Liu Xi,Yao Wei,Gan Dan,Zhang Jie,Xu Lanlan.Serum procalcitonin and its significance in senior patients with bacterial infection in lower respiratory tract[J].J Amry Med Univ (J Third Mil Med Univ),2013,35(14):1524-1527.
Liu Xi,Yao Wei,Gan Dan,Zhang Jie,Xu Lanlan.Serum procalcitonin and its significance in senior patients with bacterial infection in lower respiratory tract[J].J Amry Med Univ (J Third Mil Med Univ),2013,35(14):1524-1527.DOI:
Serum procalcitonin and its significance in senior patients with bacterial infection in lower respiratory tract
Objective To investigate the serum levels of procalcitonin (PCT) and its correlation with cytokines and endotoxin in senior patients with bacterial infection in lower respiratory tract. Methods
Seventy-two hospitalized pneumonia patients with a mean age of 83.4±7.8
including 45 cases with G
-
bacteria pneumonia and 27 cases with G
+
bacteria pneumonia
in our department from January 2009 to January 2013 were subjected in this study
and were divided into severe (
n
=13 for G
-
bacteria and
n
=16 for G
+
bacteria) and non-severe subgroups (n=32 for G
-
bacteria and
n
=11 for G
+
bacteria). Another 45 age-matched pneumonia patients with no typical pathogen during the same period served as control. Serum levels of the PCT
TNF-α
IL-8
and endotoxin before and after anti-bacterial therapy were detected. The correlations of PCT level with inflammatory severity
serum levels of inflammatory cytokines
and endotoxin were analyzed. Results In senior patients with G
-
bacteria pneumonia
serum PCT level was significantly higher than the control (
P
0.01). In severe subgroup of G
-
bacteria pneumonia
the serum level of PCT was positively correlated with those of TNF-α and IL-8 (
r
=0.863
P
0.01;
r
=0.877
P0.01)
but not with that of endotoxin (
r
=0.391
P0.05). In non-severe subgroup
the level of PCT had positive correlation with that of with endotoxin (
r
=0.898
P
0.01). There was no significant difference in the serum PCT level between in the non-severe patients with G
+
bacteria pneumonia and the control (
P
0.05)
but its was significantly higher in the severe patients with G
+
bacteria pneumonia (
P
0.01). Its change was positively correlated with serum levels of TNF-α and IL-8(r=0.865
P
0.01;
r
=0.745
P
0.01). Conclusion Serum PCT level in senior patients with bacteria pneumonia is correlated with the bacterial types and the inflammatory severity. Serum PCT is an important indicator for the diagnosis and assessment of bacteria pneumonia in senior patients.