Serum Soluble Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells-1 and Procalcitonin Can Reflect Sepsis Severity and Predict Prognosis: A Prospective Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prognostic significance of serum soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1), procalcitonin (PCT), N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP), C-reactive protein (CRP), cytokines, and clinical severity scores in patients with sepsis. METHODS: A total of 102 patients with sepsis were divided into survival group (n = 60) and nonsurvival group (n = 42) based on 28-day mortality. Serum levels of biomarkers and cytokines were measured on days 1, 3, and 5 after admission to an ICU, meanwhile the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores were calculated. RESULTS: Serum sTREM-1, PCT, and IL-6 levels of patients in the nonsurvival group were significantly higher than those in the survival group on day 1 (P < 0.01). The area under a ROC curve for the prediction of 28 day mortality was 0.792 for PCT, 0.856 for sTREM-1, 0.953 for SOFA score, and 0.923 for APACHE II score. Multivariate logistic analysis showed that serum baseline sTREM-1 PCT levels and SOFA score were the independent predictors of 28-day mortality. Serum PCT, sTREM-1, and IL-6 levels showed a decrease trend over time in the survival group (P < 0.05). Serum NT-pro-BNP levels showed the predictive utility from days 3 and 5 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In summary, elevated serum sTREM-1 and PCT levels provide superior prognostic accuracy to other biomarkers. Combination of serum sTREM-1 and PCT levels and SOFA score can offer the best powerful prognostic utility for sepsis mortality.