{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T13:34:01Z","timestamp":1780580041769,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,27]],"date-time":"2025-10-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761523200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000867","name":"Commonwealth Scholarship Commission","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000867","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Most of the currently approved TB diagnostics are sputum-based. However, due to unusual clinical presentations of TB among HIV patients, they may not have TB symptoms and be able to produce sputum. Hence, these diagnostics may not be able to detect as many TB cases as possible among these patients. Therefore, this study assessed the performance of C-reactive protein (CRP) and interferon-gamma-inducible protein 10 (IP-10) as a screening tool for TB. Methods: This prospective study was conducted by consecutively recruiting patients with TB symptoms, collecting their sputum and blood samples, using sputum culture as the reference standard, and determining the best cut-off point of serum levels of CRP and IP-10 (separately and in combination) for TB diagnosis. Findings: CRP and IP-10 were measured in 408 patients with TB symptoms, of which 21% had culture-confirmed TB. CRP\u2019s sensitivity and specificity were (91.4% and 33.2%), (95.3% and 42.6%) and (84.8% and 22.1%) for the whole study population, HIV-negative and HIV-positive patients, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of IP-10 were (87.3% and 40.9%), (87.5% and 50.3%) and (79.4% and 47.2%) for the patients\u2019 categories, respectively. Combination of CRP and IP-10 slightly improved the performance of the biomarkers among HIV-negative patients, with sensitivity of 97.5% and specificity of 43.3%. Interpretation: Though CRP and IP-10 performed better in HIV-negative patients than among people living with HIV (PLHIV), the performance of the biomarkers is lower than what is recommended by the WHO (sensitivity \u2265 90% and specificity \u2265 70%) for a TB screening tool. Hence, there is a need for better non-sputum-based TB diagnostics.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed10110306","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,28]],"date-time":"2025-10-28T14:29:34Z","timestamp":1761661774000},"page":"306","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Evaluation of Performance of C-Reactive Protein (CRP) and Interferon-Gamma-Inducible Protein 10 (IP-10) as Screening for Active Tuberculosis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4804-303X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rotimi Samuel","family":"Owolabi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK"},{"name":"University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Gwagwalada, Abuja P.M.B. 228, Nigeria"},{"name":"Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba, Lagos P.M.B. 2013, Nigeria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Russel","family":"Dacombe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Konstantina","family":"Kontogianni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2131-8619","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Olusegun M.","family":"Akinwande","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lovett","family":"Lawson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Zankli Research Centre, Bingham University, KM 26 Abuja-Keffi Expressway, Kodape, Karu P.M.B. 005, Nasarawa State, Nigeria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6581-0587","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luis E.","family":"Cuevas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (WHO) (2024). 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