Open AccessLiver involvement is associated with blood culture positivity and high agglutination titre in patients with brucellosis in Turkey
Author(s) -
Huseyin Sahinturk,
Bülent Baran,
Gürhan Şışman,
Reskan Altun
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of medical microbiology/journal of medical microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1473-5644
pISSN - 0022-2615
DOI - 10.1099/jmm.0.000791
Subject(s) - brucellosis , doxycycline , medicine , gastroenterology , serology , titer , incidence (geometry) , blood culture , liver function , alanine transaminase , direct agglutination test , immunology , antibiotics , antibody , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , physics , optics
We investigated the incidence of and risk factors for liver involvement (LI) in patients with brucellosis in Turkey. Diagnosis was established by blood cultures (BCs) or compatible clinical presentation accompanied by serological evidence. Patients received either a combination of doxycycline plus rifampin for 6 weeks or doxycycline for 6 weeks plus streptomycin intramuscularly for the first 2 weeks. Liver function tests, including those for alanine (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels, were monitored before and at the end of treatment. One hundred and ninety-five patients were included in the study. Seventy patients had elevated transaminases before treatment. Twenty-six patients had a positive BC for brucellosis. In multivariate analysis, BC positivity (OR=2.44, 95 % CI: 1.03-5.78, P=0.043) and serum agglutination titre (SAT) (OR=1.001, 95 % CI: 1.00-1.002, P=0.018) were found to be associated with LI. Serum aminotransferase levels were normalized in all patients with brucellosis. BC positivity and high SAT are independent factors that are associated with LI in patients with brucellosis.