Immunological testing for tuberculosis has been one of the most rapidly developing areas in the last decade. A new-generation immunological skin test, Diaskintest (DST), has been developed in the Russian Federation and successfully implemented into clinical practice since 2009. This article presents the results of a meta-analysis of publications reporting data on the use of the recombinant tuberculosis allergen DST (n = 121) from 2009 to 2019 included in Russian and international databases. The analysis included a total of 61 papers consistent with the study design, which cumulatively presented the results of 3,777,083 patients tested with DST (83.0%). The obtained data showed that the overall diagnostic sensitivity of the test in this population, regardless of age, was 86.0%, with 98.0% negative results. It was found that the intensity of the immune response of tuberculosis patients to specific ESAT-6 and CFP-10 antigens of DST may depend on the biological properties of the pathogen characteristic to various Mycobacterium tuberculosis genotypes, tuberculosis severity, and the presence of concomitant diseases. These factors are more prevalent in the adult population. In children, however, the test sensitivity reaches 100%. The proportion of positive DST results in HIV-positive patients tested for tuberculosis was 60.0%. The analysis showed that the accuracy (overall validity) of DST was 95.1% in the total studied population (95% confidence interval [CI]: 95.06-95.1) and 92.4% in HIV-positive patients (95% CI: 91.9-92.7).
Keywords: Diagnostics; Diaskintest; IGRA tests; immunodiagnostics; recombinant tuberculosis allergen; tuberculosis.