Gamma interferon release assay for monitoring of treatment response for active tuberculosis: An explosion in the spaghetti factory

Abstract

Few studies have correlated the results of interferon (gamma interferon) release assays (IGRAs) with known markers of tuberculosis (TB) treatment response. We report the results of serial QuantiFERON-TB gold in-tube assay (QFT) testing on 149 patients with active tuberculosis and correlate the results with smear and culture conversion. We show that QFT results do not offer much value for treatment monitoring of TB disease. Copyright © 2013, American Society for Microbiology.