QuantiFERON®-TB Gold assay for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection

摘要

Tuberculin skin test (TST) has been used for 100 years for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosisn(TB) infection (LTBI). In recent years, increasing interest in the diagnosis of TB has led to thendevelopment of new assays. QuantiFERON®-TB Gold (QFT-G) is an IFN-γ-release assay thatnmeasures the release of interferon after stimulation in vitro by Mycobacterium tuberculosisnantigens. The main advantage of this assay with respect to TST is the lack of crossreaction withnbacillus Calmette–Guérin and most nontuberculous mycobacteria. QFT-G also eliminates thenneed for the patient to return for test reading in 48–72 h. In the immunocompromised hostnand in pediatric populations, studies suggest that the QFT-G better correlates with the risk ofnTB than the TST, but data remain inconclusive. In contrast to TST, there are no prospectivenstudies regarding the association of the QFT-G result and the risk for development of TB. Givennits advantages, the QFT-G may become the standard test for the diagnosis of LTBI.