QuantiFERON-TB Gold and selected region of difference 1 peptide-based assays for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in a cohort of patients enrolled with suspected tuberculosis

Recently, a simple whole blood test, QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-Gold), has been adopted for immunologic diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. A total of 369 individuals with suspected tuberculosis (TB) were tested with the QFT-Gold, whereas a subgroup of 62 patients was tested simultaneously with QFT-Gold test and an assay based on selected peptides from early secreted antigenic target 6 and culture filtrate protein 10 proteins. The sensitivity of the QFT-Gold assay for active TB was 72.9%, and the agreement between this test and tuberculin skin test was 75%. Using selected peptides, we found a positive response in the majority of active TB patients, with a sensitivity of 84% and a specificity of 89%. Our study suggests the usefulness of QFT-Gold in routine clinical practice on unselected patients with suspected TB. Moreover, the assay based on selected peptides is a useful tool to discriminate between active and latent TB and shows a high predictive value.