Ethics statements
Ninety-six 6–8-week age of the specific pathogen-free (SPF) female BALB/c mice were purchased from Beijing Vital River Laboratory Animal Technology Company Limited (Beijing, China), placed and fed under infection barrier conditions in a negative pressure animal room in the Eighth Medical Center of the Chinese PLA General Hospital (Beijing, China). Animal experiments strictly followed the rules and regulations of the PLA General Hospital for the management and use of laboratory animals. After the whole blood from 10 confirmed TB patients and 15 healthy people recruited in the Eighth Medical Center of the Chinese PLA General Hospital were routinely tested, the remaining whole blood samples were used to perform RT-qPCR verification. The study was approved respectively by the Animal Ethical Committee and the Medical Ethics Committee of the Eighth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital (approval 202209151022).