Diagnostic accuracy of the interferon-gamma release assay in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients with suspected tuberculosis infection: a meta-analysis

PURPOSE: The diagnostic accuracy of the interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) in immunosuppressed patients remains unclear. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed for diagnostic test accuracy of IGRA in tuberculosis (TB) infection among people living with HIV (PLWHIV). Summary estimates of sensitivity and specificity were calculated using both univariate and bivariate models. RESULTS: The meta-analysis included 45 of the 1,242 first-screened articles. The total number of PLWHIV was 6,525; 3,467 had TB disease, including 806 cases of LTBI and 2,661 cases of active TB. The overall diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of IGRA in the diagnosis of TB disease was 10.0 (95% confidence interval (CI) 5.59, 25.07), with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.729. The DOR was better for QFT (14.2 (95%CI 4.359, 46.463)) than T-SPOT (10.0 (95%CI 3.866 26.033)). The sensitivity and specificity of QFT and T-SPOT were 0.663 (95%CI 0.471, 0.813), 0.867 (95%CI 0.683 0.942), and 0.604 (95%CI 0.481, 0.715), 0.862 (95%CI 0.654, 0.954), respectively, in the bivariate model. The sensitivity of IGRA in the diagnosis of LTBI was 0.64 (95%CI 0.61, 0.66). CONCLUSION: IGRA was useful in the diagnostic of TB disease in PLWHIV, and QFT showed a better tendency of DOR than T-SPOT. IGRA showed a limited effect to rule out LTBI in PLWHIV. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s15010-022-01789-9.