Role of Mycobacterium avium lysate INF-γ, IL-17, and IL-2 ELISPOT assays in diagnosing nontuberculous mycobacteria lymphadenitis in children

Abstract

Nontuberculous mycobacteria are the most frequent cause of chronic cervical lymphadenitis in childhood. The aim of the study was to evaluate the performance of IL-2, IL-17, and INF-γ in-house enzyme-linked immunospot assays using a Mycobacterium avium lysate, in order to identify a noninvasive diagnostic method of nontuberculous mycobacteria infection. Children with subacute and chronic lymphadenopathies or with a previous diagnosis of nontuberculous mycobacteria lymphadenitis were prospectively enrolled in the study. Sixty children with lymphadenitis were included in our study: 16 with confirmed infection (group 1), 30 probable infected (group 2) and 14 uninfected (group 3). Significantly higher median cytokine values were found in group 1 vs group 2, in group 1 vs group 3, and in group 2 vs group 3 considering IL-2-based enzyme-linked immunospot assay (p = 0.015, p