Results from the inactive NTM infection plasma samples revealed a significantly lower pSTAT1 intensity than plasma from non-infected healthy controls (P < 0.01), albeit higher than that found from active infection plasma samples (P < 0.001 compared to active with a titer of 5,000, and P < 0.0001 compared to active with a high titer of >5,000) (Supplementary Fig. S5), implying that inactive infection patients have a lower level of neutralizing anti-IFN-γ autoantibody than active infection patients. This evidence concerns the gene IFNG and infection.