) were 76% (68-83%) and 42% (36-49%) for QFT-GIT and 84% (77-90%) and 47% (40-53%) for T-SPOT®.TB, respectively. Although interferon-γ responses were significantly higher in the TB versus non-TB groups (p<0.0001), varying the cut-offs did not improve discriminatory ability. In culture-negative patients, depending on whether those with clinically diagnosed TB were included or excluded from the analysis, the negative predictive value (NPV) of QFT-GIT, T-SPOT®.TB and chest radiograph in smear-negative patients varied between 85 and 89, 87 and 92, and 98% (for chest radiograph), respectively. Overall accuracy was independent of HIV status and CD4 count. In a high-burden setting, IGRAs alone do not have value as rule-in or -out tests for active TB. In smear-negative patients, chest radiography had better NPV even in HIV-infected patients.
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Registered trials
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.