The levels of serum pro-calcitonin and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in the early diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease during acute exacerbation

The level of of procalcitonin (PCT) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in the acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) was investigated. Total of 20 patients with acute exacerbation of COPD who were admitted to the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Binzhou Center Hospital in the period of October 2012 to April 2015 were enrolled in the AECOPD group. According to the color of the sputum, the patients with AECOPD were divided into purulent sputum group (n=8) and non-purulent sputum group (n=12). In addition, 15 healthy people from the outpatient medical center were also selected as healthy control group. The levels of serum PCT and hs-CRP in both groups were determined by chemiluminescence and immunoturbidimetry, respectively for the comparison analysis. The serum PCT concentration in AECOPD group was 2.07 +/- 5.57 ng/ml, while that in healthy control group was 0.21 +/- 0.17 ng/ml. Significant difference was found between serum PCT levels in the two groups (p<0.05). The serum concentration of hs-CRP in AECOPD group was 3.66 +/- 3.95 mg/I, which is significantly higher than that of the healthy control group (0.49 +/- 0.17) (p<0.001). In AECOPD group, the sensitivity of PCT, hs-CRP and white blood cell count was 75, 40 and 40%, respectively, while the specificity was 80, 100 and 100%, respectively, indicating that PCT has higher sensitivity than hs-CRP and white blood cell count (p<0.05). However, no significant difference was found in specificity among these three methods (p>0.05). PCT level of the patients in purulent sputum group was 3.72 +/- 8.80 ng/ml, while that of the patients in non-purulent sputum group was 0.97 +/- 1.06 ng/ml. The serum hs-CRP level of patients in purulent sputum group was 4.94 +/- 4.60 mg/I, while that of the patients in non-purulent sputum group was (2.80 +/- 3.38 mg/l). Both the above parameters showed no significant difference between the purulent sputum group and the non-purulent sputum group (p>0.05). In conclusion, serum PCT and hs-CRP levels can be used as auxiliary diagnosis index for acute exacerbation of COPD. Measurement of serum PCT and hs-CRP levels in patients with AECOPD may be helpful in guiding antibacterial drug therapy.