Abstract
Sepsis represents a serious medical problem accounting for numerous deaths of critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICUs). An early, sensitive, and specific diagnosis is considered a key element for improving the outcome of sepsis patients. In addition to classical laboratory markers, ICU scoring systems and serum miRNAs are discussed as potential sepsis biomarkers. In the present prospective observational study, the suitability of miRNAs in sepsis diagnosis was tested based on proper validated and normalized data (i.e., absolute quantification by means of Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR)) in direct comparison to classical sepsis markers and ICU scores within the same patient cohort. Therefore, blood samples of septic intensive care patients (n = 12) taken at day of admission at ICU were compared to non-septic intensive care patients (n = 12) and a healthy control group (n = 12). Our analysis indicates that all tested biomarkers have only a moderate informative power and do not allow an unequivocal differentiation between septic and non-septic ICU patients. In conclusion, there is no standalone laboratory parameter that enables a reliable diagnosis of sepsis. miRNAs are not superior to classical parameters in this respect. It seems recommendable to measure multiple parameters and scores and to interpret them with regard to the clinical presentation.
Highlights
Sepsis represents a serious medical problem that affects about two percent of hospital admissions in developed countries [1] and remains one of the leading causes of death in critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICUs) [2]
At present various biomarkers have been assessed for their suitability in sepsis diagnostics, while few could be established in clinical practice [5]
This study included 36 study participants enrolled in three groups: healthy control (HC) group (n = 12), septic intensive care (SIC) group (n = 12), and non-septic intensive care (NIC) group (n = 12)
Summary
Sepsis represents a serious medical problem that affects about two percent of hospital admissions in developed countries [1] and remains one of the leading causes of death in critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICUs) [2]. A major disadvantage of these inflammation parameters is their limited specificity since they do not allow for an unambiguous distinction between septic and other critically ill patients [5,6,7]. Cytokine concentration in the serum of septic patients, though, was found to be very variable and strongly dependent on the time of blood collection which restricts the diagnostic usability [8,10,11,12,13,14,15,16].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
