Diagnostic role of interleukin -33 in the differentiation of pleural effusions especially tuberculous and malignant effusions

Table 2 Comparison between pleural and serum IL-33 levels in all studied groups, tuberculous, malignant, parapneumonic and transudative groups

Types of pleural effusion		Range	Mean (ng/l)	Paired “t.”	P
Pleural IL-33 of all studied group		6.44–23.95	14.14 ± 6.491	2.7	0.01 (S)^*
Serum IL-33 of all studied group		5.23–20.32	12.06 ± 5.290	2.7	0.01 (S)^*
Tuberculous N = 36	Pleural IL-33	21.00–23.95	22.5 ± 0.90	22.3	< 0.001 (HS)**
Tuberculous N = 36	Serum IL-33	12.46–15.11	13.9 ± 0.85		< 0.001 (HS)**
Malignant N = 33	Serum IL-33	15.21–20.32	13.5 ± 1.98	10.5	< 0.01 (S)*
Malignant N = 33	Pleural IL-33	10.32–17.32	11.9 ± 2.35		< 0.01 (S)*
Parapneumonic N = 24	Pleural IL-33	6.44–8.43	7.33 ± 0.72	15.5	< 0.001 (HS)**
Parapneumonic N = 24	Serum IL-33	5.23–7.21	6.22 ± 0.76		< 0.001 (HS)**
Transudative N = 24	Pleural IL-33	7.12–8.21	7.53 ± 0.38	10.5	< 0.001 (HS)**
Transudative N = 24	Serum IL-33	5.38–6.78	6.10 ± 0.42		< 0.001 (HS)**

TST Tuberculin Skin Test ^*S significant, ^**HS highly significant
Shows that the pleural IL-33 level is significantly higher than the serum IL-33 level in all studied groups. Pleural IL-33 is significantly higher than the serum level in tuberculous, parapneumonic, and transudative groups; while serum IL-33 is significantly higher than the pleural level in the malignant group

ISSN: 1471-2466