Ito M, Kojiro N, Shirasaka T, Moriwaki Y, Tachibana I, Kokubu T
Department of Internal Medicine, Kinki Central Hospital, Hyogo, Japan.
Chest. 1990 May;97(5):1141-3. doi: 10.1378/chest.97.5.1141.
The levels of soluble IL-2R were measured in pleural fluid from patients with tuberculosis pleurisy. There were significantly elevated soluble IL-2R values in tuberculous pleural fluid as compared with pleural fluid of nontuberculous etiology including malignant, bacterial and transudative pleural effusions. In patients with tuberculous pleurisy, the level of soluble IL-2R in pleural fluid was markedly greater than that in serum. Furthermore, a significant positive correlation was observed between soluble IL-2R levels and adenosine deaminase levels in tuberculous pleural fluid. These findings suggest that elevated levels of pleural fluid soluble IL-2R in tuberculous pleurisy could reflect the local proliferation of activated T-cells and may be clinically useful in the diagnostic procedures for patients with pleural tuberculosis.
