Interferon Gamma Release Assays for Tuberculosis Diagnosis
Despite being a preventable and curable disease, tuberculosis (TB) continues to be one of the main infectious causes of mortality around the world. M. tuberculosis is an airborne pathogen transmitted from human to human. People with viable organisms but no clinical evidence of disease are said to have latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). Accurate diagnosis of LTBI and provision of preventive therapy to people with LTBI is crucial to TB elimination. Two types of tests for LTBI are used in current clinical practice: the tuberculin skin test (TST) and the interferon-gamma release assays (IGRA). QuantiFERON-TB Gold test was approved for in vitro diagnostic use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. IGRAs are useful tools for diagnosis of TB and LTBI, but one must consider their limitations to optimally use these tools.
