title: Survey of serum procalcitonin in cirrhotic patients.
abstract: Procalcitonin (PCT) is a prohormone that has been used as a marker for the diagnosis of bacterial infections. The aim of this study was to survey PCT levels in patients with cirrhosis. Sixty-four patients with hepatic cirrhosis and 32 healthy blood donors were enrolled in this study. Serum PCT levels was detected using immunoluminometric assay. The rate of positive PCT was higher in patients with hepatitis C cirrhosis (92.8%) than the other groups. Among other cirrhotic patients, positive PCT levels were 77% for hepatitis B, 70% for cancer and 53.3% for unknown groups respectively. Serum procalcitonin levels were significantly higher in cirrhotic patients with bacterial infection (2.65±1.11 ng/ml) than those without infection (0.59±0.16 ng/ml, P=0.0001). PCT assay in cirrhotic patients may help diagnosis of sepsis and reduce unnecessary antibiotic use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Lab Medical Sciences, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Monireh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rahimkhani
authors.forename: Nahid
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Einollahi
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khavari Daneshvar
authors.forename: Nasrin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dashti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood*; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; C000606589:CALCA protein, human; D011498:Protein Precursors; D002116:Calcitonin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide