Monocyte and lymphocyte surface molecules in severe sepsis and non-septic critically ill Patients

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether expression of monocyte and lymphocyte surface molecules differs between patients with severe sepsis and non-septic patients treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). The expression of monocyte CD14, CD40, CD80 and HLA-DR, and lymphocyte CD69 were analyzed using quantitative flow cytometry on three consecutive days in 27 patients with severe sepsis and in 15 non-septic patients. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were performed and each corresponding area under the curve (AUC) was determined. The results showed that the expression levels of CD40 on monocytes and CD69 on CD4+ T cells and on natural killer (NK) cells were highest in patients with severe sepsis (p < 0.05). Monocyte CD40 and NK cell CD69 expression levels were higher in patients with severe sepsis and positive blood culture compared with those with negative blood culture (p < 0.05). The highest values of AUC for severe sepsis detection were 0.836 for CD40, 0.872 for CD69 on NK cells, and 0.795 for CD69 on CD4+ T cells. These findings suggest that monocyte CD40 and CD69 on NK cells and CD4+ T cells could prove useful for new approaches in the identification of severe sepsis in the ICU.