Title
C-reactive protein–guided antibiotic therapy and prognostic value in acute infective exacerbation of COPD
Authors
Sreeuthra Baskaran¹,* & S. Gnanaguru²
Affiliation
¹Department of Acute Medicine, Mid and South Essex Trust, UK; ²Department of General Medicine, Government Thoothukudi Medical College, Tamil Nadu, India; *Corresponding author
Sreeuthra Baskaran - E-mail: sreeuthra.baskaran@nhs.net; Phone: +91 9566002297
Samathya Dongre - E-mail: asgnanaguru@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9944679071
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received April 1, 2026; Revised April 30, 2026; Accepted April 30,
2026, Published April 30, 2026
Abstract
Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) frequently result in excessive empirical antibiotic use despite heterogeneous infectious triggers. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate C-reactive protein (CRP) –guided antibiotic therapy and its prognostic significance in 50 hospitalized patients with acute infective exacerbation. Antibiotics were initiated when CRP ≥50 mg/L, while lower values were managed conservatively unless deterioration occurred. Patients with elevated CRP demonstrated greater initial inflammatory and clinical severity, whereas those with lower CRP improved without antibiotics and without adverse outcomes. CRP-guided management reduced unnecessary antibiotic exposure and supported its utility as a biomarker for therapeutic decision-making and short-term prognosis.
Keywords
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), C-reactive protein (CRP), antibiotic stewardship, exacerbation, prognostic marker
Citation
Baskaran & Gnanaguru et al. Bioinformation 22(4): 2240-2243 (2026)
Edited by
A Prashanth
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
