Abstract

Diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy is made by pleural biopsy, acid-fast staining and culture of pleural fluid. The role of free radicals in the pleural diseases has not yet been clarified. However, besides being a byproduct of normal metabolism, free radicals may be generated by infections, inflammations, carcinogenesis, medication, and other harmful chemicals. This study investigated the distinctive role of reactive oxygen methabolites (ROM) in the diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy. Serum ROM levels in patients with tuberculous pleurisy were higher than the values in malignant pleurisy, parapnomonic pleurisy and the healthy individuals, and there is a statistically significant difference between tuberculous pleurisy and in other groups (p<0.0001, p<0.05, p<0.0001). There is a statistically significant difference between the plevral ROM levels of tuberculous group and malign, parapneumonic pleurisy groups (p<0.0001, p<0.0001). As a conclusion, it was observed that the free oxygen radicals, that indicate the presence of oxidative stress, increased more in pleural fluid of tuberculous group than other pleurisy reasons. So, it is concluded that the ROM levels of pleural fluid may have a distinctive role in the diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy.