Is analysis of inflammatory biomarkers and lymphocyte subpopulations useful in prediction of tuberculosis treatment outcomes?

• Published in: Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases Vol. 25; p. 100275
• Main Authors: Musteikienė, Greta, Miliauskas, Skaidrius, Zaveckienė, Jurgita, Urbonienė, Daiva, Vitkauskienė, Astra, Žemaitis, Marius, Naudžiūnas, Albinas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-12-2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: Flow cytometry; sICAM-1; Sputum culture conversion; suPAR; Tuberculosis; sICAM-1; Flow cytometry; Sputum culture conversion; Tuberculosis; suPAR
• ISSN: 2405-5794; 2405-5794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jctube.2021.100275

Analysis of inflammatory biomarkers and lymphocytes during the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) could yield findings that influence the routine clinical practice and use of new anti-TB drugs. This study aimed to evaluate whether the selected biomarkers—soluble intercellular adhesion molecule type 1, soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), and C-reactive protein (CRP)—and T-cell subpopulations are useful for predicting culture conversion, treatment outcomes, and the extent of radiological lesions (calculated using X-ray score) in patients with drug-sensitive pulmonary TB. This study included 62 patients with drug-sensitive pulmonary TB. CRP and suPAR levels significantly decreased after 1 month of treatment. Before treatment initiation, CRP and suPAR levels were significantly higher in patients without culture conversion; however, none of the selected host biomarkers appeared to significantly influence the conversion status or treatment outcomes. Some lymphocyte subpopulations were correlated with X-ray scores before TB treatment initiation, but lung destruction, as determined using X-ray scores, showed the highest correlation with the baseline CRP value. We conclude that selected host biomarkers have a very limited role in predicting TB treatment outcomes and culture conversion and do not appear to be superior to CRP in monitoring TB treatment.