ABSTRACT

The pleural effusions may be caused by malignant or benign diseases. In this study, it was aimed to determine the serum and pleural leptin levels in non-malignant and malignant pleural effusions.

Patients with non-malignant (n=20) and malignant pleural effusions (n=20), and healthy control group (n=20) were included in this cross-sectional study. The age and body mass index (BMI) were comparative between study groups. The serum leptin levels in all subjects and pleural effu-sions leptin level in patients with pleural effusion were determined. Leptin levels were compared in terms of study groups and gender of subjects.

The leptin levels in serum and pleural effusions in group with malignant pleural effusion were significantly higher than both the non-malignant effusion and control groups (p<0.001). While there was no statistically significant difference between male and female patients in terms of pleural effusions leptin levels (p=0.097), serum leptin level of the female patients was significantly higher than the male patients (p<0.001).

Increased serum and pleural effusions leptin levels in malignant pleural effusions shows that leptin is a useful new marker.

Keywords: Leptin, malignancy, pleural effusion