An observational study in Latent Tuberculosis, Persistent Infection and Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, sponsored by Region Skane. Completed at 1 site in Sweden. Open to participants aged 15 Years to 100 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-29.
Sponsored by Region Skane · Observational
Current diagnostic tools such as interferon gamma release assay (IGRA) and purified protein derivative (PPD) can not distinguish patients with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and persistence of live mycobacteria. This inability to rule out living mycobacteria in patients investigated for LTBI leads to unnecessary and potentially harmful treatment regimes all around the globe.
The goal of this observational study is to identify candidate biomarkers for viable bacilli in latent tuberculosis in order to decrease the use of unnecessary and ineffective antibiotic treatment.
Tuberculosis (TB) is the second leading cause of death due to a single infectious agent, with the main burden in resource-limited settings and in vulnerable populations. It is estimated that approximately 25% of the global population is infected with TB. LTBI is a condition where the mycobacteria rests within the body instead of creating active disease. About half of the active TB cases develop within 2 years of exposure and the other half reactivates as distant as several decades post exposure. Persistence of viable bacilli is a prerequisite for the reactivation of TB.
Through sampling of peripheral blood the investigators will investigate how selected cytokines, enzyme activity and gene expression changes during course of treatment, 4-6 months, and during follow up, 1 year. These patterns will be compared to the patterns of patients with: latent TB without treatment, active TB with treatment as well as healthy controls. Samples will be drawn at 0, 1, 6 and 12 months, after treatment initialization when applicable. Healthy controls will only be sampled once. Most of the analysis will be performed on TB-antigen stimulated blood.
The investigators hypothesize that there is a substantial fraction of latent TB patients who do not harbor live mycobacteria and that this is reflected in study outcome measures when given treatment. Furthermore, the investigators hypothesize that this fraction of latent TB patients will resemble healthy controls in terms of outcome measures whereas their counterpart, latent TB patients harboring living bacteria, will not.
199 studies on the registry are indexed under Latent Tuberculosis; 48 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 89 is below the median of 260 across 82 observational studies indexed under Latent Tuberculosis.
Browse Latent Tuberculosis studies →Region Skane is the lead sponsor of 386 studies on the registry; 122 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Individuals 15 years or older diagnosed with latent- or active tuberculosis or found healthy as part of routine care at the out- and inpatient department of the department for infectious diseases at Skåne University Hospital in Malmö, Sweden
LTBI (2 groups)
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
Controls
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
Active TB
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
age \< 15 years
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.
Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Immunosuppression
A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.
Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Treatment according to existing Swedish guidelines with: Oral rifampicin 10 mg/kg (max 600mg) once daily during 4 months OR Oral isoniazide 5 mg/kg (max 300mg) once daily in combination with 40mg vitamin B6 (pyridoxin) during 6 months
Latent TB without indication for treatment OR patient who do not want to receive treatment
Treatment according to existing Swedish guidelines. Duration and choice of antibiotic therapy depending on the condition.
Healthy
Cytokine levels
To determine levels of selected cytokines in supernatants of Mtb-incubated whole blood obtained from persons diagnosed with LTBI during the course of treatment, and to identify patterns of cytokine expression suggestive of bacterial eradication.
Time frame: 0-12 months
Gene expression
To characterize patterns of small non-coding RNA (sncRNA) expression (including microRNAs) in blood and plasma from persons diagnosed with LTBI, and to identify patterns of sncRNA expression in individuals with LTBI suggestive of bacterial eradication.
Time frame: 0-12 months
Activity of indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase (IDO)
3\. To characterize IDO activity in plasma from persons diagnosed with LTBI, and to determine whether changes in IDO activity during the course of LTBI reflect bacterial eradication
Time frame: 0-12 months
Ran from Dec 2021 to primary completion in Dec 2025, 47 months.
Of 31 observational studies under Latent Tuberculosis, half reached primary completion within 94 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 37 and three quarters within 98. This study's 47 months is below that.
Since we started tracking on Sep 25, 2026, the dates moved once, on Sep 29, 2026: primary completion Jun 2024 → Dec 2025 and completion Dec 2024 → Dec 2025.
Earlier changes are on the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.