Urinary biomarker associated with TB infection

SAN DIEGO — Patients with tuberculosis had a greater abundance of a novel urinary biomarker compared with healthy participants, according to recent findings presented at IDWeek 2015.

Moreover, the prevalence of the biomarker in patients with TB declined after the first line of chemotherapy.

In a prospective, case-control study, Flonza Isa, MD, from the New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and colleagues collected clean-catch urine samples from untreated patients with TB at the GHESKIO center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, between September 2011 and March 2012. The researchers also reviewed data on a subset of patients who received the first 3 months of anti-TB therapy.

More than 100 urine samples were analyzed through high-performance liquid chromatography-coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The results were compared with 103 urine samples from healthy participants matched by age, sex and HIV status.

The researchers identified 769 compounds that were significantly different between patients with TB and healthy controls (P < .05). Cross-validation analysis showed that one compound with a mass of 490 — referred to as “490” — was different across all data sets, with 54,896 counts in patients with active pulmonary TB vs. 7,545 counts in the healthy cohort (P = .0001). The area under the curve for biomarker 490 was 91.1%.

After 60 days of treatment, the mean abundance of 490 decreased from 75,913 counts to 18,148 counts. Isa and colleagues concluded that the 490 urinary biomarker has the potential to serve as a duel diagnostic and prognostic marker of active pulmonary TB. – by Stephanie Viguers

Reference:

Isa F, et al. Abstract 101. Presented at: IDWeek; Oct. 7-11, 2015; San Diego.

Disclosure: Isa reports no relevant financial disclosures. One researcher reports being a paid employee and investigator for Agilent Technologies.