Abstract
Background
Neonatal Intrahepatic Cholestasis (NICCD), as the early-age stage of Citrin deficiency involving liver dysfunction, lacks efficient diagnostic markers. Procalcitonin (PCT) has been identified as a biomarker for infection as well as various organ damage. This study aimed to explore the potential of PCT as a biomarker for NICCD.
Methods
In a single-center retrospective case-control study. Serum PCT concentrations before and after treatment of 120 NICCD patients, as the study group, were compared to the same number of cholestatic hepatitis patients, as the control group. The potential value of PCT to discriminate NICCD from control disease was further explored using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and compared to those of other inflammatory markers.
Results
There was a significantly higher level of PCT in NICCD patients than in the control group. PCT concentrations were only weakly correlated with neutrophil counts and CRP levels (p ˂ 0.05). At a cut-off value of 0.495 ng/mL, PCT exhibited a significantly higher diagnostic value compared to other inflammatory markers for discriminating NICCD from the control, with a sensitivity of 90.8 % and specificity of 98.3 %.
Conclusion
PCT might be used as an initial biomarker to discriminate children with NICCD from another hepatitis disease.
Keywords
Diagnosis; Prognosis; Neonatal intrahepatic cholestasis; Citrin deficiency
Highlights
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PCT was a highly sensitive marker to differentiate NICCD from cholestatic hepatitis patients.
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PCT was reduced when NICCD was treated.
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PCT is a much more effective marker to differentiate NICCD than the inflammatory markers.
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