Table 1 Baseline characteristics of 211 participants

Age, median (range)

55 (19-98)

53 (19-98)

55 (19-93)

0.13

Male/female

97/114

45/49

52/65

0.62

BMI (median, IQR)

21.6 (19.5-24.5)

21.2 (18.8-23.9)

22.2 (19.9-25.0)

0.09

History of smoking

34 (16)

14 (15)

20 (17)

0.19

History of recent TB contact

   Negative

181 (85.8)

85 (90.4)

96 (82.1)

   Positive

2 (0.9)

2 (2.1)

0 (0)

0.22*

   Unknown

28 (13.3)

7 (7.4)

21 (17.9)

Presence of TB scar on chest X-ray

7 (3.3)

5 (5.3)

2 (1.7)

0.25

Laboratory findings (median, IQR)

   WBC (10³/uL)

7350 (5480-10570)

7260 (5900-9380)

7430 (5030-11280)

0.89

   Haemoglobin (g/dL)

11.1 (9.5-12.7)

11.9 (10.75-13.4)

10.6 (9.2-12.0)

< 0.001

   Platelets (10³/uL)

272 (196-380)

277 (210-394)

266 (170-379)

0.16

   Lymphocytes (10³/uL)

1410 (860-1890)

1670 (1155-2085)

1230 (755-1700)

< 0.001

   Total protein (g/dL)

6.8 (6.1-7.38)

7.2 (6.7-7.6)

6.5 (5.7-7.0)

< 0.001

   Albumin (g/dL)

3.6 (2.9-4.2)

4.0 (3.2-4.4)

3.2 (2.8-3.9)

< 0.001

   Cholesterol (mg/dL)

152 (122-184)

160 (128-184)

149 (117-182)

0.14

Disease associated with immunosuppression

117 (55)

   Diabetes

23 (11)

   Solid cancer treated with anticancer chemotherapy

28 (13)

   Haematologic malignant disease

7 (3)

   Transplantation

11(5)

   ESRD on renal replacement therapy

6 (3)

   Liver cirrhosis, Child-Pough class C

1 (0.5)

   HIV infection

1 (0.5)

   Treated with immunosuppressive drugs†

40 (19)