ABSTRACT
Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical potential of new biomarkers such as IL-2, TNF-α, MCP-1, MIP-1β including IFN-γ for the diagnosis of active tuberculosis (TB) disease. Materials and Methods: The subjects consisted of 31 patients with active TB disease and 62 patients with non-TB disease. We measured IFN-γ using QuantiFERON-TB Gold In Tube, and IL-2, TNF-α, MCP-1, and MIP-1β using the supernatant from whole blood stimulated with MTB (Mycobacterium tuberculosis)-specific antigens. Results: In the patient group with active TB disease, while the positive response rate of IFN-γ was 74%, that of IL-2 using the supernatant was 61%, TNF-α was 71%, MCP-1 was 81% and MIP-1β was 81%. In the patient group with non-TB disease, while the positive response rate of IFN-γ was 11%, that of IL-2using the supernatant was 32%, TNF-α was 26%, MCP-1 was 23% and MIP-1β was 19%. All biomarker levels of the patients with active TB disease using the supernatant were significantly higher than those of the patients with non-TB disease. While MIP-1β was the most sensitive of all the biomarkers (sensitivity: 80.6%), IFN-γ was the best in terms of specificity (specificity: 87.0%). Conclusions: Several biomarkers, apart from IL-2, showed similar results compared to IFN-γ. The combination of IFN-γ and other new biomarkers may increase the diagnostic accuracy of active TB.