Clinical investigation: increased serum stromal derived factor 1 alpha levels in pulmonary tuberculosis THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN RETRACTED

SummaryPulmonary tuberculosis, a granulomatous disease, has few serological markers for its activity. Recently, an increased plasma level of stromal derived factor 1 alpha (SDF-1α), which can induce strong chemotaxis of cells through its receptor CXCR4, was detected in patients with tuberculosis. In this study we investigated serum SDF-1α levels and CXCR4 expression on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Fifty-five active tuberculosis patients, 30 resolved tuberculosis patients, 27 acute bronchitis patients and 8 healthy volunteers were examined. Histological expression of SDF-1α in the tuberculosis lesion and CXCR4 expression of PBMCs were also analysed. Serum SDF-1α levels in active tuberculosis patients were significantly higher than other groups. The sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of active tuberculosis was 88·5% and 85·3% (cutoff value = 650 pg/ml), respectively. CXCR4 expression levels on PBMCs showed a significant negative correlation with serum SDF-1α levels. Inflammatory cells including multinuclear giant cells in the lesion expressed SDF-1α. Measurement of serum SDF-1α could be a useful screening marker for the identification of active pulmonary tuberuculosis. We propose that interaction of SDF-1α and CXCR4 might be involved in the pathogenesis of pulmonary tuberculosis.