Soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 and the diagnosis of sepsis

Mitra Barati1, Farshid Rahimi Bashar, Reza Shahrami

  • 1Pediatric Infectious Diseases Research Centre, Iran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran. mitra_baraty@yahoo.com

Journal of Critical Care
|November 17, 2009
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Diagnosing sepsis is challenging with standard markers. While soluble TREM-1 (sTREM-1) shows promise, C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) are more effective for infection diagnosis in SIRS patients.

Area of Science:

  • Critical Care Medicine
  • Immunology
  • Infectious Diseases

Background:

  • Early diagnosis of sepsis and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is often difficult using conventional markers like fever, leukocytosis, and C-reactive protein (CRP).
  • Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (TREM-1) is upregulated on phagocytes during infection, making its soluble form (sTREM-1) a potential biomarker.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the diagnostic utility of soluble TREM-1 (sTREM-1) in identifying patients with sepsis.
  • To compare the effectiveness of sTREM-1 against established markers such as CRP and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in diagnosing infection.

Main Methods:

  • Plasma samples were collected from intensive care unit (ICU) patients upon admission.
  • Measurements included sTREM-1, CRP, white blood cell count, and ESR.
  • Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to assess diagnostic performance.

Main Results:

  • sTREM-1, CRP, and ESR levels were significantly higher in sepsis patients compared to non-infectious SIRS and non-SIRS groups (P < .05).
  • ROC analysis indicated that ESR, CRP, and sTREM-1 all had areas under the curve greater than 0.65 for distinguishing sepsis.
  • CRP and ESR demonstrated higher sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing infection compared to sTREM-1 and white blood cell count.

Conclusions:

  • Traditional markers like C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) appear more effective than soluble TREM-1 (sTREM-1) for diagnosing infection in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS).
  • Further research may be needed to fully elucidate the role of sTREM-1 in sepsis diagnostics.