ABSTRACT

Tuberculosis is still a major health problem worldwide especially in underdeveloped countries. The most important part of the tuberculosis struggle is the early detection and treatment of the smear-positive cases. However we don't have a fast, sensitive, specific and economic method to manage this strategy yet. It has been shown that adenosine deaminase (ADA) which is used in the diagnosis of tuberculosis, increased in pleural fluid, cerebrospinal fluid and serum in patients with tuberculosis.

In this study, the diagnostic value and contribution to disease activity of ADA levels in serum of tuberculosis patients were compared to both healthy individuals and the patients with other diseases. Serum ADA levels of 24 patients with lung tuberculosis, 21 with pleural tuberculosis, 20 with pneumonia, 15 with lung malignancy and 10 healthy individuals were measured. The sensitivity and specificity of serum ADA levels in cases with tuberculosis and cases with diseases other than tuberculosis were found 87.8% and 91.1% respectively. There was a significant difference in serum ADA levels of these two case groups (p<0.001).

In conclusion, serum ADA measurement may be valuable in differential diagnosis of tuberculosis patients and in detection of disease activity in patients with possible tuberculosis.