Characteristics of study subjects
The age (mean ± SD; EC, 41.3± 11.1 y; DM, 50.4 ± 7.77 y) and gender distribution (Male/Female; EC, 18/21; DM, 20/13) of EC and DM study subjects was comparable (Table 1).
Patients with TB had a mean age of 40 y and comprised 11: 4 Male/Female cases. We used the QuantiFERON-gold In-Tube assay (QFT-GIT) to determine the latent TB status of each case and found that 15 of 39 healthy controls and 17 of 33 DM cases had LTBi.