Objective To study the differential diagnostic value of interferon-γ inducible protein 10 (IP-10),macrophage inflammatory protein-1 α (MIP-1 α) and monocyte chemoattractant-1 (MCP-1) level in the tuberculous,malignant pleural effusion.Methods Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the level of IP-10,MIP-1 α and MCP-1 in tuberculous pleural fluid (tuberculous pleural fluid group,43 cases) and malignant pleural fluid (malignant pleural fluid group,45 cases).The level of IP-10,MIP-1 α and MCP-1 and the significance were analyzed by ROC curve.Results The level of IP-10,MIP-1 α and MCP-1 were significantly higher in tuberculous pleural fluid group than those in malignant pleural fluid group,and there were significant differences(t =4.931,3.106,2.385 ; P =0.000,0.004,0.041).ROC curve analysis showed that the critical value of IP-10,MIP-1 α and MCP-1 in diagnosis of pleural effusion was respectively 1 589.73,213.50,1 452.63 ng/L.The sensitivity and specificity of IP-10,MIP-1 α and MCP-1 in pleural fluid were 68.8％,81.3％,87.5％ and 87.5％,68.8％,56.3％,respectively.Conclusion The level of IP-10,MIP-1 α and MCP-1 in tuberculous and malignant pleural fluid are significant for the early diagnosis and differential diagnosis.