Usefulness of Blood Parameters for Preliminary Diagnosis of Brucellosis

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• Recently, diverse hematological and inflammatory factors have been widely considered as markers of bacterial infections with abundant evidence to support their usefulness in the preliminary diagnosis of infections.

• Because Brucella is an intracellular bacterium, it can live in phagocytic cells, such as neutrophils and macrophages.

• Brucellosis is often presented with inflammatory symptoms. Following infection, Brucella spreads to the lymph nodes and from there to the blood and causes systemic infection

• As a result, the increase in the number of leukocytes and neutrophils, as well as changes in inflammatory indices, occurs during infection.

• Research has shown that platelets also contribute to the inflammatory response

• Changes in hematological markers are commonly observed in brucellosis

• Hematological markers, including white blood cell count, platelet count (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), red cell distribution width (RDW), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte to lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and CRP test, have been used in the preliminary diagnosis of brucellosis, along with serological tests.

• Both diagnosis and follow-up of treatment for brucellosis are complicated, and it may be helpful to use routine laboratory tests for better management of this disease

• In addition to regulating the immune system responses, studies have reported that platelets also play an active role in the inflammation process

• most of the studies have shown that the most significant signs of brucellosis are an increase in the number of leukocytes and a decrease in the number of thrombocytes and lymphocytes.

• hematological parameters in patients with brucellosis are relatively different in various studies

• serological tests are often used as diagnostic and screening tools

• Since a high rate of false-positive results with serological tests, the confirmatory tests are required for positive samples.

• along with clinical symptoms and serological and culture methods, hematological parameters, such as WBC, neutrophil, and CRP which are inexpensive and available in hospitals, can be useful in the preliminary diagnosis and assessment of brucellosis infection.