Biomarker Discovery for Tuberculosis Infection

The global burden of tuberculosis (TB) remains high, with millions of new infections and deaths each year. Early and accurate distinction between latent infection and active disease is crucial for effective control and treatment. Biomarker discovery has thus centred on host immune responses following Mycobacterium tuberculosis exposure, encompassing soluble proteins, cellular markers and gene‐expression signatures. Advances in multiplex immunoassays, transcriptomics and biosensing platforms have enabled identification of cytokines, chemokines and molecular targets whose levels correlate with infection stage, treatment response or risk of progression. Novel antigenic peptides and combined marker panels are enhancing specificity and sensitivity beyond traditional interferon‐gamma release assays. Integration of these biomarkers into point‐of‐care devices holds promise for rapid screening in high‐burden, resource‐limited settings. Systematic evaluation of immune mediators is reshaping diagnostics and could inform tailored treatment strategies and vaccine development.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have characterised plasma cytokine signatures that differentiate drug‐resistant, drug‐sensitive and latent TB infections. By measuring a broad panel of soluble mediators, researchers identified an eight‐cytokine signature—including IL-17, IL-1α, IL-2, IL-10, IL-5, IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-6—that discriminates stages of infection and correlates with disease severity. This work emphasises how systemic immune dysregulation in drug‐resistant cases may inform biomarker panels for prognostic and diagnostic applications, and underscores the value of multiplex profiling to capture the complexity of host responses across the TB spectrum.

Biomarker Discovery for Tuberculosis Infection publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in biomarker discovery for tuberculosis infection across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Biomarker: A measurable biological molecule indicating disease presence, stage or treatment response.

Interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA): An immunological test measuring release of interferon-gamma by T cells after exposure to M. tuberculosis antigens.

Cytokine: A signalling protein secreted by immune cells to regulate inflammation and immune responses.

Chemokine: A subset of cytokines that direct the migration and activation of immune cells.

Interferon-gamma-inducible protein 10 (IP-10): A chemokine released in response to interferon-gamma, involved in recruitment of immune cells.

Interleukin-2 (IL-2): A cytokine crucial for T-cell proliferation and differentiation following antigen stimulation.

Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI): A state in which M. tuberculosis persists in the host without causing active disease but poses risk of reactivation.

References

1. Cytokine/chemokine profiles in people with recent infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Frontiers in Immunology (2023).
2. Evaluation of the IP-10 mRNA release assay for diagnosis of TB in HIV-infected individuals. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology (2023).
3. Diagnostic performance of biomarkers for differentiating active tuberculosis from latent tuberculosis: a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis. Frontiers in Microbiology (2024).
4. Cytokine upsurge among drug-resistant tuberculosis endorse the signatures of hyper inflammation and disease severity. Scientific Reports (2023).