Abstract

Plasminogen activators(PAs) and their inhibitors, plasminogen activator inhibitor-l(PAI-l) are known to play an important role in tumor invasion and metastasis. The differentiation of malignant pleural effusion(PE) from non-malignant pleural effusion is important for the management of a patient. Since malignant PE is a form of metastasis, and malignant cells are considered to be able to produce PAs or PAI-1, it seems reasonable to assume that PAa and PAI-1 in PE will be in somewhat different from that in non-malignant PE. We examined urokinase- type plasminogeo activator(uPA) and uPA receptor(uPAR) and tissue-type plasminogen activator(tPA), PAI-1 antigen using ELISA method and conventional laboratory tests and adenosine deaminase(ADA) in PEs. Levels of uPA, uPAR, tPA and PAI-1 were significantly increased in malignant and tuberculous PE than transudates(p<0.05) but not statistically significant between malignant and tuberculous PE. ADA in PE showed significantly increased in tuberculous PE than malignant PE and transudate(p<0.05). These data suggests that measurement of uPA, uPAR, tPA, PAI-1 antigen in addition to ADA could be helpful to differentiate malignant PE from tuberculous PE and transudate.

• Keywords: Malignant pleural effusion, Plasminogen activators and Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1