Tuberculosis (TB) is such a huge burden to human life and resources. One of most challenging aspects of TB is its diagnosis.
The diagnostic test warranted should not be fanciful (difficult to do in a point-of care setting, requiring sophisticated instruments) but rather easily applicable.
One of the recent papers by Chegou et al (Thorax, 2016) looked at serum protein in blood in a big study from Malawi in a prospective study (A prospective study watches for outcomes, such as the development of a disease, during the study period and relates this to other factors such as suspected risk or protection factor(s). The study usually involves taking a cohort of subjects and watching them over a long period. source : Google)
They found that a seven-marker biosignature (meaning seven proteins in blood) which included: C reactive protein, transthyretin, IFN-γ, complement factor H, apolipoprotein-A1, inducible protein 10 and serum amyloid A can diagnose TB disease regardless of HIV status of the people.
Sounds exciting they are in due process of developing this a test. Good luck folks!!
You can read the paper at: http://thorax.bmj.com/content/early/2016/05/04/thoraxjnl-2015-207999.full.pdf+html
You can see the interview of one of the researchers at: https://theconversation.com/african-scientists-a-step-closer-to-testing-for-tb-in-a-matter-of-minutes-59285?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20May%2011%202016%20-%204838&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20May%2011%202016%20-%204838+CID_0df187fe7c189a4ea658c5dcdca358e1&utm_source=campaign_monitor_africa&utm_term=Gerhard%20Walzl
The diagnostic test warranted should not be fanciful (difficult to do in a point-of care setting, requiring sophisticated instruments) but rather easily applicable.
One of the recent papers by Chegou et al (Thorax, 2016) looked at serum protein in blood in a big study from Malawi in a prospective study (A prospective study watches for outcomes, such as the development of a disease, during the study period and relates this to other factors such as suspected risk or protection factor(s). The study usually involves taking a cohort of subjects and watching them over a long period. source : Google)
They found that a seven-marker biosignature (meaning seven proteins in blood) which included: C reactive protein, transthyretin, IFN-γ, complement factor H, apolipoprotein-A1, inducible protein 10 and serum amyloid A can diagnose TB disease regardless of HIV status of the people.
Sounds exciting they are in due process of developing this a test. Good luck folks!!
You can read the paper at: http://thorax.bmj.com/content/early/2016/05/04/thoraxjnl-2015-207999.full.pdf+html
You can see the interview of one of the researchers at: https://theconversation.com/african-scientists-a-step-closer-to-testing-for-tb-in-a-matter-of-minutes-59285?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20May%2011%202016%20-%204838&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20May%2011%202016%20-%204838+CID_0df187fe7c189a4ea658c5dcdca358e1&utm_source=campaign_monitor_africa&utm_term=Gerhard%20Walzl
Comments
Post a Comment