The status of serum procalcitonin in pulmonary tuberculosis and nontuberculosis pulmonary disease.

Procalcitonin (PCT) is a marker of the inflammatory response to infection. In the present study the serum PCT of 46 pulmonary tuberculosis patients, 46 non-tuberculosis pulmonary disease and 46 healthy subjects were analyzed using semiquantitative PCT-Q kit. All healthy individuals (100%) were negative regarding PCT. Using cut-off value of 0.5 ng/ml, The sensitivity, specificity positive predictive value and negative predictive value for serum PCT in distinguishing tuberculous from nontuberculous pulmonary disease were 36.9%, 63.1%, 50% and 50%, respectively. According to our results the serum PCT is not a reliable marker for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis due to low sensitivity and specificity.