Diagnostic Value of Upar, IL-33, and ST2 Levels in Childhood Sepsis

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of Upar, IL-33, and ST2 in comparison with C-reactive protein, TNF-alpha, and Interleukin-6 in childhood sepsis. Methods: A total of 128 children were included and 20 of them were the control group. We used only data showing a high probability of sepsis with blood culture positive children, because of this reason 68 children were excluded. Blood was collected from children from first day of sepsis (1st value) and 48 - 72 hours later (2nd value). Results: There were significant differences between control and sepsis (1st value) for IL-33 levels (1.1 +/- 0.28 ng/mL and 5.23 +/- 1.80 ng/mL, p = 0.01), for sST2 levels (6.73 +/- 5.3 ng/mL and 53.23 +/- 28.30 ng/mL, p = 0.01), for sUpar levels (3.3 +/- 1.7 ng/mL and 15.2 +/- 6.3 ng/mL, p = 0.01), respectively. There were significant differences between sepsis (1st value) and sepsis (2nd value) for IL-33 levels, for sST2 levels, and for suPAR levels. Conclusions: In the light of these results, it may be suggested that Upar, IL-33, and ST2 can be used as an acute phase reactant like C-reactive protein, TNF-alpha, and Interleukin-6 in the diagnosis of childhood sepsis.