tuberculosis
Mycobacteriology and Aerobic ActinomycetesDiagnostic Accuracy Study of a Novel Blood-Based Assay for Identification of Tuberculosis in People Living with HIVA nonsputum triage test to rule out tuberculosis (TB) disease is a WHO high-priority diagnostic, and a combinatory score based on a 3-gene host signature has shown promise in discriminating TB from other illnesses. We evaluated the accuracy of an early-prototype cartridge assay (“Xpert MTB Host Response” or Xpert-MTB-HR-Prototype) of this 3-gene signature on biobanked blood samples from people living with HIV (PLHIV) against a...
Mycobacteriology and Aerobic ActinomycetesComparative Analytical Evaluation of Four Centralized Platforms for the Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex and Resistance to Rifampicin and IsoniazidFailure to rapidly identify drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) increases the risk of patient mismanagement, the amplification of drug resistance, and ongoing transmission. We generated comparative analytical data for four automated assays for the detection of TB and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB): Abbott RealTime MTB and MTB RIF/INH (Abbott), Hain Lifescience FluoroType MTBDR (Hain), BD Max MDR-TB (BD), and Roche cobas MTB and...
MinireviewTuberculous Meningitis: Pathogenesis, Immune Responses, Diagnostic Challenges, and the Potential of Biomarker-Based ApproachesTuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most devastating form of tuberculosis (TB), causing high mortality or disability. Clinical management of the disease is challenging due to limitations of the existing diagnostic approaches. Our knowledge on the immunology and pathogenesis of the disease is currently limited. More research is urgently needed to enhance our understanding of the immunopathogenesis of the disease and guide us toward the...
Mycobacteriology and Aerobic ActinomycetesPopulation Structure of Mycobacterium bovis in Germany: a Long-Term Study Using Whole-Genome Sequencing Combined with Conventional Molecular Typing MethodsMycobacterium bovis is the primary cause of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) and infects a wide range of domestic animal and wildlife species and humans. In Germany, bTB still emerges sporadically in cattle herds, free-ranging wildlife, diverse captive animal species, and humans. In order to understand the underlying population structure and estimate the population size...
Mycobacteriology and Aerobic ActinomycetesLaboratory Evaluation of a Lateral-Flow Cell for Molecular Detection of First-Line and Second-Line Antituberculosis Drug ResistanceDespite the WHO’s call for universal drug susceptibility testing for all patients being evaluated for tuberculosis (TB), a lack of rapid diagnostic tests which can fully describe TB resistance patterns is a major challenge in ensuring that all persons diagnosed with drug-resistant TB are started on an appropriate treatment regime. We evaluated the accuracy of the Akonni Biosystems XDR-TB TruArray and lateral-flow cell (XDR-LFC), a novel...
Mycobacteriology and Aerobic ActinomycetesAn Optimal Diagnostic Strategy for Tuberculosis in Hospitalized HIV-Infected Patients Using GeneXpert MTB/RIF and Alere Determine TB LAM AgThe diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in HIV-infected patients is challenging. Both a urinary lipoarabinomannan (LAM) test (Alere TB LAM) and GeneXpert-MTB/RIF (Xpert) are useful for the diagnosis of TB. However, how to optimally integrate Xpert and LAM tests into clinical practice algorithms remain unclear. We performed a post hoc analysis of 561 HIV-infected sputum-expectorating patients (median CD4 count of 130 cells/ml) from a...
Mycobacteriology and Aerobic ActinomycetesDiagnostic Accuracy of Interferon Gamma-Induced Protein 10 mRNA Release Assay for TuberculosisInterferon gamma (IFN-γ) release assays (IGRAs) are increasingly used to test for latent tuberculosis (TB) infection. Although highly specific, IGRAs have a relatively high false-negative rate in active TB patients. A more sensitive assay is needed. IFN-γ-induced protein 10 (IP-10) is an alternative biomarker with a 100-fold-higher expression level than IFN-γ, allowing for different analysis platforms, including molecular detection. The...
MinireviewAdvances in Molecular Diagnosis of TuberculosisMolecular tests for tuberculosis (TB) have the potential to help reach the three million people with TB who are undiagnosed or not reported each year and to improve the quality of care TB patients receive by providing accurate, quick results, including rapid drug-susceptibility testing. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the use of molecular nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) tests for TB detection instead of...
Mycobacteriology and Aerobic ActinomycetesAccuracy of Xpert Ultra in Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis among Children in Uganda: a Substudy from the SHINE TrialChildhood tuberculosis (TB) presents significant diagnostic challenges associated with paucibacillary disease and requires a more sensitive test. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra (Ultra) compared to other microbiological tests using respiratory samples from Ugandan children in the SHINE trial. SHINE is a randomized trial evaluating shorter treatment in 1,204 children with minimal TB disease in Africa and India...
Mycobacteriology and Aerobic ActinomycetesEvaluation of Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra Assay for Diagnosis of Childhood Tuberculosis: a Multicenter Accuracy StudyA multicenter study was performed to evaluate the value of testing gastric aspirate (GA) with Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra assay (Ultra) for childhood tuberculosis (TB) detection in China. In total, 129 children with active TB and 173 children without TB were enrolled. The sensitivity of Ultra in bacteriologically confirmed TB and probable TB cases was 87.5% (42/48) and 44.4% (36/81), respectively. The specificity of Ultra was high (99.4%, 172/...