Blood or Urine IP-10 Cannot Discriminate between Active Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases Different from Tuberculosis in Children.
OBJECTIVE
Interferon-γ inducible protein 10 (IP-10), either in blood or in urine, has been proposed as a tuberculosis (TB) biomarker for adults. This study aims to evaluate the potential of IP-10 diagnostics in children from Uganda, a high TB-endemic country.


METHODS
IP-10 was measured in the blood and urine concomitantly taken from children who were prospectively enrolled with suspected active TB, with or without HIV infection. Clinical/microbiological parameters and commercially available TB-immune assays (tuberculin skin test (TST) and QuantiFERON TB-Gold In-Tube (QFT-IT)) were concomitantly evaluated.


RESULTS
One hundred twenty-eight children were prospectively enrolled. The analysis was performed on 111 children: 80 (72%) of them were HIV-uninfected and 31 (27.9%) were HIV-infected. Thirty-three healthy adult donors (HAD) were included as controls. The data showed that IP-10 is detectable in the urine and blood of children with active TB, independent of HIV status and age. However, although IP-10 levels were higher in active TB children compared to HAD, the accuracy of identifying "active TB" was low and similar to the TST and QFT-IT.


CONCLUSIONS
IP-10 levels are higher in children with respiratory illness compared to controls, independent of "TB status" suggesting that the evaluation of this parameter can be used as an inflammatory marker more than a TB test.
Translational Research Unit, Department of Epidemiology and Preclinical Research, National Institute for Infectious Diseases (INMI), 00149 Rome, Italy.
Linda
L
Petrone
Translational Research Unit, Department of Epidemiology and Preclinical Research, National Institute for Infectious Diseases (INMI), 00149 Rome, Italy.
Angela
A
Cannas
Italian Association for Solidarity among People (AISPO), P.O. Box 7146, Kampala, Uganda ; St. Francis Nsambya Hospital, P.O. Box 7146, Kampala, Uganda.
Francesco
F
Aloi
St. Francis Nsambya Hospital, P.O. Box 7146, Kampala, Uganda.
Martin
M
Nsubuga
St. Francis Nsambya Hospital, P.O. Box 7146, Kampala, Uganda.
Joseph
J
Sserumkuma
St. Francis Nsambya Hospital, P.O. Box 7146, Kampala, Uganda.
Ritah Angella
RA
Nazziwa
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Medical Services and Diagnostic Department, 4002 Basel, Switzerland ; University of Basel, 4003 Basel, Switzerland ; Ifakara Health Institute, Bagamoyo Research and Training Center, P.O. Box 78373, Bagamoyo, Tanzania.
Levan
L
Jugheli
Ifakara Health Institute, Bagamoyo Research and Training Center, P.O. Box 78373, Bagamoyo, Tanzania.
Tedson
T
Lukindo
Department of Epidemiology and Preclinical Research, National Institute for Infectious Diseases (INMI), 00149 Rome, Italy.
Enrico
E
Girardi
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Medical Services and Diagnostic Department, 4002 Basel, Switzerland ; University of Basel, 4003 Basel, Switzerland ; Ifakara Health Institute, Bagamoyo Research and Training Center, P.O. Box 78373, Bagamoyo, Tanzania.
Klaus
K
Reither
Translational Research Unit, Department of Epidemiology and Preclinical Research, National Institute for Infectious Diseases (INMI), 00149 Rome, Italy.
Delia
D
Goletti
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D054357:Chemokine CXCL10 / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000652:urine*; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology
C114753:CXCL10 protein, human; D054357:Chemokine CXCL10