Serum Adenosine Deaminase Level as an Indicator of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Activity versus Other Infectious Diseases

Authors

1 Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services

2 The Open Heart Critical Care Unit, Tehran Heart Centre, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services,

3 Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services,

4 Biology Dept. of AlZahra University ,TEHRAN-IRAN.

Abstract

Background: We evaluated the association of active pulmonary tuberculosis with level of serum adenosine deaminase in order to have an acceptable rapid test to help the clinicians in the diagnosis of active pulmonary tuberculosis. Materials and Methods: We measured serum total adenosine deaminase level in three groups: 1- Cases of active pulmonary tuberculosis that were confirmed by positive sputum smears for acid-fast bacilli in association with compatible clinical and radiological findings. 2- Cases of other infectious diseases including brucellosis, endocarditis, salmonellosis, and meningitis confirmed by clinical findings and related laboratory tests. 3- Healthy controls. Serum adenosine deaminase levels were measured before starting the treatment. Data analysis was performed by ChiSquare; ANOVA and LSD tests. The significant level was evaluated for p- value of less than 0.05. Result: We evaluated 51 cases (21 females and 30 males aged 47.7±19 years) of active pulmonary tuberculosis, 11 cases (6 females and 5 males aged 44.7±21 years) of other infectious diseases and 50 cases (14 females and 36 males aged 48.4±11 years) of healthy individuals. Mean serum adenosine deaminase level in pulmonary tuberculosis (42.4±21.5 IU/ml) and other infectious diseases (38.3±23.4 IU/ml) was significantly more than controls (26.6± 8.2 IU/ml), (p

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