TY - JOUR
T1 - Adjunctive tests for diagnosis of tuberculosis
T2 - Serology, ELISPOT for site-specific lymphocytes, urinary lipoarabinomannan, string test, and fine needle aspiration
AU - Achkar, Jacqueline M.
AU - Lawn, Stephen D.
AU - Moosa, Mahomed Yunus S.
AU - Wright, Colleen A.
AU - Kasprowicz, Victoria O.
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial support. This work was supported in part by funds from the National Institute of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID; AI-067665 to J. M. A.); the Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (J. M. A.); the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI; J. M. A., M.-Y. S. M., V. O. K.); the Wellcome Trust, London, UK (S. D. L.); the South African Medical Research Council (M.-Y. S. M.); and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV (K-RITH; J. M. A., V. O. K.). Potential conflicts of interest. All authors: No reported conflicts.
PY - 2011/11/15
Y1 - 2011/11/15
N2 - The diagnostic gold standard for active tuberculosis (TB) is the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) by culture or molecular methods. However, despite its limited sensitivity, sputum smear microscopy is still the mainstay of TB diagnosis in resource-limited settings. Consequently, diagnosis of smear-negative pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB remains challenging in such settings. A number of novel or alternative techniques could provide adjunctive diagnostic use in the context of difficult-to-diagnose TB. These may be especially useful in certain patient groups such as persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and children, who are disproportionably affected by smear-negative and extrapulmonary disease and who are also most adversely affected by delays in TB diagnosis and treatment. We review a selection of these methods that are independent of nucleic acid amplification techniques and could largely be implemented in resource-limited settings in current or adapted versions. Specifically, we discuss the diagnostic use and potential of serologic tests based on detection of antibodies to MTB antigens; interferon gamma release assays using site-specific lymphocytes; detection of lipoarabinomannan, a glycolipid of MTB, in urine; the string test, a novel technique to retrieve lower respiratory tract samples; and fine needle aspiration biopsy of lymph nodes.
AB - The diagnostic gold standard for active tuberculosis (TB) is the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) by culture or molecular methods. However, despite its limited sensitivity, sputum smear microscopy is still the mainstay of TB diagnosis in resource-limited settings. Consequently, diagnosis of smear-negative pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB remains challenging in such settings. A number of novel or alternative techniques could provide adjunctive diagnostic use in the context of difficult-to-diagnose TB. These may be especially useful in certain patient groups such as persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and children, who are disproportionably affected by smear-negative and extrapulmonary disease and who are also most adversely affected by delays in TB diagnosis and treatment. We review a selection of these methods that are independent of nucleic acid amplification techniques and could largely be implemented in resource-limited settings in current or adapted versions. Specifically, we discuss the diagnostic use and potential of serologic tests based on detection of antibodies to MTB antigens; interferon gamma release assays using site-specific lymphocytes; detection of lipoarabinomannan, a glycolipid of MTB, in urine; the string test, a novel technique to retrieve lower respiratory tract samples; and fine needle aspiration biopsy of lymph nodes.
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U2 - 10.1093/infdis/jir450
DO - 10.1093/infdis/jir450
M3 - Article
C2 - 21996695
AN - SCOPUS:80054762488
SN - 0022-1899
VL - 204
SP - S1130-S1141
JO - Journal of Infectious Diseases
JF - Journal of Infectious Diseases
IS - SUPPL. 4
ER -