Association of Pluslife MiniDock MTB time-to-positivity with tuberculosis bacterial load: a diagnostic study in Indonesia
- 1Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Abstract
ObjectivesThe near point-of-care (nPOC) Pluslife MiniDock MTB (MiniDock) assay does not report semiquantitative values. We evaluated whether categorized MiniDock time-to-positivity (TTP) serves as a quantitative proxy for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacterial load.
MethodsPresumptive tuberculosis (TB) patients enrolled across 27 health facilities in Indonesia were tested with sputum GeneXpert MTB/RIF Ultra (Xpert), MiniDock sputum swabs, and tongue swabs. Positive results were categorized using a median split at 13 minutes ([≤]13, 13-25, and 25 minute). MiniDock TTP categories were evaluated against Xpert semiquantitative grades and BACTEC MGIT 960 liquid culture TTP (days).
ResultsOf 2974 presumptive TB participants tested with sputum Xpert, 426 (14.3%) were sputum Xpert-positive. MiniDock detected Mtb in 248/299 (83.0%) sputum and 263/382 (68.8%) tongue swab. Among 248 Minidock sputum-positive results, 99 (39.9%) turned positive [≤]13 minutes, 107 (43.1%) between 13 and 25 minutes, and 42 (16.9%) at 25 minutes. Minidock TTP categories correlated with sputum and tongue swab semiquantitative results as well as with culture time to positivity (p<0.001).
ConclusionsMiniDock TTP categories ([≤]13, 13-25, 25 minutes) provide meaningful stratification which correlates with both Xpert semiquantitative and culture TTP. Time to Positivity from nPOC could thus serve as a proxy for bacterial burden and infectiousness, strongly increasing its utility for clinical care, public health and research.
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BibTeX
@misc{korompis2026association,
title = {{Association of Pluslife MiniDock MTB time-to-positivity with tuberculosis bacterial load: a diagnostic study in Indonesia}},
author = {M. Korompis and L. D. Veeken and S. Hartati and Z. H. Fatma and L. Chaidir and N. Eristiana and T. Setiabudiawan and J. van Ingen and R. van Crevel and P. C. Hill and R. M. G. J. Houben and B. Alisjahbana and R. C. Koesoemadinata},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.01.26361863},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.01.26361863v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Association of Pluslife MiniDock MTB time-to-positivity with tuberculosis bacterial load: a diagnostic study in Indonesia
AU - M. Korompis
AU - L. D. Veeken
AU - S. Hartati
AU - Z. H. Fatma
AU - L. Chaidir
AU - N. Eristiana
AU - T. Setiabudiawan
AU - J. van Ingen
AU - R. van Crevel
AU - P. C. Hill
AU - R. M. G. J. Houben
AU - B. Alisjahbana
AU - R. C. Koesoemadinata
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.01.26361863
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.01.26361863v1
AB - ObjectivesThe near point-of-care (nPOC) Pluslife MiniDock MTB (MiniDock) assay does not report semiquantitative values. We evaluated whether categorized MiniDock time-to-positivity (TTP) serves as a quantitative proxy for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacterial load. MethodsPresumptive tuberculosis (TB) patients enrolled across 27 health facilities in Indonesia were tested with sputum GeneXpert MTB/RIF Ultra (Xpert), MiniDock sputum swabs, and tongue swabs. Positive results were categorized using a median split at 13 minutes ([≤]13, 13-25, and 25 minute). MiniDock TTP categories were evaluated against Xpert semiquantitative grades and BACTEC MGIT 960 liquid culture TTP (days). ResultsOf 2974 presumptive TB participants tested with sputum Xpert, 426 (14.3%) were sputum Xpert-positive. MiniDock detected Mtb in 248/299 (83.0%) sputum and 263/382 (68.8%) tongue swab. Among 248 Minidock sputum-positive results, 99 (39.9%) turned positive [≤]13 minutes, 107 (43.1%) between 13 and 25 minutes, and 42 (16.9%) at 25 minutes. Minidock TTP categories correlated with sputum and tongue swab semiquantitative results as well as with culture time to positivity (p<0.001). ConclusionsMiniDock TTP categories ([≤]13, 13-25, 25 minutes) provide meaningful stratification which correlates with both Xpert semiquantitative and culture TTP. Time to Positivity from nPOC could thus serve as a proxy for bacterial burden and infectiousness, strongly increasing its utility for clinical care, public health and research.
ER -