Objective This study aimed to investigate interferon-gamma-inducible protein-10 (IP-10) values in serum and urine in pediatric patients in the diagnosis of active tuberculosis (TB) or latent TB infection (LTBI). It also aimed to investigate whether it can be used as a biomarker to distinguish between active TB and LTBI.

Methods Our study comprised active TB (25 patients), LTBI (25 patients), and the “infected” group (50 patients) formed by combining the two groups. As the control group, 37 healthy children were included in the study. TB skin test, plasma IP-10, and urine IP-10 measurements were performed in all patients included in the study. An additional QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) test was performed on patients evaluated as active TB or LTBI.

Results Plasma IP-10 levels of the patients in the active TB, LTBI, and the “infected” groups were significantly higher than the control group (p = 0.022, p = 0.028, and p = 0.007, respectively). Urine IP-10 was successful in distinguishing the active TB and “infected” groups from the control group (p = 0.007 and p = 0.047, respectively). Also, in the combined use of the tests, when QFT-GIT and urine IP-10 were positive together, active TB and LTBI could be distinguished (p = 0.044). Urine IP-10 levels were found to be significantly higher in those with pulmonary TB than those with extrapulmonary TB (p = 0.012).

Conclusion Our findings suggest that IP-10 can be used as a useful biomarker in the diagnosis of active TB in children.

目的 本研究旨在调查儿童患者血清和尿液中干扰素-γ-诱导蛋白-10（IP-10）在活动性结核病（TB）或潜伏性结核病感染（LTBI）诊断中的值。它还旨在研究它是否可以用作区分活动性 TB 和 LTBI 的生物标志物。

方法 我们的研究包括活动性 TB（25 名患者）、LTBI（25 名患者）和由这两个组组成的“感染”组（50 名患者）。作为对照组，37名健康儿童被纳入研究。在研究中包括的所有患者中进行了结核病皮肤试验、血浆 IP-10 和尿液 IP-10 测量。对评估为活动性 TB 或 LTBI 的患者进行了额外的 QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) 测试。

结果 活动性TB、LTBI和“感染”组患者血浆IP-10水平显着高于对照组（分别为p  = 0.022、p  = 0.028和p  = 0.007）。尿液 IP-10 成功地将活动性 TB 和“感染”组与对照组区分开来（分别为p  = 0.007 和p  = 0.047）。此外，在联合使用中，当 QFT-GIT 和尿 IP-10 一起呈阳性时，可以区分活动性 TB 和 LTBI（p  = 0.044）。发现肺结核患者的尿液 IP-10 水平显着高于肺外结核患者（p = 0.012）。

结论 我们的研究结果表明，IP-10 可用作诊断儿童活动性结核病的有用生物标志物。