Interferon-γ Release Assays for the Diagnosis of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection in Children: A Literature Review

The role of Interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) for immunologic diagnosis of tuberculosis in children is under debate. We carried out a narrative review on the studies on IGRAs in paediatric populations. A literature search was conducted using multiple keywords and standardized terminology in Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane databases, up to January 27th, 2011. Study quality was assessed using the MOOSE checklist and results of relevant studies were summarized. Sixty-seven paediatric studies (study population ranging from 14 to 5,244 children) were identified. Non-commercial ELISPOT assay (by means of ESAT-6 and CFP-10 antigens) had been carried out in 11 studies. QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G), QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-tube (QFT-G-IT), and T-SPOT.TB assays had been performed in 10, 44 and 18 studies, respectively. Most studies reported higher specificity of IGRA than tuberculin skin test (TST), but interpretation of the results is complicated by the fact that a gold standard for the diagnosis of latent TB is lacking. The reported sensitivity for active TB ranged from 51–93% for QFT-G/QFT-G-IT and 40–100% for ELISPOT assays, suggesting that a negative IGRA result may not exclude tuberculosis. Combining TST and IGRA results increased the diagnostic sensitivity. Rates of indeterminate results largely varied (0 to 35%). Most of the studies on young (< 5 years) or immune-compromised children reported a proportion of indeterminate results exceeding 4%. Agreement among TST and IGRA, assessed by the k statistics, ranged from −0.03 to 0.87. Higher rates of discordance were reported in BCG-vaccinated than in non-BCG-vaccinated children. Studies on children <5 years and immunocompromised children reported conflicting results, as did studies on serial IGRA determinations. Despite the large amount of literature data, the role of IGRA in the pediatric population is still unclear, especially in young children. Combined use of TST/IGRA may increase diagnostic sensitivity but interpretation of discordant results remains a challenging issue.