title: Clinical role of serum pre-B cell colony-enhancing factor in ventilated patients with sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We measured serum levels of pre-B cell colony-enhancing factor (PBEF), which has been suggested as a novel biomarker of sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and evaluated its use as a prognostic biomarker.
  
  
  METHODS
  PBEF was measured in 104 adult ventilated patients who were diagnosed with sepsis upon admission using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of our patients was 62.9 ± 12.1 y, and 62 (59.6%) patients were male. The median PBEF level was 5.4 ng/ml (range 1.1-150.7 ng/ml). Non-survivors (n = 57) demonstrated significantly higher PBEF levels than survivors (18.7 ± 34.5 vs 6.9 ± 6.1 ng/ml; p = 0.022). Most particularly, patients with PBEF levels ≥ 10.4 ng/ml (n = 27) demonstrated higher hospital mortality than patients with PBEF levels < 10.4 ng/ml (n = 77) (74.1% vs. 48.1%; p = 0.025). Univariate logistic analysis determined PBEF ≥ 10.4 ng/ml to be an independent factor associated with hospital survival (hazard ratio = 0.324, 95% confidence interval = 0.123-0.854; p = 0.023). Among patients with sepsis-induced ARDS (n = 59), non-survivors (n = 35) demonstrated significantly higher PBEF levels than survivors (n = 24), but not interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that high PBEF is associated with poor clinical outcomes in ventilated patients with sepsis and sepsis-induced ARDS. Serum PBEF might be a better predictor of mortality than IL-6 in patients with sepsis-induced ARDS.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Internal Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Kwangha
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jin Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.forename: Chae-Man
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Younsuck
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Sang-Bum
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D054409:Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase / Q000097:blood*; D011379:Prognosis; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D018805:Sepsis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology*; D044967:Serum / Q000737:chemistry; D016019:Survival Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D016207:Cytokines; D015850:Interleukin-6; D054409:Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase; C085455:nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase, human