. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Apr 1.

Published in final edited form as: Immunobiology. 2014 Jan 31;219(4):323–328. doi: 10.1016/j.imbio.2014.01.005

Table 1.

Comparison of modified QuantiFERON assay (IGRA) and Leishmanin Skin test (LST)

Performance and operational characteristics	Modified Quantiferon assay (IGRA)	Leishmanin Skin test (LST)
How is test performed?	Laboratory measurement of antigen specific IFN-γ in whole blood	Intradermal injection of GMP grade purified protein derivatives and measurement of resulting induration
What does the test measure?	In-vitro release of IFN-γ after exposure to leishmania antigen	In vivo type of intradermal hypersensitivity after injection of leishmanin antigen
Ability to detect leishmania infection	Yes (with high sensitivity)	Yes (but low sensitivity)
Ability to distinguish active VL and cured VL.	Yes (by measuring IFN-γ and IL-10)	No
Need for patients to return of second visit	No	Yes
Required Laboratory infrastructure	Yes (ELISA related equipments)	No special infrastructure required
Cost	More expensive	Less expensive
Time to obtain results	At least 24 hrs.	At least 48 hrs.