Enhanced diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy using a multiplex droplet digital PCR assay targeting circulating mycobacterial DNA
Our findings establish MTB cfDNA as the predominant nucleic acid form in tuberculous pleural effusion. The optimised multiplex ddPCR platform, leveraging multicopy targets and fragment-length-adapted amplification, achieves improved diagnostic sensitivity without compromising specificity in a high-prevalence TB setting. This approach may help address key limitations of TBP diagnostics and shows promise for clinical implementation.
Authors
- Xiaoman Hu
- Qingge Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3431-138X)
- S. Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7833-0069)
- Yuying Pan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5593-3153)
- J. Shangguan
- Xiaohong Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9797-8384)
- Rui Peng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8001-520X)
- Fang Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2395-730X)
- Ye Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5066-4698)
- Xingqiang Lü (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2698-2770)
- Mingxiang Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5824-5372)
Institutions
- Xiamen University (CN)
- Fuzhou Pulmonary Hospital of Fujian (CN)
- Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Thorax
- Published
- 2025-12-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1136/thorax-2025-223553
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Pleural and Pulmonary Diseases
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.52