Korea
research consortia
project 1
For international collaborative research (Project I), RePORT Korea concluded the agreement with De La Salle Medical and Health Science Institute (DLSMHSI) to conduct a cohort study. The study will identify biomarkers for distinguishing patients with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and active disease and predict the development of tuberculosis in household contacts of patients with active tuberculosis. The NIID is financially supporting this three-year project, and the Division of Bacterial Disease Research is in charge of this collaborative research. As part of this, RePORT Korea organized a workshop for the researchers of DLSMHSI about next-generation sequencing analysis. It also organized a seminar introducing the tuberculosis research infra of Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) including the Biosafety level 3 facility.
project 1 – Biomarkers for predicting the development of active disease in household contacts with latent tuberculosis infection
background & Aim
Patients with LTBI may be reservoirs of active TB. To achieve the goal of END-TB, it is essential to reduce the number of patients with LTBI who progress to active disease through accurate identification and prompt treatment. Therefore, it is crucial to discover biomarkers that can distinguish patients with active TB from those with LTBI and healthy controls and predict the progression of latent TB infection to active disease.
research period
November 25. 2022 ~ December 31. 2024
Funding
Korea National Institute of Health, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency
institute
De La Salle Medical and Health Science Institute
project 2
The second project (Project II) is aimed at connecting the cohort study of pulmonary tuberculosis, which has been performed in Korea, to RePORT International to share its data and resources. PPD® has reviewed the manual of operation and procedure as requested by RICC. In addition to a review of the protocol, purpose and design of the study, any issues in data harmonization will be discussed. RePORT Korea is expecting that this cohort study will provide valuable markers for shortening the treatment period.
Project 2 – Cohort Study of Pulmonary Tuberculosis (COSMOTB)
background & Aim
The Korea National Institutes of Health performed a cohort study in Korea to develop strategies to shorten the duration of anti-TB treatment. Despite the various difficulties in conducting cohort studies in Korea, this observational study continues to provide scientific data for policymakers. RePORT Korea intends to share data with other participants in the consortium and contribute to developing new technologies for the END-TB Strategy. We aimed to enroll more than 1000 patients with active pulmonary TB in Korea and identify biomarkers to predict their prognosis. Recently, the efficacy of anti-TB treatment in patients with INH-resistant tuberculosis was evaluated within this cohort study. This provided scientific evidence for the update of the “Korean guidelines for tuberculosis (4th edition).” The specimens and samples collected from this cohort will be used for the intramural study by the KNIH to identify biomarkers for predicting anti-TB treatment outcomes. RePORT Korea has requested the executive committee to determine whether this project could be recognized as part of its activities.