The clinical value for plasma heparin-binding protein in the early diagnosis of the neonatal sepsis

Abstract

Objective To investigate the clinical value of plasmatic heparin-binding protein in early diagnosis and severity gradation of neonatal sepsis. Methods Thirty-nine patients with general sepsis, 37 patients with severe sepsis and 16 patients with septic shock were recruited as corresponding study groups respectively, who all had been admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Units(NICU) of Hunan Children′s Hospital from December 2016 to August 2017, meanwhile, 34 patients with local infection and 35 patients with non infection were enrolled as relevant control group respectively who all had been admitted to each neonatal ward in the retrospective study. The level of the heparin-binding protein(HBP), procalcitonin(PCT) and high sensitive C-reactive protein(hs-CRP) of all patients were detected respectively at the beginning of hospitalization. The difference of each group was compared by use of nonparametric statistics and the efficacy of every index on diagnosis of infection and sepsis was assessed with the receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC). Results The level of HBP in sepsis group, severe sepsis group and septic shock group HBP(H=91.764, P 0.05]. The area under the curve(AUC)of HBP in diagnosis of neonatal sepsis and infection are 0.885 and 0.904 respectively, more higher than PCT and hs-CRP; With the cut off value of 19.8 ng/ml, the sensitivity and specificity of HBP on diagnosis of infection are 85.7% and 82.9% respectively; the sensitivity and specificity 80.4% and 88.4% for neonatal sepsis with the cut-off value of 28.0 ng/ml respectively. Conclusion HBP probably has the better clinical value than PCT and hs-CRP in the early diagnosis and severity gradation of neonatal sepsis.(Chin J Lab Med, 2018, 41: 356-360) Key words: Neonatal sepsis; Blood proteins; Carrier proteins; Antimicrobial cationic peptides; Early diagnosis