ABSTRACT
The pleura is involved in many pulmonary and systemic disorders. As a result, pleural effusions are common clinical presentations. In vivo studies have played an invaluable part in enhancing our understanding of the etiology of various pleural diseases. While in vitro studies can provide information on isolated cell types, pleural pathologies are inevitably a result of complicated interactions between residential mesothelial cells and infiltrating (e.g. inflammatory, malignant) cells. The pleura is also under close influence of products from the systemic circulation (e.g. cytokines) that cross the vascular and mesothelial barriers. These interactions can only be adequately studied in vivo.
