ArticlePloS one2021
Mycobacterium tuberculosis-derived circulating cell-free DNA in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and persons with latent tuberculosis infection.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Review
- PlasmaInfectious diseases (London, England) · 2025Article
- Rapid tuberculosis diagnosis from respiratory or blood samples by a low cost, portable lab-in-tube assay.Science translational medicine · 2025Article
- Fast Screening of Tuberculosis Patients Based on Analysis of Plasma by Infrared Spectroscopy Coupled with Machine Learning Approaches.ACS omega · 2025Article
- Ghostbuster-A Western Blot-Based Panel Method to Resolve False-Positive Brucellosis Serology Test Results.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- MultigeneThe international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease · 2025Article
- Droplet digital PCR aids in the diagnosis of children with fever of unknown origin --A typical case report.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Cell-free DNA blood test for the diagnosis of pediatric tuberculous meningitis.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2024Article
- Identification ofInfection and drug resistance · 2024Review
- The risk factors of postoperative nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and laparoscopic distal gastrectomy: a propensity score matching analysis.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- False Positives in Brucellosis Serology: Wrong Bait and Wrong Pond?Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2023Review
- Advances in the application of molecular diagnostic techniques for the detection of infectious disease pathogens (Review).Molecular medicine reports · 2023Review
- Genome-wide tiled detection of circulating Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell-free DNA using Cas13.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Challenges and the Way forward in Diagnosis and Treatment of Tuberculosis Infection.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2023Review
- Use of Pleural Fluid Digital PCR Analysis to Improve the Diagnosis of Pleural Tuberculosis.Microbiology spectrum · 2022Article
- Evaluation of a droplet digital PCR assay for quantification ofFrontiers in veterinary science · 2022Article
- Circulating mitochondrial cell-free DNA dynamics in patients with mycobacterial pulmonary infections: Potential for a novel biomarker of disease.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- Development and clinical validation of a droplet digital PCR assay for detecting Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae in patients with suspected bloodstream infections.MicrobiologyOpen · 2021Article
- Detecting circulating microbial cell-free DNA by next-generation sequencing in patients withTzu chi medical journalArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe timely diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is challenging. Although pathogen-derived circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has been detected in humans, the significance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)-cfDNA detection in patients with PTB remains unclear.
methodsThis study enrolled patients with PTB and persons with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) as the study and control groups, respectively, from 2018 to 2020. We measured interferon-γ levels and calculated blood monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR). We conducted plasma cfDNA extraction, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and droplet digital PCR targeting the IS6110 gene of MTB. We calculated the sensitivity and specificity of using MTB-cfDNA to identify PTB and analyzed the factors associated with PTB diagnosis and MTB-cfDNA positivity.
resultsWe enrolled 24 patients with PTB and 57 LTBI controls. The sensitivity of using MTB-cfDNA to identify PTB was 54.2%(13/24) in total and 46.2%(6/13) in smear-negative cases. Two LTBI controls (3.5%) tested positive for MTB-cfDNA, indicating a specificity of 96.5%(55/57). By using MTB-cfDNA positivity and an MLR ≥0.42 to identify PTB, sensitivity increased to 79.2%(19/24). Among patients with PTB, MTB-specific interferon-γ levels were higher in MTB-cfDNA positive participants than in those who tested negative (7.0 ±2.7 vs 2.7±3.0 IU/mL, p<0.001). MTB-cfDNA levels declined after 2 months of anti-tuberculosis therapy (p<0.001).
conclusionThe sensitivity of using MTB-cfDNA to identify PTB in participants was 54.2%, which increased to 79.2% after incorporating an MLR ≥0.42 into the analysis. MTB-cfDNA positivity was associated with MTB-specific immune response, and MTB-cfDNA levels declined after treatment. The clinical value of MTB-cfDNA in PTB management necessitates further investigation.
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