Genome wide transcriptional profiling of HIV positive and negative children with active tuberculosis, latent TB infection and other diseases from South Africa and Malawi

The study aimed to define transcriptional signatures for detection of active TB (TB) compared to latent TB infection (LTBI) as well as to other diseases (OD) with similar clinical phenotypes in patients with and without HIV in two African paediatric populations. Transcriptional signatures were identified that distinguished active TB from LTBI, and active TB from other diseases. Children were recruited from Cape Town, South Africa (n=157) and Blantyre, Malawi (n=177) who were either HIV+ or HIV - with either active TB, LTBI or OD. Blood was collected into PAX gene tubes (PreAnalytiX). Total RNA integrity was assessed using an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent, Palo Alto, CA). Labeled cRNA was hybridized to Illumina Human HT-12 Beadchips. Data were analysed in R.