Procalcitonin and C-reactive protein in neonatal infection, a comparison study between intrauterine infection and non-intrauterine infection

Objective: To investigate whether there was difference in levels of procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in intrauterine infection and non-intrauterine infection and to study the potential of PCT and CRP as for diagnostic markers of intrauterine infection. Methods: 200 cases were selected, including 98 cases of intrauterine infection and 102 cases of nonintrauterine infection during 2014-16 in Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, China. 50 cases of healthy new-born’s was used as a control. The venous blood, cord blood and maternal blood in each group were collected and the levels of PCT and CRP were detected using immunofluorescence assay and immunonephelometric method, respectively. SPSS 18.0 was used to conduct the statistical analysis. Results: PCT levels in maternal blood of intrauterine infection group were high than the other two groups, but the difference was not significant. However, PCT levels in cord blood of intrauterine infection group were significantly higher than both non intrauterine infection group and the healthy group. PCT levels in the infant’s serum of both intrauterine and non-intrauterine infection group were significant higher than the healthy group; but no significant difference was observed in cord blood PCT levels between the non-intrauterine infection group and the healthy control. In intrauterine infection group, CRP levels in both maternal blood and cord blood were significantly higher than the other two groups. However, in infant’s serum, no significant different was observed between intrauterine and nonintrauterine infection groups. In both intrauterine and non-intrauterine infection groups, CRP levels were significantly higher in all three blood samples compared with the healthy control. Conclusion: PCT levels in cord blood could be used as a marker for intrauterine infection and CRP levels in both maternal blood and cord blood could be used as a marker for intrauterine infection.