Observational studyFrontiers in immunology2021
The Kynurenine/Tryptophan Ratio Is a Sensitive Biomarker for the Diagnosis of Pediatric Tuberculosis Among Indian Children.
Observational study in Frontiers in immunology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Tryptophan and Its Derived Metabolites as Biomarkers for Tuberculosis Disease: A Systematic ReviewIranian biomedical journal · 2024Pooled it
- Blood kynurenine pathway metabolites show limited diagnostic utility for tuberculosis among adults living with human immunodeficiency virus and children in Uganda.IJID regions · 2026Article
- Metabolomic Biomarkers for Monitoring Tuberculosis Treatment Response: A Comprehensive Literature Review.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Targeting Tryptophan Metabolism for Tuberculosis Biomarkers and Host-Directed Therapy.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2026Review
- Multicohort assessment of plasma metabolic signatures of tuberculosis disease in children: a retrospective cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Plasma kynurenine/tryptophan ratio as a sensitive blood-based diagnostic tool for tuberculosis: a diagnostic accuracy study among children living with HIV.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Exploring non-sputum biosignatures for tuberculosis triage and diagnosis in children living with HIV.Expert review of molecular diagnostics · 2025Review
- Multicohort assessment of plasma metabolic signatures of tuberculosis disease in children.Research square · 2025Article
- Animal models in tuberculosis metabolomics: a systematic review of current evidence and the road to translational relevance.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2025Review
- Indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase inhibition improves immunity and is safe for concurrent use with cART during Mtb/SIV coinfection.JCI insight · 2024Article
- The plasma kynurenine-to-tryptophan ratio as a biomarker of tuberculosis disease in people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy: an exploratory nested case-control study.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Kynurenine Pathway in Respiratory Diseases.International journal of tryptophan research : IJTR · 2024Review
- Immune Responses in Lung Granulomas during Mtb/HIV Co-Infection: Implications for Pathogenesis and Therapy.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Pediatric Tuberculosis Diagnostics: Present and Future.Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Objectives: Pediatric tuberculosis (TB) remains difficult to diagnose. The plasma kynurenine to tryptophan ratio (K/T ratio) is a potential biomarker for TB diagnosis and treatment response but has not been assessed in children. Methods: We performed a targeted diagnostic accuracy analysis of four biomarkers: kynurenine abundance, tryptophan abundance, the K/T ratio, and IDO-1 gene expression. Data were obtained from transcriptome and metabolome profiling of children with confirmed tuberculosis and age- and sex-matched uninfected household contacts of pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Each biomarker was assessed as a baseline diagnostic and in response to successful TB treatment. Results: Despite non-significant between-group differences in unbiased analysis, the K/T ratio achieved an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.667 and 81.5% sensitivity for TB diagnosis. Kynurenine, tryptophan, and IDO-1 demonstrated diagnostic AUCs of 0.667, 0.602, and 0.463, respectively. None of these biomarkers demonstrated high AUCs for treatment response. The AUC of the K/T ratio was lower than biomarkers identified in unbiased analysis, but improved sensitivity over existing commercial assays for pediatric TB diagnosis. Conclusions: Plasma kynurenine and the K/T ratio may be useful biomarkers for pediatric TB. Ongoing studies in geographically diverse populations will determine optimal use of these biomarkers worldwide.
Indexed as
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.