Association of logarithmic lymphocyte-albumin product with active tuberculosis in children and adolescents

作者：Jinyu Chen, Bin Deng, Yan Wang, Shenjie Tang, Dongmei Wang, Lei Chen, Qi An · 发表于：Frontiers in Nutrition · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.3389/fnut.2026.1781667 · 研究领域：Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology、Diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis、Hematological disorders and diagnostics

Background Active tuberculosis (ATB) in children and adolescents remains a major diagnostic challenge. Inflammation, nutrition, and immune status are closely linked to tuberculosis (TB) progression. We therefore proposed a novel biomarker, the logarithmic lymphocyte-albumin product (logLAP), integrating immune and nutritional indicators, and investigated its association with ATB in children and adolescents. Methods This retrospective study included 1,080 participants aged <18 years. Participants were classified into ATB ( n = 904) and non-TB ( n = 176) groups. LAP was calculated as lymphocyte × albumin, and logLAP was derived as log(LAP). Discriminatory ability was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Logistic regression models were applied to assess the association between logLAP and ATB. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) analyses and stratified analyses were conducted to explore nonlinear relationships and subgroup differences. Results Compared with non-TB controls, ATB patients exhibited significantly lower logLAP levels (4.07 ± 0.55 vs. 4.39 ± 0.47, p < 0.001). In ROC analysis, LAP achieved the higher area under the curve (AUC = 0.6955) than neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), neutrophil-albumin ratio (NAR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and prognostic-nutritional index (PNI). The clinical diagnostic cut-off value for logLAP was 4.23, with a sensitivity of 60% and a specificity of 74%. Logisti...