{"title":"QuantiFERON-TB-Plus治疗肺结核感染和多发性硬化症的疗效","authors":"Elisa Petruccioli, Luca Prosperini, Serena Ruggieri, Valentina Vanini, Andrea Salmi, Gilda Cuzzi, Simonetta Galgani, Shalom Haggiag, Carla Tortorella, Gabriella Parisi, Alfio D'Agostino, Gina Gualano, Fabrizio Palmieri, Claudio Gasperini, Delia Goletti","doi":"10.3390/neurolint17080119","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) slightly increase the risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease. The QuantiFERON-TB-Plus (QFT-Plus) test is approved for TB infection (TBI) screening. Currently, there are no data available regarding the characterization of QFT-Plus response in patients with MS.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study aimed to compare the magnitude of QFT-Plus responses between patients with MS and TBI (MS-TBI) and TBI subjects without MS (NON-MS-TBI). Additionally, discordant responses to TB1/TB2 stimulation were documented. Results were evaluated considering demographic and clinical data, particularly the impact of DMDs and the type of TB exposure.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Patients with MS (N = 810) were screened for TBI (2018-2023). Thirty (3.7%) had an MS-TBI diagnosis, and 20 were recruited for the study. As a control group, we enrolled 106 NON-MS-TBI.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>MS-TBI showed significantly lower IFN-γ production in response to TB1 (<i>p</i> = 0.01) and TB2 stimulation (<i>p</i> = 0.02) compared to NON-MS-TBI. The 30% of TB2 results of MS-TBI fell into the QFT-Plus grey zone (0.2-0.7 IU/mL). Only 7% of NON-MS-TBI showed this profile (<i>p</i> = 0.002).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>MS-TBI had a lower QFT-Plus response and more borderline results compared to NON-MS-TBI. Future studies should clarify the significance of the borderline results in this vulnerable population to improve QFT-Plus accuracy regarding sensitivity, specificity, and TB prediction.</p>","PeriodicalId":19130,"journal":{"name":"Neurology International","volume":"17 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12389123/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Characterization of QuantiFERON-TB-Plus Results in Patients with Tuberculosis Infection and Multiple Sclerosis.\",\"authors\":\"Elisa Petruccioli, Luca Prosperini, Serena Ruggieri, Valentina Vanini, Andrea Salmi, Gilda Cuzzi, Simonetta Galgani, Shalom Haggiag, Carla Tortorella, Gabriella Parisi, Alfio D'Agostino, Gina Gualano, Fabrizio Palmieri, Claudio Gasperini, Delia Goletti\",\"doi\":\"10.3390/neurolint17080119\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) slightly increase the risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease. The QuantiFERON-TB-Plus (QFT-Plus) test is approved for TB infection (TBI) screening. Currently, there are no data available regarding the characterization of QFT-Plus response in patients with MS.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study aimed to compare the magnitude of QFT-Plus responses between patients with MS and TBI (MS-TBI) and TBI subjects without MS (NON-MS-TBI). Additionally, discordant responses to TB1/TB2 stimulation were documented. Results were evaluated considering demographic and clinical data, particularly the impact of DMDs and the type of TB exposure.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Patients with MS (N = 810) were screened for TBI (2018-2023). Thirty (3.7%) had an MS-TBI diagnosis, and 20 were recruited for the study. As a control group, we enrolled 106 NON-MS-TBI.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>MS-TBI showed significantly lower IFN-γ production in response to TB1 (<i>p</i> = 0.01) and TB2 stimulation (<i>p</i> = 0.02) compared to NON-MS-TBI. The 30% of TB2 results of MS-TBI fell into the QFT-Plus grey zone (0.2-0.7 IU/mL). Only 7% of NON-MS-TBI showed this profile (<i>p</i> = 0.002).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>MS-TBI had a lower QFT-Plus response and more borderline results compared to NON-MS-TBI. Future studies should clarify the significance of the borderline results in this vulnerable population to improve QFT-Plus accuracy regarding sensitivity, specificity, and TB prediction.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":19130,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Neurology International\",\"volume\":\"17 8\",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":3.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-08-02\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12389123/pdf/\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Neurology International\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.3390/neurolint17080119\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Neurology International","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/neurolint17080119","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
Characterization of QuantiFERON-TB-Plus Results in Patients with Tuberculosis Infection and Multiple Sclerosis.
Background: Disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) slightly increase the risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease. The QuantiFERON-TB-Plus (QFT-Plus) test is approved for TB infection (TBI) screening. Currently, there are no data available regarding the characterization of QFT-Plus response in patients with MS.
Objectives: This study aimed to compare the magnitude of QFT-Plus responses between patients with MS and TBI (MS-TBI) and TBI subjects without MS (NON-MS-TBI). Additionally, discordant responses to TB1/TB2 stimulation were documented. Results were evaluated considering demographic and clinical data, particularly the impact of DMDs and the type of TB exposure.
Methods: Patients with MS (N = 810) were screened for TBI (2018-2023). Thirty (3.7%) had an MS-TBI diagnosis, and 20 were recruited for the study. As a control group, we enrolled 106 NON-MS-TBI.
Results: MS-TBI showed significantly lower IFN-γ production in response to TB1 (p = 0.01) and TB2 stimulation (p = 0.02) compared to NON-MS-TBI. The 30% of TB2 results of MS-TBI fell into the QFT-Plus grey zone (0.2-0.7 IU/mL). Only 7% of NON-MS-TBI showed this profile (p = 0.002).
Conclusions: MS-TBI had a lower QFT-Plus response and more borderline results compared to NON-MS-TBI. Future studies should clarify the significance of the borderline results in this vulnerable population to improve QFT-Plus accuracy regarding sensitivity, specificity, and TB prediction.