Pleural effusion adenosine deaminase: a candidate biomarker to discriminate between Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial infections of the pleural space.
OBJECTIVE
Delay in the treatment of pleural infection may contribute to its high mortality. In this retrospective study, we aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of pleural adenosine deaminase in discrimination between Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial infections of the pleural space prior to selecting antibiotics.


METHODS
A total of 76 patients were enrolled and grouped into subgroups according to Gram staining: 1) patients with Gram-negative bacterial infections, aged 53.2±18.6 years old, of whom 44.7% had empyemas and 2) patients with Gram-positive bacterial infections, aged 53.5±21.5 years old, of whom 63.1% had empyemas. The pleural effusion was sampled by thoracocentesis and then sent for adenosine deaminase testing, biochemical testing and microbiological culture. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to examine the differences in adenosine deaminase levels between the groups. Correlations between adenosine deaminase and specified variables were also quantified using Spearman's correlation coefficient. Moreover, receiver operator characteristic analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of pleural effusion adenosine deaminase.


RESULTS
Mean pleural adenosine deaminase levels differed significantly between Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial infections of the pleural space (191.8±32.1 U/L vs 81.0±16.9 U/L, p<0.01). The area under the receiver operator characteristic curve was 0.689 (95% confidence interval: 0.570, 0.792, p<0.01) at the cutoff value of 86 U/L. Additionally, pleural adenosine deaminase had a sensitivity of 63.2% (46.0-78.2%); a specificity of 73.7% (56.9-86.6%); positive and negative likelihood ratios of 2.18 and 0.50, respectively; and positive and negative predictive values of 70.6% and 66.7%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Pleural effusion adenosine deaminase is a helpful alternative biomarker for early and quick discrimination of Gram-negative from Gram-positive bacterial infections of the pleural space, which is useful for the selection of antibiotics.
First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Department of Medicine Research, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
Ruolin
R
Li
Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical College for Nationalities, Center of Clinical Laboratory, Baise, Guangxi, China.
Junli
J
Wang
Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital, Department of Lab Medicine, Jinan, China.
Xinfeng
X
Wang
Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital, Department of Lab Medicine, Jinan, China.
Maoshui
M
Wang
D000243:Adenosine Deaminase / Q000032:analysis*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D004796:Clinical Enzyme Tests; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000382:microbiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D015415:Biomarkers; D000243:Adenosine Deaminase