Soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor as a diagnostic biomarker for sepsis in intensive care unit patients

Saada, Mohamed; Amr, Ghada; Matar, Heba; Sediq, Amany

doi:10.21608/zumj.2021.64393.2148

Soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor as a diagnostic biomarker for sepsis in intensive care unit patients

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Clinical Pathology Department, El Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan Hospital, Ministry of Health, Cairo, Egypt

² Clinical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

³ Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Unit Department, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

10.21608/zumj.2021.64393.2148

Abstract

Background: Sepsis is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in the intensive care units (ICUs).It is difficult to differentiate it accurately and timely from other confusing conditions. So, it is of utmost importance to evaluate new biomarkers with a differentiation ability between sepsis and non-sepsis conditions. Soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) is a stable biomarker of inflammation. The aim of the study is to evaluate the value of suPAR in the diagnosis of septic ICU patients and to compare it (if present) with that of C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT).
Methods: A case-control study was conducted at Zagazig University Hospitals from December 2017 to October 2019. A total of 90 subjects were enrolled in the study. Based on Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) criteria, they were divided into 2 groups: (i)Group A: 60 septic ICU admitted patients;(ii)Group B: 30 non-septic ICU admitted patients as control group.Single determination of level of serum suPAR was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for all the participants.
Results: Septic ICU patients had statistically significant higher serum suPAR, CRP and PCT levels than non-septic patients. suPAR had a sensitivity of 72%, specificity of 70% and AUC of 0.7 in sepsis diagnosis.
Conclusion: Serum suPAR is a fair diagnostic test for septic ICU patients at cut-off 3.983 ng/ml but does not surpass that of PCT or CRP.

Keywords