title: Determination of reference interval for presepsin, an early marker for sepsis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Presepsin, the circulating soluble form of CD14 subtype (sCD14-ST) is a new emerging early marker for sepsis. Various cutoff levels of presepsin have been proposed, to discriminate between systemic bacterial and nonbacterial infectious diseases. The aim of this work was to define the reference interval for presepsin according to the CLSI C28-A3c approved guideline.
  
  
  METHODS
  Reference individuals (N=200; 120 females) aged 18-75 years (median 39 years), free from inflammatory diseases, were selected for the study. Presepsin concentrations were measured by a commercially available chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (PATHFASTTM, Mitsubishi Chemical Europe GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany). Reference limits were calculated using the non-parametric percentile method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, the reference limits for the presepsin were 55-184 pg/mL (90% confidence intervals, CI, were 45 to 58 and 161 to 214, respectively). There were no significant differences between males and females and the presepsin concentrations were not even particularly influenced by age. The upper reference limit for the presepsin is much lower than every cut-off limit so far proposed, both for sepsis and also for systemic inflammatory response syndrome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Specific decision levels are required to define the diagnostic and prognostic roles of presepsin in different settings of inflammatory and infectious diseases. Reference values can help to distinguish and quickly rule out healthy subjects or patients with other pathologies.
authors: Clinical Chemistry and Haematology Laboratory, San Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza, Italy.
authors: Davide
authors: D
authors: Giavarina
authors: Clinical Chemistry and Haematology Laboratory, San Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza, Italy.
authors: Mariarosa
authors: M
authors: Carta
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques / Q000379:methods; D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018805:Sepsis / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C000594167:presepsin protein, human
keywords: CD14 Antigen; Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute; female; male; presepsin; reference values