BACKGROUND: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is often observed in hematological malignancy (HEM). Although most are considered to be due to bacterial infections, it is often difficult to specify the focuses and pathogens of infections in FN patients. Presepsin (Pre-SEP) is a subtype of soluble CD14, which is a receptor for lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/LPS-binding protein complexes and is expressed on the myeloid and monocytic cells' surface. Recently, Pre-SEP has been shown to be a useful biomarker for assessing the severity of sepsis. However, little is known about the biological characteristics of Pre-SEP in FN patients. Therefore, we compared the Per-CEP to the established infection markers including procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) continually in FN patients.

METHODS: We measured Pre-SEP concentration in the plasma, PCT and CRP on Day 0, 2, 4, 7 and 14 after the onset of FN and compared them to those of non-febrile neutropenic patients. Furthermore we evaluated the impact of Pre-SEP, PCT and CRP on the diagnosis and assessment of active infection status in FN, using the cut-off value by setting to 314 pg/ml, 0.50 ng/ml and 0.30 mg/ml. Correlation analysis was performed using Peason's correlation coefficient test.

RESULTS: Sixty-two hospitalized FN patients with HEM (AML 14, ALL 9, MDS 14, NHL 13, MM 8, ATL 2, others 2 cases) were treated according to IDSA guideline. Figure 1 showed the each data in Pre-SEP, PCT and CRP value on day 0, 2, 4, 7 and 14. The frequency of less than the cut-off value at day 0 of FN onset were 33.8 %, 77.4 % and 37.1 % in Pre-SEP, PCT and CRP respectively, indicating that Pre-SEP showed the highest sensitivity. On day 0, a significant correlation was not observed between Pre-SEP and PCT (P=0.457, correlation coefficient: 0.096) but it was observed between Pre-SEP and CRP (P<0.01, correlation coefficient: 0.599). However, on day 2 and 4, significant correlations were observed between Pre-SEP and PCT (P<0.01, correlation coefficient: 0.650, p<0.01, correlation coefficient: 0.702 respectively) as well as between Pre-SEP and CRP (P<0.01, correlation coefficient: 0.542, p<0.01, correlation coefficient: 0.722 respectively). These data strongly suggested that Pre-SEP and CRP were available early in FN for a diagnosis and assessment of infection. On day 7, the negative frequencies were 43.5 %, 88.7 % and 45.1 % in Pre-SEP, PCT and CRP. These data strongly suggested that more sensitive assessment of infection would be possible using Pre-SEP.

CONCLUSION: (1) Pre-SEP is available even in neutropenia. (2) Pre-SEP is a useful biomarker for infection on the onset of FN as well as CRP. (3) Pre-SEP can help more sensitive assessment of infection.

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
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Disclosures

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Topics:
biological markers, cd14 antigen, fever, hematologic neoplasms, infections, neutropenia, c-reactive protein, bacterial infections, complex, febrile neutropenia

Author notes

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Asterisk with author names denotes non-ASH members.

© 2015 by The American Society of Hematology
2015
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