ASSAY FOR DETECTING MYCOBACTERIAL INFECTION

摘要

A method of assessing a mycobacterial infection in a subject comprising; i. exposing at least one CDl molecule or analogue to mycolic acid or a mycolic acid analogue; ii. subsequently incubating the at least one CDl molecule or analogue with a sample comprising at least one T cell isolated from the subject; iii. measuring the T cell response and/or the number of mycolic acid specific T cells present in the T cell sample. The method can distinguish between active and latent tuberculosis infection and can be used to monitor the effectiveness of therapeutic intervention.