title: The status of serum procalcitonin in pulmonary tuberculosis and nontuberculosis pulmonary disease.
abstract: Procalcitonin (PCT) is a marker of the inflammatory response to infection. In the present study the serum PCT of 46 pulmonary tuberculosis patients, 46 non-tuberculosis pulmonary disease and 46 healthy subjects were analyzed using semiquantitative PCT-Q kit. All healthy individuals (100%) were negative regarding PCT. Using cut-off value of 0.5 ng/ml, The sensitivity, specificity positive predictive value and negative predictive value for serum PCT in distinguishing tuberculous from nontuberculous pulmonary disease were 36.9%, 63.1%, 50% and 50%, respectively. According to our results the serum PCT is not a reliable marker for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis due to low sensitivity and specificity.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Infectious diseases and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naderi
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hashemi
authors.forename: Hamidreza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kouhpayeh
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood*; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C000606589:CALCA protein, human; D011498:Protein Precursors; D002116:Calcitonin; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide