A Potential Point-of-Care Blood Test to Rule Out Tuberculosis

In a Swedish study enrolling people with suspected tuberculosis, an assay that quantifies expression of three host mRNAs had a negative predictive value of ≥94%.

Many patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) have few symptoms or do not produce adequate sputum samples for diagnosis — others have extrapulmonary disease (EPTB), where samples may be unavailable. Thus, there has been interest in developing a detection method based on host response. Levels of human messenger RNA for three differentially expressed genes in whole blood distinguish persons with active TB from those with other diseases. A commercial assay (Cepheid's Xpert MTB-HR) is part of a point-of-care test yielding results reported as a composite score based on cycle threshold values for the individual mRNAs.

Among 312 patients with suspected pulmonary or extrapulmonary TB in this Swedish study, 108 had a confirmed diagnosis of T…

Reviewing Author

Neil M. Ampel, MD

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Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Neil M. Ampel, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

A Potential Point-of-Care Blood Test to Rule Out Tuberculosis

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Reviewing Author