ArticlePulmonary medicine2013
Interferon-Gamma Release Assays versus Tuberculin Skin Testing for the Diagnosis of Latent Tuberculosis Infection: An Overview of the Evidence.
Article in Pulmonary medicine, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 141 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interferon-gamma release assay levels and risk of progression to active tuberculosis: a systematic review and dose-response meta-regression analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Comparing interferon-gamma release assays with tuberculin skin test for identifying latent tuberculosis infection that progresses to active tuberculosis: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2017Pooled it
- Systematic review of mathematical models exploring the epidemiological impact of future TB vaccines.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2016Pooled it
- Performance of interferon-γ release assays in the diagnosis of confirmed active tuberculosis in immunocompetent children: a new systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2016Pooled it
- Prevalence of Latent Tuberculosis among Health Care Workers in High Burden Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.PloS one · 2016Pooled it
- A systematic review on TST and IGRA tests used for diagnosis of LTBI in immigrants.Molecular diagnosis & therapy · 2015Pooled it
- Accuracy of ESAT6-CFP10 skin test compared with tuberculin skin test in a healthy population: a randomized, blind, parallel controlled phase III clinical study.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Trial
- Sensitivity, Specificity, and Safety of a Novel ESAT6-CFP10 Skin Test for Tuberculosis Infection in China: 2 Randomized, Self-Controlled, Parallel-Group Phase 2b Trials.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Performance of QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube test and Tuberculin Skin Test for diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection in BCG vaccinated health care workers.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2014Trial
- Exploring the Protein Landscape of Dormant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Through In Vitro Functional Studies.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Evaluation of three novel antigens and costimulatory agents for improvement of M. Tuberculosis specific interferon gamma release assays.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Backtranslation of human RNA biosignatures of tuberculosis disease risk into the preclinical pipeline is condition dependent.mSphere · 2025Article
- Factors associated with indeterminate QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus Test results during the COVID-19 pandemic.PloS one · 2025Article
- Biological Therapies in Oncology: Balancing Efficacy and Safety in the Context of Latent Tuberculosis.Advanced pharmaceutical bulletin · 2024Article
- Novel Prodrug Strategies for the Treatment of Tuberculosis.Chemistry, an Asian journal · 2024Review
- A comprehensive review of paratuberculosis in animals and its implications for public health.Open veterinary journal · 2024Review
- Interferon-gamma release assays as a tool for differential diagnosis of gastrointestinal tuberculosis.World journal of clinical cases · 2024Article
- Tuberculosis Diagnosis: Current, Ongoing, and Future Approaches.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Article
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
A profusion of articles have been published on the accuracy and uses of interferon-gamma releasing assays. Here we review the clinical applications, advantages, and limitations of the tuberculin skin test and interferon-gamma release assays and provide an overview of the most recent systematic reviews conducted for different indications for the use of these tests. We conclude that both tests are accurate to detect latent tuberculosis, although interferon-gamma release assays have higher specificity than tuberculin skin testing in BCG-vaccinated populations, particularly if BCG is received after infancy. However, both tests perform poorly to predict risk for progression to active tuberculosis. Interferon-gamma release assays have significant limitations in serial testing because of spontaneous variability and lack of a validated definition of conversion and reversion, making it difficult for clinicians to interpret changes in category (conversions and reversions). So far, the most important clinical evidence, that is, that isoniazid preventive therapy reduces the risk for progression to disease, has been produced only in tuberculin skin test-positive individuals.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.