Objective To determin and compare the significance of the expression of chemotactic cytokines in pleural effusions monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1)and regulated on activation,normal,T-cell expressed and secreted(RANTES)levels in tuberculous and malignant pleural effusions.Methods The effusion and serum levels of MCP-1 and RANTES were measured in 37 patients with tuberculous pleural effusion and 35 patients with malignant pleural effusion,and selected 20 healthy people acting as control group.Results The effusion and serum levds of MCP-1 and RANTES in tuberculous effusion patients was significantly higher than that in malignant group(P＜0.01);In tuberculous group,the content of MCP-1 in serum was higher than control group,the serum level of RANTES was no statistic significant difference between control group and tuberculous group.The contents of MCP-1 and RANTES were not correlated with pathologic type of lung.cancer.Conclusion MCP-1 and RANTES technique has an important clinical value in diagnosis and differential diagnosis of tuberculosis and malignant pleural effusion.