Auxiliary Diagnostic Value of the Interferon Gamma-Induced Protein 10 mRNA Release Assay for Tuberculosis in People Living with HIV/AIDS - Beijing Municipality, China, 2022-2024.

INTRODUCTION

Diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) in HIV-infected individuals presents significant challenges due to difficulties in obtaining specimens containing adequate quantities of (). This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the mRNA assay independently and in combination with established diagnostic tests for detection.

METHODS

The study cohort comprised 111 HIV-infected individuals who presented with TB at Beijing Youan Hospital from 2022 to 2024. Participants were categorized into confirmed TB, probable TB, or non-TB groups according to the diagnostic criteria for tuberculosis (WS288-2017). The performance of the mRNA release assay was evaluated by the STARD guidelines on blood samples collected after enrollment.

RESULTS

The mRNA release assay demonstrated significantly higher sensitivity than interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) and culture methods for confirming pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) diagnosis while maintaining comparable specificity. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that the diagnostic performance of the mRNA release assay used in parallel with Xpert MTB/RIF significantly exceeded that of the mRNA release assay alone (0.731 . 0.687, =0.02). Among HIV-infected individuals, the mRNA release assay showed superior performance compared to IGRAs for diagnosing extrapulmonary tuberculosis.

CONCLUSIONS

The mRNA release assay exhibited excellent diagnostic performance and demonstrates substantial potential as an auxiliary tool for diagnosing TB in HIV-infected individuals. The combined application of IP-10TB and Xpert MTB/RIF further enhance diagnostic efficacy.