Performance of QuantiFERON TB Gold test in detecting latent tuberculosis infection in brain-dead organ donors in Iran: a brief report

Saudi J Kidney Dis Transpl. 2014 Nov;25(6):1240-3. doi: 10.4103/1319-2442.144258.

Abstract

With regard to the significant morbidity and mortality due to tuberculosis in lung transplant recipients, the identification of brain-dead organ donors with latent tuberculosis by use of the QuantiFERON TB Gold (QFT-G) test may be of help to reduce the risk of TB reactivation and mortality in lung recipients. This study was conducted in the National Research Institute of Tuber-culosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD) in Iran, from January to March 2013. A total of 38 conse-cutive brain-dead donors, not currently infected with active tuberculosis, were recruited. The medi-cal records of all the study enrollees were reviewed. A whole-blood IFN- release assay (IGRA) in reaction to early secreted antigenic target 6 (ESAT-6), culture filtrate protein 10 (CFP-10), and TB7.7 antigens, was performed and the released Interferon- was measured via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The data was analyzed with QFT-G software which was provided by the company. The demographic, characteristics and other variables were entered into SPSS version 11.5. The QFT-G test results of three donors (7.9%) turned out to be positive, negative for 24 donors (63.1%), and indeterminate for 11 cases (28.9%). Our study revealed the potential advantages of QFT-G in lowering the incidence of donor-derived post-transplant tuberculosis among lung recipients. However, a high rate of indeterminate results restricted the performance of QFT-G in this study.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Brain Death*
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interferon-gamma Release Tests*
  • Iran
  • Latent Tuberculosis / diagnosis*
  • Latent Tuberculosis / immunology
  • Latent Tuberculosis / microbiology
  • Latent Tuberculosis / transmission
  • Lung / microbiology*
  • Lung Transplantation*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / immunology
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / isolation & purification*
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Tissue Donors*
  • Young Adult