This document discusses using alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels to distinguish between tuberculous and non-tuberculous pleural effusions. It presents a study that measured ALP concentrations in the pleural fluid and serum of patients with confirmed tuberculous or non-tuberculous effusions. The results showed that patients with tuberculous effusions had significantly higher pleural fluid ALP levels and pleural fluid to serum ALP ratios than those with non-tuberculous effusions. The study confirms that ALP can help differentiate the two types of effusions, with cut-off values of ≥71 IU/L for pleural fluid ALP and ≥0.51 for