Abstract:

Objective To analyze the expression level of lipoxin A4 (LXA4) and its influence mechanism in the process of pleural fibrosis in the patients with tuberculous pleurisy. Methods The clinical data of 61 patients with tuberculous pleural effusion and 15 patients with cancerous pleural effusion, who were treated at Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University from July 2017 to December 2018, were collected. According to presence or absence of pleural fibrosis, the enrolled patients were divided into three groups: tuberculous pleural fibrosis group (27 cases), tuberculous without pleural fibrosis group (34 cases) and cancerous without pleural fibrosis group (15 cases). The LXA4 concentration in the pleural effusion of the patients in each group was tested and compared; the correlation between LXA4 and TGF-β in the tuberculous pleural effusion was analyzed. Results The median (quartile) of LXA4 concentration was 7.74 (4.69, 10.55) ng/L in the patients of tuberculous without pleural fibrosis group, which was statistically significant lower than that in the patients of tuberculous pleural fibrosis group (12.50 (11.60, 14.83) ng/L; Z=-3.830, P<0.001). The concentration of LXA4 was 7.88 (5.91, 15.02) ng/L in the patients of cancerous without pleural fibrosis group, there was no significant difference compared with the tuberculosis patients without pleural fibrosis (Z=-0.586, P=0.558). The concentrations of LXA4 (10.23 (5.14, 13.15) ng/L) and TGF-β (46.30 (41.04, 60.85) ng/L) were negative correlation in 61 tuberculosis patients with pleural effusion (Spearman correlation coefficient, r_s=-0.519, P<0.001). Conclusion The LXA4 concentration is highly expressed in tuberculous pleurisy patients with pleural fibrosis, and has a significant negative correlation with the concentration of TGF-β. It may play an anti pleural fibrosis role by inhibiting TGF-β.

Key words: Lipoxins, Tuberculosis,pleural, Pleural effusion,malignant, Fibrosis, Comparative study, Data interpretation,statistical