ArticleFrontiers in immunology2022
Reduction of blood C-reactive protein concentration complements the resolution of sputum bacillary load in patients on anti-tuberculosis therapy.
Article in Frontiers in immunology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Machine learning versus clinical scoring systems for predicting poor wound healing after posterior surgery for thoracolumbar tuberculosis.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2026Article
- Predictive Value of C-reactive Protein for Hospitalization and Mortality Among People With Advanced HIV Disease in Uganda Receiving the World Health Organization-recommended Package of Care.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026Article
- Glucose driven bacterial persistence in extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis with diabetes.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Risk factors for impaired surgical wound healing after spinal tuberculosis surgery: a retrospective comparative trial.Frontiers in surgery · 2026Article
- Stool-Based Molecular Tuberculosis Treatment Monitoring: A Faster Means for Detecting Persistent Mycobacteria Compared to Phenotypic Culture.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Analysis of risk factors of unfavorable treatment outcomes in patients with rifampicin-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis.Medicine · 2025Observational
- Inclusion of patient-centered, non-microbiological endpoints and biomarkers in tuberculosis drug trials.Frontiers in antibiotics · 2025Review
- Identification of Factors Determining Patterns of Serum C-Reactive Protein Level Reduction in Response to Treatment Initiation in Patients with Drug-Susceptible Pulmonary Tuberculosis.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Resolution of tuberculosis blood RNA signatures fails to discriminate persistent sputum culture positivity after 8 weeks of anti-tuberculous treatment.The European respiratory journal · 2024Article
- Review
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11 authors.
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Abstract
Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a difficult-to-treat disease requiring the combination of four antibiotics for a minimum of 6 months. Rapid and quantitative biomarkers to monitor treatment response are urgently needed for individual patient management and clinical trials. C-reactive protein (CRP) is often used clinically as a rapid marker of inflammation caused by infection. We assessed the relationship of TB bacillary load and CRP as biomarkers of treatment response. Methods: Xpert MTB/RIF-confirmed pulmonary TB cases were enrolled for treatment response assessment in Mozambique. Treatment response was measured using the Tuberculosis Molecular Bacterial Load Assay (TB-MBLA) in comparison with standard-of-care Mycobacterium Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) culture at baseline and at weeks 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 17, and 26 of treatment. Blood CRP concentration was measured at baseline, week 8, and week 26. Treatment response was defined as increase in MGIT culture time to positivity (TTP), and reduction in TB-MBLA-measured bacillary load and blood CRP concentration. Results: Out of the 81 screened presumptive TB cases, 69 were enrolled for 6-month treatment follow-up resulting in 94% treatment completion rate. Four participants did not complete TB treatment and 22 participants had missing CRP or TB-MBLA results and were excluded from TB-MBLA-CRP analysis. The remaining 43 participants-median age, 31 years old [interquartile range (IQR): 18-56]; 70% (30/43) male; and 70% (30/43) infected with HIV-were considered for analysis. Culture TTP and bacillary load were inversely correlated, Spearman's Conclusion: TB-MBLA-measured bacillary load and blood CRP complement each other in response to anti-TB therapy. Slow CRP reduction probably reflects residual TB bacilli in the lung not expectorated in sputum. Combining both measures can improve the accuracy of these biomarkers for monitoring TB treatment response and shorten turnaround time since the results of both assays could be available in 24 h.
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