Procalcitonin as a Candidate Biomarker for Malarial Infection and Severe Malaria: A Meta-Analysis

Kotepui, KU (通讯作者),Walailak Univ, Sch Allied Hlth Sci, Med Technol, Tha Sala 80160, Nakhon Si Thamm, Thailand.
2022-9
Procalcitonin (PCT), as a marker of malaria severity, remains to be investigated. The present study collated and compared the levels of PCT between patients with severe malaria, uncomplicated malaria, and control participants to assess their role in predicting malaria infection and disease severity. The systematic review was registered at PROSPERO with registration number CRD42021297243. The search for relevant studies that reported PCT in patients with malaria was performed in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The following meta-analyses were conducted; (1) the pooled mean PCT levels in patients with severe and uncomplicated malaria, and (2) the pooled mean difference in PCT levels between patients with severe and uncomplicated malaria. Fifteen studies were included for qualitative and quantitative syntheses. The meta-analysis results show that the pooled mean PCT levels in patients with uncomplicated malaria were 3.92 ng/mL (95% CI: 2.26-5.58 ng/mL, I-2: 96.5, five studies), whereas the pooled mean PCT levels in patients with severe malaria were 14.13 ng/mL (95% CI: 8.75-19.5 ng/mL, I-2: 92.6, six studies). The meta-analysis showed that patients with severe malaria had an equal mean of PCT compared to those with uncomplicated malaria when the random-effects model was used (p: 0.055, weighted mean difference: 6.93, 95% CI: -0.16-14.02, I-2: 84.6%, four studies). There were probable correlations between the level of parasitemia, immunity level, and possibly bacterial or other parasitic co-infection that could affect the PCT level among different clinical severities of malaria. Therefore, the PCT level alone does not seem to be a suitable biomarker to discriminate the severe/uncomplicated or infected/uninfected cases. Further studies should investigate the increased PCT levels in combination with other markers in association with malaria infection and severity.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
卷号:19|期号:18
收录类别:SCIE
语种
英语
来源机构
Mahidol University; Walailak University; Mahidol University
资助信息
This research was financially supported by the new strategic research project (P2P) fiscal year 2022, Walailak University, Thailand. This research was partially supported by Mahidol University, Thailand. The funders played no role in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting the data.
被引频次(WOS)
0
被引频次(其他)
0
180天使用计数
1
2013以来使用计数
1
EISSN
1660-4601
出版年
2022-9
DOI
10.3390/ijerph191811389
学科领域
循证公共卫生
关键词
malaria Plasmodium procalcitonin severe malaria
资助机构
new strategic research project (P2P) fiscal year 2022, Walailak University, Thailand Mahidol University, Thailand
WOS学科分类
Environmental Sciences Public, Environmental & Occupational Health