2 Department of Microbiology, Medical Research Institute, Colombo, Sri ... Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri.
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine (2012)75-78
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Serum nitrite levels in Sri Lankan patients with leptospirosis Rohini I Gunaratna1, Shiroma M Handunnetti1, MRC Bulathsinghalage1, Pranitha Somaratne2, Ananda Jayanaga3, HJ de Silva4, Senaka Rajapakse5* Institute of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IBMBB), University of Colombo, Sri Lanka Department of Microbiology, Medical Research Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka 3 Base Hospital, Homagama, Sri Lanka 4 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka 5 Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka 1 2
ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
Article history: Received 5 May 2011 Received in revised form 10 October 2011 Accepted 15 October 2011 Available online 20 January 2012
Objective: To determine whether blood nitrite levels are elevated in patients with leptospirosis. Methods: Male patients fulfilling clinical and epidemiological criteria for a diagnosis of leptospirosis were recruited. Those with MAT titre of ≥400 together with those seroconverting to a titer of ≥200 were included in the analysis. Serum nitrite levels were measured in these patients and age, sex matched healthy controls. Results: Patients from 3 hospitals (n=75) were screened during a 3 month period from 28th June to 3rd September 2009, of whom 20 were eligible for the study. Serum nitrite levels were found to be significantly higher in patients with acute leptospirosis [n=20, (0.359依0.229)毺M] compared to controls [(n=13,(0.216依0.051)毺M] (P=0.014). A significant correlation was also observed between the MAT titre and the day of illness (r = 0.547; P
