Assessment of the sensitivity and specifi city of Xpert MTB/RIF assay as an early sputum biomarker of response to tuberculosis treatment

Abstract

Summary Background An accurate biomarker is urgently needed to monitor the response to treatment in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The Xpert MTB/RIF assay is a commercially available real-time PCR that can be used to detect Mycobacterium-tuberculosis-specifi c DNA sequences in sputum samples. We therefore evaluated this assay with serial sputum samples obtained over 26 weeks from patients undergoing treatment for tuberculosis