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Published on: December 9, 2022
Elevated Serum C1q Levels in Children With Sepsis
Huan Li1, Juanjuan Chen1, Yuanhui Hu1
1Department of Clinical Laboratory, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Insights
Serum complement C1q levels are elevated in children with sepsis and correlate with disease severity. This suggests C1q
Area of Science:
- Pediatric critical care medicine
- Immunology
- Infectious diseases
Background:
- Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection.
- The complement system, particularly C1q, plays a crucial role in innate immunity and inflammation.
- Understanding biomarkers for sepsis severity is vital for timely intervention in pediatric patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate serum complement C1q levels in pediatric sepsis patients.
- To explore the association between C1q levels and sepsis severity.
- To evaluate C1q as a potential diagnostic and prognostic marker in pediatric sepsis.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of clinical and laboratory data from 95 children with sepsis and 71 healthy controls.
- Serum C1q and procalcitonin (PCT) levels were measured.
- Patients were stratified by disease severity using the Pediatric Critical Illness Score (PCIS).
- Correlation analysis was performed between C1q, PCT, and PCIS scores.
- C1q levels were analyzed based on causative pathogens.
Main Results:
- Children with sepsis exhibited significantly higher serum C1q levels compared to healthy controls (198.4 vs. 186.2 mg/L, P < 0.001).
- Serum C1q levels increased progressively with sepsis severity (non-critical, critical, extremely critical groups).
- C1q levels showed a positive correlation with PCT (r = 0.5982, P < 0.001) and a negative correlation with PCIS score (r = -0.6607, P < 0.001).
- Elevated C1q levels were observed in sepsis patients with bacterial, mycoplasma, viral, and co-infections.
Conclusions:
- Serum C1q levels are elevated in children with sepsis and are directly related to disease severity.
- C1q may be implicated in the pathogenesis of sepsis.
- Serum C1q holds potential as a valuable biomarker for the preliminary diagnosis and severity classification of pediatric sepsis.
Abstract:
Objective: To analyze the serum complement C1q levels in children with sepsis, and explore the suggestive effect of serum C1q levels on the condition of children with sepsis. Methods: The clinical and laboratory data of children with sepsis (n = 95) and healthy children (n = 71) in Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from January 2019 to October 2019 were collected, and each index of the two groups was compared. Then we divided children with sepsis into three subgroups based on the Pediatric Critical Illness Score (PCIS): non-critical group, critical group, and extremely critical group. The serum C1q and PCT levels of the three subgroups were analyzed, and the correlation analysis was carried out between the levels of serum C1q and PCT levels as well as PCIS among children with sepsis. Finally, we analyzed the serum C1q levels of septic children infected by different pathogens. Results: The serum C1q levels of children with sepsis were significantly higher than those of healthy children (median 198.4 vs. 186.2 mg/L, P < 0.001). In the analysis of subgroups, the serum C1q levels of non-critical group, critical group, and extremely critical group septic children were 182.80 (166.75, 195.85) mg/L, 219.90 (209.10, 246.40) mg/L and 249.95 (239.10, 272.25) mg/L, respectively, which were correlated with the severity of the disease. At the same time, we also found that serum C1q in children with sepsis was positively correlated with PCT levels (r = 0.5982, P < 0.001), and negatively correlated with PCIS score (r = -0.6607, P < 0.001). The serum C1q levels of septic children with bacterial infections, mycoplasma infections, viral infections, and co-infection were higher than those of the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The serum levels of C1q in children with sepsis were increased and related to the severity of sepsis, suggesting that C1q may be involved in the occurrence and development of sepsis, which had reference value for the preliminary diagnosis and severity classification of sepsis.
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