Evaluation of the Correlation Between Brucella Serum Agglutination Titre and Liver Involvement

Abstract

Objective: Brucellosis is a zoonotic infectious disease transmitted to humans. Typical symptoms of brucellosis are undulant fever, malaise and night sweats. It can lead to complications with involvement of many organs. Early and effective treatment strategies can be effective in preventing these complications. However, different complications can be seen in some cases. Liver involvement is one of these complications. Methods: In this retrospective study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between serum agglutination titre and liver involvement in patients with brucellosis in a city in Turkey. Liver involvement was considered absent if ALT and AST <35 U/L and present if ALT and/or AST ≥35 U/L and patients were divided into two groups. Results: A total of 970 patients with a standard tube agglutination test ≥1/20 were included in the study. 658 (67.8%) of the patients were female. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) median 20 U/L (6-903) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) median 21 U/L (9-716) were detected in pretreatment tests. The rate of liver involvement was 25.9% among all patients. A positive correlation was found between serum agglutination titres and serum transaminase levels in our study (AST, r = 0.269, p < 0.001; ALT, r = 0.249, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The results of our study indicate that a positive correlation between high serum agglutination titre and liver involvement. In this study, we aimed to contribute to the literature on this subject.

Keywords

• Liver
• serum agglutination titre
• brucella

Brusella Serum Aglütinasyon Titresi ile Karaciğer Tutulumu Arasındaki Korelasyonun Değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

Amaç: Bruselloz, insanlara bulaşan zoonotik bir enfeksiyon hastalığıdır. Brusellozun tipik semptomları düşük ateş, halsizlik ve gece terlemeleridir. Birçok organın tutulumu ile komplikasyonlara yol açabilir. Erken ve etkili tedavi stratejileri bu komplikasyonların önlenmesinde etkili olabilir. Ancak bazı vakalarda farklı komplikasyonlar da görülebilmektedir. Karaciğer tutulumu bu komplikasyonlardan biridir. Yöntem: Bu retrospektif çalışmada, Türkiye'de bir ilde brusellozlu hastalarda serum aglütinasyon titresi ile karaciğer tutulumu arasındaki ilişkiyi araştırmayı amaçladık. Karaciğer tutulumu ALT ve AST <35 U/L ise yok, ALT ve/veya AST ≥35 U/L ise var olarak kabul edildi ve hastalar iki gruba ayrıldı. Bulgular: Standart tüp aglütinasyon testi ≥1/20 olan toplam 970 hasta çalışmaya dahil edildi. Hastaların 658'i (%67,8) kadındı. Tedavi öncesi testlerde alanin aminotransferaz (ALT) medyan 20 U/L (6-903) ve aspartat aminotransferaz (AST) medyan 21 U/L (9-716) tespit edildi. Tüm hastalar arasında karaciğer tutulumu oranı %25,9 idi. Çalışmamızda serum aglütinasyon titreleri ile serum transaminaz düzeyleri arasında pozitif bir korelasyon bulundu (AST, r = 0.269, p < 0.001; ALT, r = 0.249, p < 0.001). Sonuç: Çalışmamızın sonuçları, yüksek serum aglütinasyon titresi ile karaciğer tutulumu arasında pozitif bir korelasyon olduğunu göstermektedir. Bu çalışma ile bu konudaki literatüre katkıda bulunmayı amaçladık.

Keywords

• Karaciğer
• serum aglütinasyon titresi
• brusella

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