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IBD

Latent tuberculosis infection screening in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a nationwide retrospective cohort study in South Korea comparing IGRA alone versus a combination of TST and IGRA: Ye-Jee Kim, Jiyeon Kim, Jiwon Lee, Tae Sun Shim, Sang Hyoung Park, Kyung-Wook Jo; Intest Res 2025;23(4):541-550. Published online October 14, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2025.00136

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Background/Aims
We aimed to evaluate if using the interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) alone is effective for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) screening in preventing active tuberculosis in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) before initiating anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNF-α) therapy, compared to using both the tuberculin skin test and IGRA.
Methods
Using South Korea’s Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, we selected IBD patients treated with anti-TNF-α agents for ≥ 1 year who underwent LTBI screening between 2018 and 2021. We compared the 1-year incidence rate and standardized incidence ratio of active tuberculosis incidence after starting anti-TNF-α treatment to the general population based on the LTBI screening strategy.
Results
Of the 4,215 enrolled patients, 3,505 underwent IGRA alone for LTBI screening, while 710 received both tuberculin skin test and IGRA. Within 1 year of starting anti-TNF-α treatment, 15 patients (0.36%) developed active tuberculosis, with a mean follow-up period of 4,200.6 person-years. The 1-year tuberculosis incidence rates were 372.3 (95% confidence interval [CI], 198.2–636.6) per 100,000 person-years for the IGRA alone group and 282.3 (95% CI, 34.2–1,019.9) per 100,000 person-years for the combination group. The standardized incidence ratios were similar: 14.34 (95% CI, 7.63–24.52) for the IGRA alone group and 11.25 (95% CI, 1.26–40.61) for the combination group.
Conclusions
Using IGRA alone may be an effective strategy for LTBI screening in IBD patients before starting anti-TNF-α therapy. (Intest Res, Published online)

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Risk Factors of Latent Tuberculosis Infection among Incarcerated Populations: A Case–Control Study in Shenzhen, China
Zhenyang Liu, Yawei Cui, Jiarong Xu, Zhikai Ding, Ao Huang
Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health.2026;[Epub] CrossRef

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1 Crossref

Infection

Interferon-gamma release assay has poor diagnostic accuracy in differentiating intestinal tuberculosis from Crohn’s disease in tuberculosis endemic areas: Karan Sachdeva, Peeyush Kumar, Bhaskar Kante, Sudheer K. Vuyyuru, Srikant Mohta, Mukesh K. Ranjan, Mukesh K. Singh, Mahak Verma, Govind Makharia, Saurabh Kedia, Vineet Ahuja; Intest Res 2023;21(2):226-234. Published online June 13, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2022.00010

Abstract PDF PubReader ePub

Background/Aims
Intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) and Crohn’s disease (CD) frequently present with a diagnostic dilemma because of similar presentation. Interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) has been used in differentiating ITB from CD, but with sparse reports on its diagnostic accuracy in tuberculosis endemic regions and this study evaluated the same.
Methods
Patients with definitive diagnosis of ITB (n=59) or CD (n=49) who underwent IGRA testing (n=307) were retrospectively included at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (July 2014 to September 2021). CD or ITB was diagnosed as per standard criteria. IGRA was considered positive at >0.35 IU/mL. Relevant data was collected and IGRA results were compared between ITB and CD to determine its accuracy.
Results
Among 59 ITB patients (mean age, 32.6±13.1 years; median disease duration, 1 year; male, 59.3%), 24 were positive and 35 tested negative for IGRA. Among 49 CD patients (mean age, 37.8±14.0; median disease duration, 4 years; male, 61.2%), 12 were positive and 37 tested negative for IGRA. Hence, for diagnosing ITB, IGRA showed a sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of 40.68%, 75.51%, 66.67%, and 51.39%, respectively. The area under the curve of IGRA for ITB diagnosis was 0.66 (95% confidence interval, 0.55–0.75). In a subset (n=64), tuberculin skin test (TST) showed sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of 64.7%, 73.3%, 73.3%, and 64.71%, respectively. IGRA and TST were concordant in 38 (59.4%) patients with κ=0.17.
Conclusions
In a tuberculosis endemic region, IGRA had poor diagnostic accuracy for differentiating ITB from CD, suggesting a limited value of IGRA in this setting.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

ECCO consensus on management of inflammatory bowel disease in low- and middle-income countries
Alaa El-Hussuna, Almuthe Christina Hauer, Tarkan Karakan, Valerie Pittet, Henit Yanai, Jalpa Devi, Jesus K Yamamoto-Furusho, Ali Reza Sima, Hailemichael Desalegn, Mutaz Idrees Sultan, Vishal Sharma, Hany Shehab, Lamya Mrabti, Natalia Queiroz, Anuraag Jena
Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis.2026;[Epub] CrossRef
The Overlap Between Crohn’s Disease and Intestinal Tuberculosis: A Never-Ending Story
Sergiu Marian Cazacu, Costin Teodor Streba, Cristian Constantin, Claudiu Marinel Ionele, Ion Rogoveanu, Alexandru Valentin Popescu, Mirela-Marinela Florescu
Medicina.2026; 62(4): 794. CrossRef
Current Progress in Differentiating Crohn's Disease From Intestinal Tuberculosis
Chuyao Zhang, Xiaoyin Zhang
iLABMED.2026; 4(2): 78. CrossRef
Mistakes to avoid in the management of abdominal tuberculosis
Abhirup Chatterjee, Daya Krishna Jha, Aravind Sekar, Vishal Sharma
Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy.2025; 23(2-4): 197. CrossRef
Interferon-Gamma Release Assays Versus Tuberculin Skin Test for Active Tuberculosis Diagnosis: A Systematic Review and Diagnostic Meta-Analysis
Muhammad Abubaker Tobaiqi, Musleh Naser Alshamrani, Shyamkumar Sriram, Ahmad Bakur Mahmoud, Hammad Ali Fadlalmola, Muayad Albadrani
Diagnostics.2025; 15(18): 2343. CrossRef
An Updated Review on Differential Diagnosis of Crohn's Disease and Intestinal Tuberculosis
Ravi K Sharma, Alpa Singh, Saurabh Dawra
Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, Education and Research.2025; 60(1): 18. CrossRef
New diagnostic strategies to distinguish Crohn's disease and gastrointestinal tuberculosis
Himanshu Narang, Saurabh Kedia, Vineet Ahuja
Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases.2024; 37(5): 392. CrossRef
Interferon-gamma release assays as a tool for differential diagnosis of gastrointestinal tuberculosis
Tsvetelina Velikova, Anita Aleksandrova
World Journal of Clinical Cases.2024; 12(27): 6015. CrossRef
Diagnostic yield and technical performance of the novel motorized spiral enteroscopy compared with single-balloon enteroscopy in suspected Crohn's disease: a prospective study (with video)
Partha Pal, Piyush Vishwakarma, Aniruddha Pratap Singh, Palle Manohar Reddy, Mohan Ramchandani, Rupa Banerjee, Anuradha Sekaran, Polina Vijayalaxmi, Hardik Rughwani, Pradev Inavolu, Santosh Darishetty, Pradeep Rebala, Guduru Venkat Rao, Manu Tandan, D. Na
Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.2023; 97(3): 493. CrossRef
Evidence-based approach to diagnosis and management of abdominal tuberculosis
Daya Krishna Jha, Mythili Menon Pathiyil, Vishal Sharma
Indian Journal of Gastroenterology.2023; 42(1): 17. CrossRef
Technical performance and diagnostic yield of motorised spiral enteroscopy compared with single-balloon enteroscopy in suspected Crohn’s disease: a randomised controlled, open-label study (the MOTOR-CD trial)
Partha Pal, Mohan Ramchandani, Rupa Banerjee, Piyush Viswakarma, Aniruddha Pratap Singh, Manohar Reddy, Hardik Rughwani, Rajendra Patel, Anuradha Sekaran, Swathi Kanaganti, Santosh Darisetty, Zaheer Nabi, Jagadish Singh, Rajesh Gupta, Sundeep Lakhtakia, R
Gut.2023; 72(10): 1866. CrossRef

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