PROCALCITONIN AS AN ADDITIONAL MARKER FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF METABOLIC SYNDROME, CASE-CONTROL STUDY ATA TERTIARY CARE CENTRE, TAMAKA, KOLAR

Abstract

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a clustering of metabolic risk factors namely abdominal obesity, hypertension, hyperglycemia, high serum triglyceride levels and low serum HDL. Procalcitonin is a polypeptide precursor of hormone calcitonin that is released in response to systemic inflammation not only by neuroendocrine cells of the lungs, intestine, and thyroid (C cells), but also by adipose tissue. Therefore, plasma procalcitonin can serve as a potential biomarker for detection of obesity related low-grade inflammation even in the very early stages, thereby increasing the sensitivity and specificity. Methodology: Patients admitted with diagnosis of metabolic syndrome at RL Jalappa Hospital and Research Centre, Kolar will be selected and results of waist circumference, SBP, DBP, TG, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, VLDL, FBS, Plasma procalcitonin will be correlated in two different groups separately. Results: Mean Procalcitonin level in the case group was seen to be 1.806±1.236 ng/dl and among the controls was seen to be 0.163±0.1613 ng/dl. This difference in the Procalcitonin level was statistically significant (p < .001). We also found that the Procalcitonin levels had significant association with Waist circumference, Triglycrides, HDL & FBS values with a p value < .001. Area under the ROC for Procalcitonin as a diagnostic test was found to be 0.942 which indicates that it has an excellent prediction value (p< .001). At 0.013 cut off value, we found that Procalcitonin has a sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 87.9%. Conclusion: Metabolic Syndrome, reflecting the underlying inflammatory state associated with the condition. While current evidence suggests a positive correlation between elevated PCT levels and MetS, integrating PCT into the diagnostic framework for MetS could improve early detection, risk stratification, and monitoring of treatment efficacy, ultimately enhancing xvi patient outcomes. However, practical challenges related to specificity, standardization, cost, and clinical integration must be addressed to realize its full potential.