Overview
- Researchers presented a retrospective case-control study at ADLM showing a new biosensor that measures the bacterial protein ESAT‑6 in blood produced strong discrimination between active TB and non‑TB groups in 217 patients.
- In analyses reported at the meeting, the assay gave a clear stepwise rise in ESAT‑6 from uninfected to latent to active TB and showed high diagnostic accuracy with an AUC of 0.976, 95.2% sensitivity, and 90.8% specificity using an optimized cutoff.
- Because the study compared samples with known diagnoses, the authors stress these results are preliminary and said they are planning prospective, real‑world studies to test the assay’s performance when used to diagnose patients in real time.
- ESAT‑6 is produced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis rather than the host immune response, which may help the test distinguish active disease; however sputum culture will still be required to confirm TB and to determine drug resistance.
- Faster, non‑sputum triage could help patients who cannot produce sputum and may shorten time to treatment, a significant point given WHO estimates that about a quarter of the global population has latent TB infection and 1.23 million people died from TB in 2024.