title: Plasma fibronectin as a marker of sepsis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the value of plasma fibronectin (pFN) as a diagnostic marker of sepsis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Plasma FN was determined in patients showing sepsis-related symptoms who had blood cultures performed. These patients were assigned to one of two groups according to their clinical situation: (1) Clinical Septic Group: patients with sepsis according to American College of Chest Physicians/Society of Critical Care Medicine (ACCP/SCCM) criteria; (2) Fever Peak Group: patients who did not fulfil sufficient ACCP/SCCM criteria for sepsis. Two additional control groups were also established: (3) Non-infectious Diseases Control Group and (4) Healthy Control Group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma FN levels, microbiological and clinical data were compared among the different patient groups. For each group, the number of patients, median and mean pFN levels and the 95% confidence interval of the mean were: (1) n = 43, 102 mg/l, 122 mg/l (100-144); (2) n = 70, 185 mg/l, 207 mg/l (184-231); (3) n = 22, 175 mg/l, 181 mg/l (151-211); and (4) n = 22, 256 mg/l, 261 mg/l (229-292). Bonferroni's test of multiple comparisons was able to detect a significant difference between pFN concentrations corresponding to the septic group, compared to the remaining groups (pANOVA < 0.001 ).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Plasma FN appears to act as a marker of sepsis in that patients showed diminished pFN levels. Along with other clinical and laboratory variables, the use of this marker would allow a rapid diagnosis of sepsis and limit the number of blood cultures to be processed and the number of antibiotic prescriptions, particularly when symptoms are insidious and diagnosis is doubtful. We propose further and more complex studies using a higher number of patients.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Department, School of Medicine, Complutense University, Avda. Complutense s/n, ES-28040 Madrid, Spain. guadalupe.ruiz@arrakis.es
authors.forename: Guadalupe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ruiz Martín
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prieto Prieto
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Veiga de Cabo
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gomez Lus
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barberán
authors.forename: Jose M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: González Landa
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernández
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005353:Fibronectins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018805:Sepsis / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005353:Fibronectins