Clinical value of serum prealbumin in pulmonary tuberculosis patients with liver damage

Objective To explore the clinical application of serum prealbumin(PA)in pulmonary tuberculosis patients with liver damage.Methods Immunoturbidimetry assay was applied to measuring serum prealbumin(PA)in 152 pulmonary tuberculosis patients(TB group)and 40 healthy controls(control group).Simultaneously,serum ALT and AST were measured.The test results were compared and analyzed.Results Serum level of PA was significantly lower in TB group than that of control group 〔(217.5±84.9)vs(316.4±84.9)mg/L〕(t=7.044,P0.001).There wasn't statistical difference between the two groups in serum level of ALT and AST(t=1.685,0.806;P0.05).The abnormity rate of serum PA(39.5%)was significantly higher than that of ALT(13.1%)and AST(9.8%)in TB group(χ2=27.14,35.84;P0.01).Conclusion Serum PA has important clinical sigficance in judging early liver damage in pulmonary tuberculosis patients,and its sensitivity is superior to that of ALT and AST.