Background
Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) remains one of the most infectious diseases worldwide, with significant morbidity and mortality rates. It is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which primarily affects the lungs but can also infect other parts of the body. The Immune system reacts to this infection, and its response leads to either latent or active disease. The immune system’s response to infection leads to changes in various hematological and inflammatory parameters, which can be useful as diagnostic markers
Subjects and methods
This study aimed to evaluate hematological and inflammatory parameters based on sputum smear positivity in 32 male PTB patients attending Quefia Hospital-Benghazi. Blood samples were collected at two different time points corresponding to sputum smear conversion. The patients’ ages ranged from 15 to 67 years, and their medical histories were recorded
Results
The results demonstrated significant increases in lymphocyte count (Lymph), lymphocyte percentage (Lymph%), mid-cell percentage (Mid%), and total white blood cells (WBCs). Red blood cell (RBC) parameters, including red cell distribution width-standard deviation (RDW-SD) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), increased significantly with sputum smear conversion, whereas mean corpuscular volume (MCV) showed a significant decrease. Platelet parameters did not exhibit significant variations. However, inflammatory indices such as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) significantly decreased as the sputum smear converted to negative.
Conclusion
These findings support the potential role of these hematological parameters in diagnosing and monitoring PTB pathogenicity