title: Significant elevation of plasma pentraxin 3 in patients with pelvic inflammatory disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) plays an important role in innate immune responses and in inflammation disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic potential of PTX3 in pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and correlate it with the severity and outcome of PID.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood specimens were collected from 64 patients with PID before and after treatment and 70 healthy controls and the plasma levels of PTX3 were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits.
  
  
  RESULTS
  It was found that the plasma level of PTX3 expression was elevated in PID patients compared with healthy controls and decreased significantly after they received treatment. When the cut-off level of plasma PTX3 was set at 2.87 ng/mL, PTX3 had higher sensitivity (84.38%) and lower false-negative rate (15.63%) than CRP (79.69% and 20.31%, respectively) in predicting PID. The level of PTX3 also exhibited a significant correlation with length of hospital stay (r=0.581, p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Plasma PTX3 concentration not only predicts the presence of PID with lower false-negative rate than CRP, but plasma PTX3 concentration is also affiliated with the presence of tubo-ovarian abscess (TOA) and the length of hospital stay.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chih-Chia
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Po-Hui
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Pen-Hua
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Ding-Bang
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Tsung-Ho
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Ying
authors.forename: Shun-Fa
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yi-Hsien
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Hsieh
mesh_terms: D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000292:Pelvic Inflammatory Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D011379:Prognosis; D012015:Reference Standards; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D000683:Serum Amyloid P-Component / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000099153:Pentraxins
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D000683:Serum Amyloid P-Component; D000099153:Pentraxins