Cellular interferon-gamma based assay for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

A major breakthrough in recent years has been the development of an in vitro assays that measure T-cell release of interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) in response to stimulation with antigens specific to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) such as early secreted antigenic target 6 (ESAT6) and culture filtrate protein 10 (CFP10). This study aimed at evaluating the diagnostic potential of IFN-gamma in vitro production assay for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. The study included 40 patients from Abbasia Chest Hospital, Cairo, Egypt.