When the frequencies of IFN-γ+IL-2-TNF-α+-, IFN-γ+IL-2-TNF-α–, and IFN-γ-IL-2+TNF-α–specific T cells and the proportions of IFN-γ+IL-2+TNF-α–specific T cells were included in fitting the diagnostic index, the AUROC of MTB-specific triple-color FluoroSpot (IFN-γ/IL-2/TNF-α) assay in differentiating ATB from LTBI was 0.878 (95%CI 0.826–0.931), which was significantly better than that of T-SPOT.TB (AUROC = 0.692, 95%CI 0.609–0.775, p < 0.001) (Figure 4B). Here, IL2 is linked to tuberculosis.