title: Neutrophil CD64 expression as a biomarker in the early diagnosis of bacterial infection: a meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neutrophil CD64 expression is widely reported as an efficacious biomarker to differentiate infected patients from other non-infected patients. This meta-analysis was conducted to comprehensively and quantitatively summarize the accuracy of neutrophil CD64 in the early diagnosis of bacterial infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic review of related studies was conducted, and the sensitivity, specificity, and other data about the accuracy of CD64 expression on neutrophils were pooled using random effects models with 95% confidence intervals (CI) as the effect measurements. Summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves and the Q* value were also calculated in the meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was tested, as well as the publication bias. Potential sources of heterogeneity were explored by assessing whether or not certain covariates significantly influenced the summary diagnostic odds ratio (SDOR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 26 studies including 3944 patients met the inclusion criteria for the final analysis. The summary estimate was 0.76 (95% CI 0.74-0.78) for sensitivity and 0.85 (95% CI 0.83-0.86) for specificity. The positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), SDOR, and area under the SROC of neutrophil CD64 expression with Q* value were 6.67 (95% CI 4.67-9.53), 0.24 (95% CI 0.18-0.31), 34.29 (95% CI 19.59-60.01), and 0.92 (Q*=0.85), respectively. The pooled data from the included studies had high heterogeneity and the Egger test suggested a publication bias.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  On the basis of our meta-analysis, neutrophil CD64 expression could be a promising and meaningful biomarker for diagnosing bacterial infection. Nevertheless, more large prospective studies should be carried out before the neutrophil CD64 test is used widely in the clinical setting because of the various cut-off values.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiamei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Zhiping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Huizhi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Qiliu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Jinmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000276:immunology*; D012372:ROC Curve; D017452:Receptors, IgG / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D017452:Receptors, IgG