Tongue swab-based molecular diagnostics for pulmonary tuberculosis and drug resistance in adults: A prospective multicenter diagnostic accuracy study
PCR-based tongue swab testing offers a rapid, non-invasive alternative for TB diagnosis with high accuracy, particularly in paucibacillary cases or individuals unable to provide sputum. Although all participants in this study were able to provide sputum, tongue swabs may offer an alternative in situations where sputum collection is challenging. Further optimization of sampling and molecular techniques is essential to improve reliability and support broader implementation. Integrating tongue swab diagnostics with existing TB control programs could enhance the detection accuracy, improve drug resistance monitoring and reduce transmissions.
Authors
- Zubi Liu
- Yu Pang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6803-9807)
- Yueyin Pan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0532-5368)
- Shi Jin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0177-5716)
- Bingnan Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7385-6171)
- Rui Shao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0090-9604)
- Minghui Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8311-4032)
- L. Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6411-6107)
- Zichun Ma
- Yuan Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0628-4484)
- Chuan Qin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6261-1232)
- Junwei Cui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8318-9846)
- Jing Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2991-0123)
- Dan Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9756-1608)
- Shanshan Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5905-5247)
- Xiaowei Dong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5462-7357)
- Yilin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3436-0886)
- Juan Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4115-1274)
- Shu Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8803-9625)
- Zanyan Wan
- Rui Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6516-6982)
- L J Luo
- Lihua Huang
Institutions
- Capital Medical University (CN)
- Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital (CN)
- Beijing Chest Hospital (CN)
- Jiangxi Chest Hospital (CN)
- Guangxi Longtan Hospital (CN)
- Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Brain Hospital (CN)
- Heilongjiang Provincial Hospital (CN)
- Education Department of Heilongjiang Province (CN)
- Dian Diagnostics (China) (CN)
- Henan Medical University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Infection
- Published
- 2025-05-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2025.106517
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.58
Funders
- National Key Research and Development Program of China