Serial T-Spot.TB and Quantiferon-TB-Gold In-Tube Assays to Monitor Response to Antitubercular Treatment in Italian Children With Active or Latent Tuberculosis Infection

Abstract

We performed a prospective study to investigate T-SPOT.TB and QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-G-IT) dynamics during antitubercular treatment in active tuberculosis (TB) or latent TB. Eighteen children with latent TB and 26 with TB were enrolled. At 6 months of follow-up reversion rate was 5.88% (95% CI:0-13.79) for QFT-G-IT; 9.09% (95% CI:0.59-17.58) for T-SPOT.TB (P=0.921) in TB cases. Significant decline in quantitative response was observed exclusively in TB cases. Our results suggest that serial IGRA have limited use in children receiving antitubercular treatment.

Persistently Retained Interferon-Gamma Responsiveness in Individuals with a History of Pulmonary Tuberculosis

“…Some authors have reported that reversion of IGRAs does not occur after the completion of anti-TB treatment (Pai et al 2006;Chiappini et al 2012a;Denkinger et al 2013), whereas others reported decreased IGRA responses after treatment (Ewer et al 2006;Lee et al 2010a, b). Pai et al reported that the decline of IFN-γ response was not statistically significant during the treatment of latent TB infection (LTBI).…”

QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube Test for Tuberculosis Prevention in HIV-Infected Patients

“…Previous studies have reported a positive correlation between IGRAassessed effector T-cell responses and the antigenic and the bacillary burden of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (9,10). Decreased T-cell responses after active TB and LTBI treatment have been demonstrated in non-HIVinfected individuals (9,11), however, to date, reports of changes in interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) levels after LTBI treatment remain controversial (12)(13)(14). Additionally, data regarding the long-term IFN-γ responses after IPT among HIV-infected patients from high-endemic TB settings are limited (15).…”

“…The QFT-IT-positive patients were offered 9-month IPT and were QFT-IT tested annually. Of the 150 enrolled patients, 8,12,16, and 114 patients were assigned to groups 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Sixteen of 19 QFT-IT-positive patients (84 ) completed IPT.…”

Effect of Isoniazid Therapy for Latent TB Infection on QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube Responses in Adults With Positive Tuberculin Skin Test Results in a High TB Incidence Area

“…Some studies showed a decline in interferon-g (IFN-g ) levels after treatment, whereas others showed no change or increased levels of IFN-g . 5,[7][8][9][10][11] More limited data are available on T-cell response and IGRA after treatment of LTBI, although there is substantial interest in identifying a biomarker of response to treatment of LTBI.…”