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Procalcitonin for discrimination between activity of systemic autoimmune disease and systemic bacterial infection

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Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels could be useful to differentiate between systemic infection and the activity of the underlying disease in autoimmune disease.¶Methods: In 18 patients with systemic lupus erythematodes (SLE) and 35 patients with systemic antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV) clinical disease activity was assessed by score systems. Infection was defined by clinical and microbiological means. PCT was determined in parallel with concentrations of neopterin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in 397 serum samples.¶Results: Only in 3 of the 324 samples taken from patients with autoimmune disease but without concomitant infection, serum PCT levels were above the normal range ( > 0.5 ng/ml), whereas neopterin, CRP and IL-6 were elevated in patients with active underlying disease.¶All systemic infections (N = 16 in AAV-patients) were associated with markedly elevated PCT-levels (mean ± SD:1.93 ± 1.19 ng/ml).¶Conclusion: PCT may serve as a useful marker for the detection of systemic bacterial infection in patients with autoimmune disease.

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Brunkhorst, R., Eberhardt, O., Haubitz, M. et al. Procalcitonin for discrimination between activity of systemic autoimmune disease and systemic bacterial infection. Intensive Care Med 26 (Suppl 2), S199–S201 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s001340051144

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s001340051144

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