Abstract: Objective To evaluate the effects of ELISPOT (enzyme-link immunospot) test using different samples in diagnosing tuberculous pleurisy. Methods Using T-Spot-TB kit to detect interferon-γ level in pleural effusion and peripheral blood from 164 patients with tuberculous pleural effusion and 102 patients without tuberculous pleural effusion. Number of spot forming cells (SFCs) as well as the specificity and sensitivity of the tests were compared between these two methods (ELISPOT using leural effusion or peripheral blood). Results The area under the ROC curve was 0.947 in pleural effusion Elispot test while it was 0.905 in peripheral blood Elispot test. The sensitivity of pleural effusion ELISPOT test in diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy (95.1%) was significantly higher than that of peripheral blood ELISPOT test (89.0%). What’ s more,the specificity of pleural effusion ELISPOT test in diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy (90.2%) was higher than that in diagnosis of peripheral blood ELISPOT test (88.2%). Conclusion The pleural effusion ELISPOT test is more valuable than peripheral blood ELISPOT in the diagnosis of tuberculous pleuritis.

Key words: enzyme-linked immunospot assay, spot forming cells, pleural effusion mononuclear cells, peripheral blood
mononuclear cells