Risk assessment of tuberculosis in immunocompromised patients. A TBNET study.

Rationale: In the absence of active tuberculosis, a positive tuberculin skin test (TST) or interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) result defines latent infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, although test results may vary depending on immunodeficiency.

Objectives: This study compared the performance of TST and IGRAs in five different groups of immunocompromised patients, and evaluated their ability to identify those at risk for development of tuberculosis.

Methods: Immunocompromised patients with HIV infection, chronic renal failure, rheumatoid arthritis, solid-organ or stem-cell transplantation, and healthy control subjects were evaluated head-to-head by the TST, QuantiFERON-TB-Gold in-tube test (ELISA), and T-SPOT.

Antigen-specific CD4- and CD8-positive signatures in different phases of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

Current diagnostic standards for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection do not distinguish between active and latent tuberculosis (TB). To identify specific biomarkers characterizing the different forms of TB infection, we investigated in parallel with the QuantiFERON -TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-IT) the use of flow cytometry measuring CD4 and CD8 MTB-specific immune response in 17 active-TB patients, 21 health care workers (HCW), 14 recent contacts of TB patients (RC-TB), and 10 bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG)-vaccinated healthy controls (BCG-HC). A correlation (r = 0.

Association of age with the level of response in the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube assay for children with active tuberculosis.

QuantiFERON-TB data from 50 children with tuberculosis were analysed to evaluate age related effects. Significantly higher IFN-? responses to TB-specific antigens were associated with younger age, but no difference was found with Mitogen responses. Extrapolating IGRA responses to a Mitogen does not reflect those induced by an antigen-specific stimulus.

Rational use of immunodiagnostic tools for tuberculosis infection: guidelines and cost effectiveness studies.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a public health challenge and its control requires the use efficient diagnostic tools. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) elicits a strong immune response upon infection, a phenomenon measured by the old tuberculin skin test (TST). However, this test has many limitations and a high rate of positivity in BCG-vaccinated subjects.

Design of immunogenic peptides from Mycobacterium tuberculosis genes expressed during macrophage infection.

In vitro diagnosis of MTB-infection uses MTB-proteins coded for by genes of the region of differentiation 1 (RD1) of the MTB genome. This study wants to test if proteins preferentially expressed during MTB-intracellular growth might provide new targets for the diagnosis of MTB-infection. To this end seventy-five multiepitopic HLA-promiscuous MTB-peptides were designed by quantitative implemented peptide-binding motif analysis from 3 MTB-protein genes expressed in activated human macrophages (MA), 4 genes expressed during growth in non-activated human macrophages (MN-A), 12 housekeeping genes (HKG) and 6 genes of the RD1 region (RD1) as control.

Accuracy of immunodiagnostic tests for active tuberculosis using single and combined results: a multicenter TBNET-Study.

Background: The clinical application of IFN-gamma release assays (IGRAs) has recently improved the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection. In a multicenter study of the Tuberculosis Network European Trialsgroup (TBNET) we aimed to ascertain in routine clinical practice the accuracy of a novel assay using selected peptides encoded in the mycobacterial genomic region of difference (RD) 1 for the diagnosis of active tuberculosis in comparison with tuberculin skin test (TST), QuantiFERON-TB GOLD In-Tube (Cellestis Ltd., Carnegie, Australia) and T-SPOT.

Cellular and humoral systemic and mucosal immune responses stimulated in volunteers by an oral polybacterial immunomodulator "Dentavax".

The oral polybacterial immunomodulator Dentavax (D), composed of killed cells from Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans and Lactobacillus acidophilus and their lysates was created for immunoprophylaxis and therapy of oral mucosa and parodont inflammations. The stimulating effect of the preparation was evaluated in twelve volunteers immunized for 10 consecutive days. On days 7, 14, 21, 28 and 49 after the last immunization peripheral blood (PB) lymphocyte subsets, T lymphocyte activation and PB phagocytic activity, were studied by flow cytometry.