• Negar Azarpira, Mani Ramzi, Mahdokht Aghdaie, and Masumeh Daraie.
• Organ Transplant Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. negarazarpira@yahoo.com
• Exp Clin Transplant. 2009 Jun 1;7(2):115-8.

ObjectivesHematopoietic stem-cell transplant is a curative therapy for several malignant and nonmalignant disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and procalcitonin with complications such as acute graft-versus-host disease, veno-occlusive disease, and infection after hematopoietic stem-cell transplant.Materials And MethodsSerum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and procalcitonin levels were sequentially measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and a semiquantitative immunochromatographic assay in 35 patients who had undergone hematopoietic stem-cell transplant.ResultsThe high-sensitivity C-reactive protein serum level was increased in patients with acute graft-versus-host disease and in those with sepsis. Increased procalcitonin levels were associated only with bacterial infection. Only procalcitonin levels differentiated patients with infection from those with another transplant-related complication. Veno-occlusive disease did not alter C-reactive protein or procalcitonin levels.ConclusionsOur results support theories that serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and procalcitonin are biomarkers for transplantrelated complications such as graft-versus-host disease or infection and that the procalcitonin level can differentiate patients with infection from those with graft-versus-host disease.

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