Without fluorography

A blood test will indicate tuberculosis six months before the first symptoms

Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+

The use of a new method for screening will save many lives: now about 2 million people die from tuberculosis every year.

Scientists from University College London has developed a blood test that diagnoses tuberculosis three to six months before a person has the first symptoms of an infectious disease. The accuracy of the diagnosis is based on certain patterns – signatures of gene expression, writes EurekAlert.

The article Gupta et al. Concise whole blood transcriptional signatures for incipient tuberculosis: a systematic review and patient-level pooled meta-analysis is published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine – VM.

Gene expression features are already being used to diagnose and monitor the treatment of a number of diseases, but no specific biomarkers for tuberculosis have been identified so far.

Scientists began to investigate the indicators associated with the disease and identified 17 of the most specific patterns. They were tested on 1,100 blood samples from patients without complaints or symptoms associated with the development of tuberculosis. A few months later, the same patients were examined again to determine if they were ill.

It turned out that even eight signatures of expression of just one gene can predict the development of the disease within 3-6 months.

"The advent of blood tests based on signature gene expression opens up new opportunities in the early diagnosis and prevention of tuberculosis, which kills up to 2 million people every year," commented lead author of the study Rishi Gupta.

This will help to start antibacterial therapy earlier for the sick and reduce the number of new cases of tuberculosis, which is transmitted by airborne droplets when coughing, sneezing, etc.

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