title: Highly accurate diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis by immunological analysis of the pleural effusion.
abstract: Pleural TB is notoriously difficult to diagnose due to its paucibacillary nature yet it is the most common cause of pleural effusions in TB endemic countries such as The Gambia. We identified both cellular and soluble biomarkers in the pleural fluid that allowed highly accurate diagnosis of pleural TB compared to peripheral blood markers. Multi-plex cytokine analysis on unstimulated pleural fluid showed that IP-10 resulted in a positive likelihood ratio (LR) of 9.6 versus 2.8 for IFN-γ; a combination of IP-10, IL-6 and IL-10 resulted in an AUC of 0.96 and positive LR of 10. A striking finding was the significantly higher proportion of PPD-specific IFN-γ+TNF-α+ cell population (PPD-IGTA) in the pleural fluid compared to peripheral blood of TB subjects. Presence of this pleural PPD-IGTA population resulted in 95% correct classification of pleural TB disease with a sensitivity of 95% and specificity of 100%. These data suggest that analysis of the site of infection provides superior diagnostic accuracy compared to peripheral blood for pleural TB, likely due to the sequestration of effector cells at this acute stage of disease.
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council Unit, Atlantic Road, Fajara, The Gambia, West Africa. jsutherland@mrc.gm
authors.forename: Jayne S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Sutherland
authors.forename: Danlani
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Garba
authors.forename: Augustin E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Fombah
authors.forename: Awa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mendy-Gomez
authors.forename: Francis S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Mendy
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Antonio
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Townend
authors.forename: Readon C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Ideh
authors.forename: Tumani
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Corrah
authors.forename: Martin O C
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Ota
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D001826:Body Fluids / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012995:Solubility; D014396:Tuberculosis, Pleural / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers