Association Between Plasma Granzyme B Levels, Organ Failure, and 28-Day Mortality Prediction in Patients with Sepsis

Background/Objectives: Sepsis is basically an inflammatory disease that involves the host's immune response. Granzyme B, a cytotoxic protease, has garnered attention for its involvement in modulating immune responses. This study aimed to elucidate the clinical implications of granzyme B in critically ill patients with sepsis, focusing on plasma granzyme B levels as a potential prognostic marker. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of sequentially collected blood samples from 57 sepsis patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit at Severance Hospital, a tertiary hospital in Seoul, South Korea. Clinical and laboratory data were comparatively analyzed between 28-day survivors and nonsurvivors. Results: The number of patients in the survivor and nonsurvivor groups was 32 (56.1%) and 25 (43.9%), respectively. Compared to survivors, nonsurvivors had higher APACHE II (23.5 vs. 34, p = 0.007) and SOFA (10 vs. 15, p = 0.001) scores, as well as increased levels of serum lactate (1.8 vs. 9.2 mmol/L, p < 0.001) and plasma granzyme B (28.2 vs. 71 pg/mL, p < 0.001). Granzyme B exhibited a robust area under the receiving operating characteristic (AUROC) for predicting 28-day mortality (AUROC = 0.794), comparable to lactate (0.804), SOFA (0.764), and APACHE II (0.709). The combined index of lactate and granzyme B demonstrated the highest AUROC (0.838) among all investigated predictors. Significant positive correlations were observed between log granzyme B and various inflammatory cytokines, including log IFN-γ (r = 0.780), IL-4 (r = 0.540), IL-10 (r = 0.534), and IL-6 (r = 0.520). Conclusions: Plasma granzyme B demonstrated fair short-term mortality prediction among patients admitted to the ICU, suggesting its potential utility for risk stratification and managing patients with sepsis.