Procalcitonin and C-reactive Protein Serum Levels After Hematopoietic Stem-Cell Transplant

Abstract

Objectives: Hematopoietic stem-cell transplant is a curative therapy for several malignant and nonmalignant disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and procalcitonin with complications such as acute graft-versus-host disease, veno-occlusive disease, and infection after hematopoietic stem-cell trans­plant.

Materials and Methods: Serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and procalcitonin levels were sequentially measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and a semiquantitative immunochromatographic assay in 35 patients who had undergone hematopoietic stem-cell trans­plant.

Results: The high-sensitivity C-reactive protein serum level was increased in patients with acute graft-versus-host disease and in those with sepsis. Increased procalcitonin levels were associated only with bacterial infection. Only procalcitonin levels differentiated patients with infection from those with another transplant-related complication. Veno-occlusive disease did not alter C-reactive protein or procalcitonin levels.

Conclusions: Our results support theories that serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and procalcitonin are biomarkers for transplant-related complications such as graft-versus-host disease or infection and that the procalcitonin level can differentiate patients with infection from those with graft-versus-host disease.