Determination of serum YKL-40 levels in patients with brucellosis

Abstract

Aim: To determine serum YKL-40 levels in patients diagnosed with brucellosis.Material and Methods: This study included 40 Brucellosis patients with positive serum agglutination tests and 41 healthy control subjects. The two groups were compared with regard to their serum YKL-40, hematological parameters, and C-reactive protein (CRP) values.Results: The brucellosis patient group presented YKL-40 values of 15.0 ± 8.8 ng/mL, CRP values of 0.2 ± 0.1 mg/dL, a Neutrophil/Lymphocyte ratio (NLR) of 1.5 ± 1.0, and a Platelet/Lymphocyte ratio (PLR) of 109.3 ± 46.4. The control group presented YKL-40 values of 12.7 ± 6.1ng/mL, CRP values of 1.48 ± 2.1mg/dL, a Neutrophil/Lymphocyte ratio (NLR) of 2.1 ± 0.7, and a Platelet/Lymphocyte ratio (PLR) of 147.8 ± 59.0.Conclusion: No significant differences were determined between the YKL-40 levels of the patient and control groups. The patient group manifested significantly higher levels of CRP compared to the control group, and YKL-40 was determined to be positively correlated with CRP, PLT, PLR, NLR and age. However, further studies are needed for the role of YKL-40 in infectious diseases to be understood more clearly.