[Comparative significance of the biochemical markers of cell-mediated immunity in the diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy].

The authors have compared the informative value of the tests determining the activity of adenosine deaminase (ADA) and the levels of interferon-gamma (INF-gamma) and neopterin in the diagnosis of pleural effusions of tuberculous (n = 67) and nontuberculous (n = 30) origin. The equally high diagnostic value has been found in the study of the activities of ADA (94.8%) and INF-gamma, which are markers of lymphocytic cellular immunity. There are great differences in the sensitivity of the neopterin test depending whether tuberculosis is isolated or complicates the course of tuberculosis of the lung or intrathoracic lymph nodes, which may be regarded as a reflection of the different status of macrophageal cellular immunity.