Τόμος 25 (2007) – Τεύχος 1 – Άρθρο 5 – Επιθεώρηση Κλινικής Φαρμακολογίας και Φαρμακοκινητικής-Ελληνική Έκδοση – Volume 25 (2007) – Issue 1– Article 5 – Epitheorese Klinikes Farmakologias και Farmakokinetikes-Greek Edition

Γλυκοζαμινογλυκάνες Πλευριτικού Υγρού

Glycosaminoglycans in Pleural Effu­sions

Ελληνικά – Greek

Στατιστική Μελέτη

Statistical Study

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Pleural effusions have been classically divided into transudates and exudates. Various criteria have been used. Light et al criteria seem to be the most accepted. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) have been detected dur­ing pleural fluid analysis in various cases. In this work we investigated: a) whether and in what way pleural fluid GAGs (PF-GAGs) and serum GAGs (S-GAGs) correlate with established criteria used to indicate an exudate and b) if the ratio PFGAGs/SGAGs differs between exudate and transu­date groups. Lactic acid dehydrogenase (LDH), total protein (TP), cholesterol (CHOL), glycose (GLU), triglycerides and GAG levels were measured in pleural fluids and serum from 54 patients with pleural effu­sions. GAGs were determined by a photometric method. PF-GAGs were significantly correlated with pleural LDH, and pleural glucose. S-GAGs were sig­nificantly correlated with TP values and serum triglyc­erides. Based on final diagnosis, the mean value of PF-GAG levels in transudate and exu­date patients was 5.4 ±0.86μg/ml and 16.6±1.46 μg/m, respectively, with the PF-GAG/S-GAG ratio being sig­nificantly higher in exudates than transudates (p=0.006). Interestingly, with a cutoff level of 0.6, the PF-GAG/S-GAG ratio had a sensitivity of 96%, a specificity of 80% and an accu­racy of 94%, matching exactly the corresponding per­centages of Light’s crite­ria. Due to the small number of transudates further investigation is needed in order to explore the possible role of GAGs as another reliable parameter in the dis­tinction between transudates and exudates.