Background: Serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) procalcitonin levels were assessed and compared for different groups of patients with Lyme borreliosis.
Patients and methods: 50 adult patients with Lyme borreliosis, referred to our department from March to June 2001, were included in this prospective study. Patients were divided into three groups. The first group consisted of 20 consecutive patients with typical solitary erythema migrans, representing early localised Lyme borreliosis, the second group comprised 20 patients with early disseminated Lyme borreliosis (10 with multiple erythema migrans and 10 with neuroborreliosis), and 10 patients with acrodermatitis chronica athrophicans represented the group with chronic Lyme borreliosis. Blood specimens were taken from all patients included in the study, but CSF samples were restricted to those with disseminated and chronic Lyme borreliosis. The serum and CSF procalcitonin levels were determined utilizing the LUMI PCT (an immunoluminometric assay using two antigen-specific monoclonal antibodies).
Results: Serum and CSF procalcitonin levels were in normal range in the large majority of patients. The levels of serum procalcitonin did not differ in the three groups of patients with Lyme borreliosis (p = 0.5006). The corresponding values for patients with solitary erythema migrans (early localised Lyme borreliosis), early disseminated Lyme borreliosis, and chronic Lyme borreliosis were 0.26 (0.11-0.43), 0.22 (0.10-0.67), and 0.28 (0.13-0.66) microgram/ml, respectively. Moreover, procalcitonin levels in CSF were also low and comparable for patients with multiple erythema migrans (median 0.38, range 0.24-0.54 microgram/ml), neuroborreliosis (median 0.16, range 0.10-0.47 microgram/ml), and acrodermatitis chronica athrophicans (median 0.30, range 0.15-0.45 microgram/ml). The differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.7579).
Conclusions: In the large majority of patients with Lyme borreliosis procalcitonin values are within normal range. Serum and CSF procalcitonin levels are of no value for differentiation between early localised, early disseminated and chronic Lyme borreliosis.