In adults, HO-1, IFN-γ and IL-1β, markers which have been associated with TB pathogenesis30–32 were the top markers that contributed to discrimination between the disease groups (both PTB and EPTB) and controls14,30,33, whereas in children, TIMP-3, IL-17 and HO-1 were the markers that most contributed for discrimination between active TB patients and uninfected controls. Here, TIMP3 is linked to tuberculosis.