title: Neopterin, soluble interleukin-2 receptor and adenosine deaminase levels in pleural effusions.
abstract: We evaluated soluble interleukin-2 receptors (sIL-2R), neopterin and adenosine deaminase (ADA) in pleural effusions from 93 patients with tuberculosis, malignancies, uremia, pneumonia and other kinds of pleurisy. There were significantly elevated ADA (102.7 +/- 47 U/l) and sIL-2R (8,238 +/- 4,117 U/ml) values in tuberculous (TB) pleural fluids as compared with other non-TB pleural fluids (p < 0.005). The neopterin levels in pleural fluid were significantly lower in the cancer group (17.3 +/- 7.8 nmol/l; p < 0.005) and most strikingly elevated (309.4 +/- 112.2 nmol/l; p < 0.0001) in patients with uremic pleural effusions. Using cut-off values of 60 U/l in ADA and 5,000 U/l in sIL-2R, 92.0 and 86.9% of pleural effusions were TB in origin. Eighty-four percent of patients with malignant pleural effusions had neopterin levels less than 25 nmol/l.
authors.affiliation: Division of Chest Medicine, Taichung, Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Chu
mesh_terms: D000243:Adenosine Deaminase / Q000378:metabolism*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001708:Biopterins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019798:Neopterin; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000378:metabolism*; D016066:Pleural Effusion, Malignant / Q000378:metabolism; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D012995:Solubility
chemical_list: D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D001708:Biopterins; D019798:Neopterin; D000243:Adenosine Deaminase