title: Cytokines for monitoring anti-tuberculous therapy: A systematic review.
abstract: The ability to monitor response to therapy for tuberculosis (TB) and confirm adequate treatment would be a major advance. The low reversion rate of interferon-gamma based assays means that they are unlikely to be useful for monitoring therapy. Several exploratory studies have evaluated the diagnostic potential of cytokine biomarkers other than interferon-gamma for monitoring anti-tuberculous therapy. A systematic review of these studies was performed to identify the most promising candidate biomarkers. TNF-α, IL-2, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-12 were the most extensively investigated cytokines. There was significant heterogeneity between studies in relation to study design and laboratory methodology, complicating direct comparisons. There was marked variation between studies in the observed changes during treatment for many of the biomarkers. Further longitudinal studies in sufficiently large patient cohorts with rigorous methodology are needed to determine the true potential of individual cytokine biomarkers, or combinations, for monitoring TB treatment.
authors: Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne and Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
authors: Vanessa
authors: V
authors: Clifford
authors: Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne and Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
authors: Christel
authors: C
authors: Zufferey
authors: Victorian Infectious Diseases Unit, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
authors: Alan
authors: A
authors: Street
authors: Victorian Infectious Diseases Unit, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
authors: Justin
authors: J
authors: Denholm
authors: Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne and Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia; Academic Unit of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit & Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, United Kingdom.
authors: Marc
authors: M
authors: Tebruegge
authors: Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne and Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: nigel.curtis@rch.org.au.
authors: Nigel
authors: N
authors: Curtis
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; D016207:Cytokines
keywords: Antibiotics; Cytokines; Diagnosis; Immunomodulation; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Tuberculosis