Comparison of Inflammatory Markers Between Adult and Pediatric Brucellosis Patients

BACKGROUND: Brucellosis is still endemic in many developing countries and frequently leads to misdiagnosis and treatment delays. Indirect inflammatory markers such as mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), red cell distribution width (RDW), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have been identified as markers of inflammation. The present study aimed to evaluate and compare the levels of these markers for prognostic purposes, and to assess the correlation of C-reactive protein (CRP) with brucellosis in adults and children. METHODS: The study included 137 adults and 141 age- and gender-matched healthy controls, as well 71 children and 81 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Hematological parameters and CRP were retrospectively recorded and compared between the adult and pediatric patients. RESULTS: The mean age of the adult patients (54% female) was 43.1 ± 15.4 years, whereas the mean age of the pediatric patients (50.7% male) was 9.5 ± 3.6 years. Significantly higher lymphocyte count, and lower neutrophil count, platelet count, RDW, MPV, NLR and PLR values were found in adult brucellosis patients compared with their healthy subjects, whereas higher lymphocyte count, PDW and lower neutrophil count, platelet count, MPV, NLR and PLR values were observed in pediatric brucellosis patients compared with the control subjects. Significantly higher neutrophil count (p=0.019) and NLR (p<0.001) were found in adult patients compared with the pediatric patients. Positive correlation was found between CRP and NLR (R(2) = 0.052, P = 0.011), PLR (R(2) = 0.061, P = 0.006) in adult patients. CONCLUSION: Based on our findings, we consider that the use of complementary indirect markers such as MPV, NLR, PLR and RDW together with the CRP test – which is used concomitantly with serological diagnostic tests in situations where brucellosis is suspected – might be helpful in the diagnosis and follow-up of brucellosis, as well as in the evaluation of complications and response to therapy, in both adult and pediatric brucellosis patients. DISCLOSURES: All authors: No reported disclosures.