title: Serologic Intestinal-Fatty Acid Binding Protein in Necrotizing Enterocolitis Diagnosis: A Meta-Analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies showed that intestinal-fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP) may be a valid and promising serologic biomarker for early diagnosis of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the early diagnostic value of serologic I-FABP in NEC for the premature neonates.
  
  
  METHODS
  All major databases were searched from January 1, 1990, to May 1, 2015. We used Meta-Disc 1.4 and Revman5.0 software to calculate the diagnostic accuracy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven studies with 444 subjects were identified. The pooled sensitivity of I-FABP was 0.67 for NEC I, 0.74 for NEC II, and 0.83 for NEC III, and the pooled specificity was 0.84, respectively, which showed a moderate diagnostic accuracy. The area under curve (AUC) for each stage was 0.75 (Q (⁎) = 0.69), 0.82 (Q (⁎) = 0.76), and 0.91 (Q (⁎) = 0.84). The diagnostic threshold analysis showed no significant difference in threshold effect. The metaregression showed that the cut-off value has the largest effect on heterogeneity. The funnel plots indicated the existence of publication bias.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  I-FABP is a valid serologic biomarker for early diagnosis in NEC for the premature neonates with a moderate accuracy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing 400014, China.
authors.forename: Shupeng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing 400014, China.
authors.forename: Jialin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing 400014, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing 400014, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing 400014, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D020345:Enterocolitis, Necrotizing / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins