Correlation of serum CRP and PCT levels with systemic inflammatory response in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD

Objective:To investigate the correlation of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) levels with systemic inflammatory response in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Methods:68 patients with acute exacerbation of COPD treated in our hospital between August 2012 and February 2016 were collected as observation group and 50 normal subjects receiving physical examination in our hospital during the same period were selected as normal control group. Radioimmunoassay was used to determine serum CRP and PCT levels;the observation group was further grouped according to the median of CRP and PCT levels, and serum levels of pro-inflammatory factors, anti-inflammatory factors and stress hormones of high level group and low level group were detected.Results:Serum CRP and PCT levels of observation group were significantly higher than those of normal control group (P<0.05);serum pro-inflammatory factors interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) levels of high CRP and PCT level groups within observation group were higher than those of low CRP and PCT level groups (P<0.05), anti-inflammatory factors interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) levels were lower than those of low CRP and PCT groups (P<0.05), and stress hormones angiotensin II (Ang II), aldosterone (ALD) and cortisol (Cor) levels were higher than those of low CRP and PCT level groups (P<0.05).Conclusions:Serum CRP and PCT levels in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD are positively correlated with the inflammatory response extent in the body, and can be used as the auxiliary means for early disease diagnosis, treatment effect evaluation and prognosis judgment.

Soluble IL-2Rα correlates with imbalances of Th1/Th2 and Tc1/Tc2 cells in patients with acute brucellosis

Background Previous studies showed that soluble IL-2Rαis an important marker of cellular immune activation and might be a marker of treatment efficacy for children with brucellosis.However,data regarding adult patients with brucellosis were unknown.The aim of study was to explore the potential role of serum sIL-2Rαevaluating treatment responses in adult patients with brucellosis,and T cell immune status was also examined.Methods During January 2016–April 2017,30 patients with acute brucellosis from the Third People’s Hospital of Linfen in Shanxi Province and Beijing Di Tan Hospital,and 28 healthy controls were included in this study.Peripheral blood samples were collected before and after six weeks of antibiotic treatment.Serum sIL-2Rαlevels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,and the percentage of Th1,Th2,Tc1,Tc2,and Tregs was detected by flow cytometry after intracellular staining for cytokines(interferon-γand interleukin-4)and Foxp3 in T lymphocytes from peripheral blood.The obtained data were analyzed with Wilcoxon ranked sum tests for paired values,Mann-Whitney U-tests for comparisons between patients and healthy controls,and Spearman rank tests for correlation analyses.Results Serum sIL-2Rαlevels were significantly higher in patients than in controls(P=0.001).A significant decline was observed in patients after the cessation of treatment(P<0.001)and return to normal(P>0.05).Th1,Tc1,Th2,and Tc2 cell frequencies were higher in patients than in healthy subjects(P<0.05),while the Th1/Th2 and Tc1/Tc2 ratios were significantly lower(P=0.0305 and 0.0005,respectively)and returned to normal levels after treatment.In patients with acute brucellosis,serum sIL-2Rαlevels were negatively correlated with the Th1/Th2 ratio(r=−0.478,P=0.028),Tc1/Tc2 ratio(r=−0.677,P=0.001),and Tc1 percentage(r=−0.516,P=0.017).Serum sIL-2Rαand Tc2 percentages were positively correlated(r=0.442,P=0.045).Conclusions Based on the correlations with Th1/Th2 and Tc1/Tc2 ratios,serum sIL-2Rαlevels may reflect the immune response status.sIL-2Rαmay be a marker for therapeutic efficacy in acute brucellosis.