Arda Kiani - Tracheal Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Atefeh Abedini - Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mehdi Ramazanpour - Department of Pulmonology, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
Esmaeil Mortaz - Clinical Tuberculosis and Epidemiology Research Center, National Research Institute for Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Kimia Taghavi - Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Abbas Danesh Anbardan - Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Introduction: Anthracosis is the black pigmentation of bronchial mucosa. This disease is caused by the deposition of carbon particles, silica, quartz, etc in the mucosa, submucosa, and inside the macrophages and in some cases have been reported with pulmonary tuberculosis. The aim of the present study was to compare serumlevels and fluid BAL of CD4/CD8 ratio and IL-8 as diagnosis and prognosis biomarkers for anthracosis. Materials and Methods: Of 60 patients who referred to Masih Daneshvari Hospital, 30 anthracosis patients that confirmed with bronchoscopy were included as the cases. Five ml of BAL sample and five ml of blood sample containing anticoagulants were taken from these individuals and sent to the Immunology Laboratory for analysis. Patients without anthracosis on bronchoscopy who were suspected to have tuberculosis were included in the control group. Results: Among them, 60% were women and 40% were men. There were no significant differences in CD4/CD8 ratios in anthracosis compared to control group and no significant differences was observed in IL-8. Pulmonary tuberculosis was confirmed in 88.9% of patients with anthracosis, which was significantly higher than control group. Conclusion: These results suggest that changes in serum levels and BAL fluid of CD4/CD8 and IL-8 do not play an important role in the diagnosis or pathogenesis of anthracosis. Also, due to the strong association of anthrocosis and pulmonary tuberculosis, TB should be considered in patients with anthracosis, which in turn can lead to the early diagnosis and treatment of their patients.

Anthracosis, Biomarkers, Interleukins, Tuberculosis.