Pancreatic stone protein as a novel marker for neonatal sepsis

Purpose: Early-onset sepsis (EOS) is one of the main causes for the admission of newborns to the neonatal intensive care unit. However, traditional infection markers are poor diagnostic markers of EOS. Pancreatic stone protein (PSP) is a promising sepsis marker in adults. The aim of this study was to investigate whether determining PSP improves the diagnosis of EOS in comparison with other infection markers. Methods: This was a prospective multicentre study involving 137 infants with a gestational age of >34weeks who were admitted with suspected EOS. PSP, procalcitonin (PCT), soluble human triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1), macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured at admission. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed. Results: The level of PSP in infected infants was significantly higher than that in uninfected ones (median 11.3 vs. 7.5ng/ml, respectively; p=0.001). The ROC area under the curve was 0.69 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.59-0.80; p9ng/ml) and PCT (>2ng/ml) was the best predictor of EOS (0.83; 95% CI 0.74-0.93; p