Abstract:

Tuberculous pleurisy is the most common type of adult extra-pulmonary tuberculosis. To detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in pleural effusion is difficult, and in clinic, it requires a combination of bacteriology, pathology, molecular biology, cellular immunology and a comprehensive diagnostic strategy. Moreover, it is difficult to differentiate with malignant pleural diseases and other infectious pleural diseases. Recently, there have been many studies on the biomarkers of tuberculous pleural effusion. The progress of nucleic acid detection technology and its wide application in the field of tuberculosis have also provided a new diagnostic method for tuberculous pleurisy. Both adenosine deaminase (ADA) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) have high sensitivity and specificity, they can be used as specific biomarkers of tuberculous pleurisy. Interleukin-27 (IL-27) is a promising biomarker. Acid amplification assay (NAATS) and miRNA have developed rapidly, but the property in the diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy is not satisfactory. The combined application of multiple methods can greatly improve the diagnostic accuracy.

Key words: Tuberculosis, pleural, Biomarkers, Pleural effusion