What is "quantiferon"

Interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) are diagnostic tools for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). They are surrogate markers of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and indicate a cellular immune response to M. tuberculosis. IGRAs cannot distinguish between latent infection and active tuberculosis (TB) disease, and should not be used as a sole method for diagnosis of active TB, which is a microbiological diagnosis. A positive IGRA result may not necessarily indicate active TB; however, a negative IGRA result rules out the possibility of both active and latent tuberculosis.

Because IGRAs are not affected by Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination status, IGRAs are useful for evaluation of LTBI in BCG-vaccinated individuals, particularly in settings where BCG vaccination is administered after infancy or multiple (booster) BCG vaccinations are given. In contrast, the specificity of tuberculin skin test (TST) varies depending on timing of BCG and whether repeated (booster) vaccinations are given.

QuantiFERON, also known as QFT, is the registered trademark of the test for tuberculosis infection or latent tuberculosis. QFT is an interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) used in tuberculosis diagnosis. The QFT-GIT assay is an ELISA-based, whole-blood test that uses peptides from three TB antigens (ESAT-6, CFP-10, and TB7.7) in an in-tube format. The result is reported as quantification of IFN-gamma in international units (IU) per mL. An individual is considered positive for M. tuberculosis infection if the IFN-gamma response to TB antigens is above the test cut-off (after subtracting the background IFN-gamma response in the negative control).