Research Article Clinical Value of Plasma Soluble Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator Receptor Levels in Term Neonates with Infection or Sepsis: A Prospective Study

Copyright © 2014 Tania Siahanidou et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. suPAR, the soluble form of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor, has been identified as a biomarker of infection in adults but its properties in neonatal infection are not known.Methods. Plasma suPAR levels were determined by ELISA in 47 term neonates with infection (19 bacterial and 28 viral) and in 18 healthy neonates as controls. Thirteen out of 47 infected neonates were septic. In all infected neonates, suPAR levels were repeated at 24 hours, 48 hours, 3–5 days, and 7–10 days following admission. Results. Plasma suPAR levels were significantly increased in infected neonates upon admission, whereas they were highest in septic neonates, in comparison with controls