Liu KY, Li XB. Tired of the confusion around pleural effusions: Adenosine deaminase detection sets the record straight! World J Clin Cases 2025; 13(21): 106945 [DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i21.106945]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Xiao-Bing Li, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Thoracic Oncology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 116 South Zhuodaoquan Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430079, Hubei Province, China. lixiaobing0629@126.com
Research Domain of This Article
Infectious Diseases
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Jul 26, 2025; 13(21): 106945 Published online Jul 26, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i21.106945
Tired of the confusion around pleural effusions: Adenosine deaminase detection sets the record straight!
Kai-Yan Liu, Xiao-Bing Li
Kai-Yan Liu, Department of Urology, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang Province, China
Xiao-Bing Li, Department of Thoracic Oncology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430079, Hubei Province, China
Author contributions: Liu KY contributed to drafting manuscripts; Li XB contributed to collect, analyze, and summarize the literature.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All author declares that there are no conflicts of interest in this manuscript.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Bing Li, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Thoracic Oncology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 116 South Zhuodaoquan Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430079, Hubei Province, China. lixiaobing0629@126.com
Received: March 11, 2025 Revised: March 27, 2025 Accepted: April 7, 2025 Published online: July 26, 2025 Processing time: 47 Days and 4.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Pleural effusion, characterized by the accumulation of fluid in the pleural space, poses significant challenges in clinical practice, particularly in distinguishing inflammatory exudates from non-inflammatory transudates. Adenosine deaminase (ADA), an enzyme primary produced by immune cells, especially lymphocytes, increase in response to inflammatory conditions, including infections such as tuberculosis and malignancies. Elevated ADA levels in pleural have been shown to correlate with inflammatory exudates, making it a valuable biomarker for differentiating between inflammatory and non-inflammatory effusions. Moreover, numerous studies have demonstrated the utility of ADA in inflammation- related pleural effusion syndrome. Recent research has established reference values for the implication of ADA in diagnosing and managing pleural disease. Based on these findings, ADA becomes a reliable, non-invasive marker for early diagnosis and the appropriate treatment of pleural inflammation, ultimately improving patient outcomes.
