The overall level of activation (HLA-DR, CD-38) and proliferation (Ki-67) markers in the smear-positive and negative pulmonary TB patients was much lower than compared with the healthy QFT positive and negative comparators groups (p-value = 0.0161, p = 0.0171,p = 0.0111, p = 0.034), respectively (Fig 2). Here, MKI67 is linked to pulmonary tuberculosis.