Background

Differentiation of active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) from non-mycobacterial community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) still remains a diagnostic challenge.

Objective

The study aimed to quantify the IL-18, IFN-γ, IL-18BP, IL-37, and IP-10 levels in serum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) antigens-stimulated blood cultures from TB or CAP patients and explore if the proteins can be a useful basis for discriminating these diseases.

Methods

In total, 124 Polish adults, including mild/moderate (M/MTB) or advanced (ATB) TB patients, and CAP patients, were enrolled in the study. The concentrations of IL-18, IL-18BP, IFN-γ, IL-37, and IP-10 in sera and M.tb-stimulated cultures were measured by ELISA.

Results

The most specific and sensitive serum proteins discriminating TB from CAP were IP-10 and IL-18BP; however, IP-10 had the highest AUC in the ROC curve for the diagnosis. Serum IP-10 and IL-18BP levels increased significantly in M/MTB or ATB groups. The IL-18BP elevation in ATB group was accompanied by an increase in IL-18. No single protein measured in M.tb-stimulated cultures differed TB from CAP patients.

Conclusions

The combined analysis of serum IL-18BP and IP-10 might be considered as an auxiliary tool in the differentiation of TB from CAP.

中文翻译：

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IL-18 和相关功能蛋白与非分枝杆菌社区获得性肺炎 (CAP) 患者的结核病严重程度和活动性 TB 筛查相关

背景

区分活动性肺结核 (TB) 和非分枝杆菌社区获得性肺炎 (CAP) 仍然是一个诊断挑战。

客观的

该研究旨在量化 TB 或 CAP 患者血清和结核分枝杆菌( M.tb ) 抗原刺激的血培养物中的 IL-18、IFN-γ、IL-18BP、IL-37 和 IP-10 水平，并探讨是否这些蛋白质可以作为区分这些疾病的有用基础。

方法

总共有 124 名波兰成年人，包括轻度/中度 (M/MTB) 或晚期 (ATB) 结核病患者以及 CAP 患者，参加了该研究。通过ELISA测量血清和M.tb刺激的培养物中IL-18、IL-18BP、IFN-γ、IL-37和IP-10的浓度。

结果

区分 TB 和 CAP 的最特异性和最敏感的血清蛋白是 IP-10 和 IL-18BP；然而，IP-10 在诊断的 ROC 曲线中具有最高的 AUC。M/MTB 或 ATB 组的血清 IP-10 和 IL-18BP 水平显着增加。ATB组IL-18BP升高伴随IL-18升高。在M.tb刺激的培养物中测量的单一蛋白质与 CAP 患者的 TB 没有区别。

结论

血清 IL-18BP 和 IP-10 联合分析可作为鉴别 TB 与 CAP 的辅助工具。