Significance Of Interferon Gamma-Inducible Chemokines In Pleural Effusions

Background: The T-helper type 1(Th1) lymphocytes is important in pathogenesis of tuberculosis. So, we evaluated for significance of interferon (IFN)-γ and IFN-inducible chemokines in pleural effusions. Methods: A total of 276 subjects were enrolled. The study population comprised 80 patients with tuberculous effusions, 68 patients with malignant effusions, 53 patients with parapneumonic effusions, 27 patients with transudates, and 48 patients with miscellaneous effusions. In serum and effusion samples from patients with pleural effusions, the levels of IFN-γ, IFN-inducible T-cell alpha chemoattractant (I-TAC) and monokine induced by IFN-γ (MIG) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the levels of adenosine deaminase (ADA) were measured by colorimetry. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed. Results: The levels of IFN-γ, I-TAC, MIG and ADA in the pleural effusions were significantly increased in the tuberculous effusions ( p Conclusions: All the IFN-γinducible chemokines along with and ADA showed high discriminating powers for tuberculous effusion, especially IFN-γ in effusion, and MIG in serum. Those chemokines can be useful surrogate markers in diagnosis of pleural effusion.