CORRELATION OF CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR CHANGES IN SPUTUM OF PATIENTS SUSPECTED OF PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS WITH DIABETES AND NON-DIABETES

Main Article Content

Rahmat ullah Jan
Satheesh Babu Natarajan
Nasir Ali

Keywords

Pulmonary Tuberculosis, cellular and molecular changes, neutrophils, lymphocytes.

Abstract

Objective: Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) remains a main global health concern, cellular and molecular changes in sputum, containing neutrophil and lymphocyte proportions, total leukocyte count, ESR, and glycemic status, provide insights into disease activity. Therefore, the present study evaluated the correlation of these cellular and molecular parameters in suspected pulmonary TB patients and to compare patterns between diabetic and non-diabetic individuals. Methodology: This cross-sectional experimental study was performed in institute of Basic Medical Sciences (IBMS), Khyber Medical University. A total of 110 patients aged ≥18 years suspected with pulmonary tuberculosis, divided into two groups on the basis of their diabetic status: with Diabetes (n = 55) and without Diabetes (n = 55), were included in the study. A chi-square test was used to determine the association of cellular and molecular findings between both groups. In addition, the correlation between the mean of the demographic variables in groups was determined using a Mann Whitney test. Pearson and Spearman correlation and rank correlation were determined to find out the correlations among cellular and molecular parameters. Results: The results indicated that strong relationships were observed between neutrophils and lymphocytes with diabetic (r = −0.999, p < 0.001) and non-diabetic patients (r = -0.995, p < 0.001), and they appear to be inverse in nature. The TLC was found to be positively correlated with the ESR among non-diabetic patients (0.464, p < 0.001). There was a positive correlation between fasting blood sugar (FBS) and ESR, but statistically significant (0.434, p < 0.001). Conclusion: This research found that there was a significant negative linearity between neutrophils and lymphocytes in suspected tuberculosis patients of pulmonary complications whether or not patients were diabetic. In diabetic patients, a positive association was found between ESR and fasting blood sugar, demonstrating that high levels of glycemic control and increased inflammatory response are related.

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