CXCL12 as a biological marker for the diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy

Summary Although a chemokine CXCL12 is implicated in some infectious diseases, especially those in which T cell-mediated immunity plays critical roles, the relevance of CXCL12 to tuberculosis has never been elucidated. To determine the clinical efficacy of CXCL12 as a diagnostic marker for tuberculous (TB) pleurisy, we measured CXCL12 concentration in pleural fluid and serum from patients with various etiologies. Of 60 patients with pleural fluid, the median age of TB patients was 52 which was significantly lower than 71 of non-TB patients ( P n  = 15) was significantly higher than non-TB effusion (2851 ± 1229 pg/mL, n  = 45) ( P Increased CXCL12 level in pleural fluid could be an informative diagnostic marker for differentiating TB pleurisy from other etiologies.