title: Usefulness of Measuring Serum Procalcitonin Levels in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The relationships between serum procalcitonin, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and intestinal Behçet's disease (BD) have not been completely determined. We aimed to evaluate the usefulness of measuring serum procalcitonin levels to assess disease activity and infection stage in patients with IBD and intestinal BD.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 129 patients with IBD and intestinal BD for whom serum procalcitonin and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured between January 2006 and February 2013.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median serum procalcitonin levels in the IBD and intestinal BD with septic shock or sepsis (n=8), with localized infection (n=76), and without infection (n=45) were 3.46 ng/mL (range, 0.17 to 63.66 ng/mL), 0.22 ng/mL (range, 0.05 to 140.18 ng/mL), and 0.07 ng/mL (range, 0.00 to 31.50 ng/mL), respectively (p=0.001). The serum CRP levels in the IBD and intestinal BD patients did not differ according to the infection stage. Variations in serum procalcitonin levels were not observed in the IBD and intestinal BD patients with different disease activities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum procalcitonin levels may not be affected by IBD and intestinal BD activity itself, although they may be affected by concomitant infection. Serum procalcitonin measurements could be more useful than CRP in determining the infection stage that reflects the severity of infection in IBD and intestinal BD patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sook Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye Won
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Pil
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Il
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Won Ho
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cheon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000382:microbiology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018805:Sepsis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002116:Calcitonin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: Disease activity; Infection; Inflammatory bowel disease; Intestinal Behçet’s disease; Procalcitonin