The Physiological Variation in Plasma Presepsin Levels During the Early Neonatal Period

Neonatal sepsis continues to be a global problem with significant morbidity and mortality, because of the difficulty in predicting its onset with clinical symptoms alone. Thus, the presence of biomarkers is useful for the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. Presepsin is a 13-kDa truncated form of soluble CD14 that is produced through proteolytic cleavage on activated monocytes. Presepsin, consisting of 64 amino acid residues, has been proposed as a reliable biomarker for the early diagnosis of sepsis in neonates. However, some biomarkers for the diagnosis of sepsis are elevated during the early neonatal period due to physiological variation, whereas such variation in presepsin levels is uncertain. The objective of this study is to investigate the physiological variation in plasma presepsin levels during the early neonatal period. This prospective study included 30 full-term healthy neonates, including 15 neonates delivered by cesarean section. Plasma presepsin levels were examined at birth and on the first day and the fifth day of life in neonates, and the levels on the 5th day of life were lower than those at any other points (P < 0.001). Moreover, there was no significant difference of plasma presepsin levels between neonates delivered vaginally and by cesarean section. The physiological variation in plasma presepsin levels was observed during the early neonatal period. Attention needs to be paid when measuring plasma presespsin levels for the screening of sepsis during the early neonatal period.