Dheda, K;
Smit, RNV;
Sechi, LA;
Badri, M;
Meldau, R;
Symons, G;
Khalfey, H;
... Zumla, A; + view all
(2009)
Clinical Diagnostic Utility of IP-10 and LAM Antigen Levels for the Diagnosis of Tuberculous Pleural Effusions in a High Burden Setting.
PLOS ONE
, 4
(3)
, Article e4689. 10.1371/journal.pone.0004689.
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Abstract
Background: Current tools for the diagnosis of tuberculosis pleural effusions are sub-optimal. Data about the value of new diagnostic technologies are limited, particularly, in high burden settings. Preliminary case control studies have identified IFN-gamma-inducible-10kDa protein (IP-10) as a promising diagnostic marker; however, its diagnostic utility in a day-to-day clinical setting is unclear. Detection of LAM antigen has not previously been evaluated in pleural fluid.Methods: We investigated the comparative diagnostic utility of established (adenosine deaminase [ADA]), more recent (standardized nucleic-acid-amplification-test [NAAT]) and newer technologies (a standardized LAM mycobacterial antigen-detection assay and IP-10 levels) for the evaluation of pleural effusions in 78 consecutively recruited South African tuberculosis suspects. All consenting participants underwent pleural biopsy unless contra-indicated or refused. The reference standard comprised culture positivity for M. tuberculosis or histology suggestive of tuberculosis.Principal Findings: Of 74 evaluable subjects 48, 7 and 19 had definite, probable and non-TB, respectively. IP-10 levels were significantly higher in TB vs non-TB participants (p<0.0001). The respective outcomes [sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV %] for the different diagnostic modalities were: ADA at the 30 IU/L cut-point [96; 69; 90; 85], NAAT [6; 93; 67; 28], IP-10 at the 28,170 pg/ml ROC-derived cut-point [80; 82; 91; 64], and IP-10 at the 4035 pg/ml cut-point [100; 53; 83; 100]. Thus IP-10, using the ROC-derived cut-point, missed similar to 20% of TB cases and mis-diagnosed similar to 20% of non-TB cases. By contrast, when a lower cut-point was used a negative test excluded TB. The NAAT had a poor sensitivity but high specificity. LAM antigen-detection was not diagnostically useful.Conclusion: Although IP-10, like ADA, has sub-optimal specificity, it may be a clinically useful rule-out test for tuberculous pleural effusions. Larger multi-centric studies are now required to confirm our findings.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Clinical Diagnostic Utility of IP-10 and LAM Antigen Levels for the Diagnosis of Tuberculous Pleural Effusions in a High Burden Setting |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0004689 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0004689 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2009 Dheda et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This work was supported by the South African National Research Foundation (SARChI), the South African Medical Research Council and the UCL-UCT Collaboration Initiative. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Infection and Immunity |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/113900 |
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