Serum Calprotectin: An Antimicrobial Peptide as a New Marker For the Diagnosis of Sepsis in Very Low Birth Weight Newborns

摘要

To determine the diagnostic utility of serum calprotectin, a mediator of innate immune response against infections, we performed a multicenter study involving newborns with a birth weight  g and a postnatal age hours of life. The diagnostic accuracy of serum calprotectin was compared with that of the most commonly used markers of neonatal sepsis (white blood cell count, immature-to-total-neutrophil ratio, platelet count, and C-reactive protein). We found that the serum calprotectin concentration was significantly higher () in 62 newborns with confirmed sepsis (  μg/mL) than in either 29 noninfected subjects ( μg/ml) or 110 healthy controls ( μg/ml). The diagnostic accuracy of serum calprotectin was greater (sensitivity 89%, specificity 96%) than that of the traditional markers of sepsis. In conclusion, serum calprotectin is an accurate marker of sepsis in very low birth weight newborns.