Diagnostic value of soluble biomarkers for parapneumonic pleural effusion

Abstract

Parapneumonic pleural effusion (PPE) is a common complication in patients with pneumonia. Timely and accurate diagnosis of PPE is of great value for its management. Measurement of biomarkers in circulating and pleural fluid have the advantages of easy accessibility, short turn-around time, objectiveness and low cost and thus have utility for PPE diagnosis and stratification. To date, many biomarkers have been reported to be of value for the management of PPE. Here, we review the values of pleural fluid and circulating biomarkers for the diagnosis and stratification PPE. The biomarkers discussed are C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, presepsin, soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1, lipopolysaccharide-binding protein, inflammatory markers, serum amyloid A, soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor, matrix metalloproteinases, pentraxin-3 and cell-free DNA. We found that none of the available biomarkers has adequate performance for diagnosing and stratifying PPE. Therefore, further work is needed to identify and validate novel biomarkers, and their combinations, for the management of PPE.

Keywords:

• Parapneumonic pleural effusion
• circulating biomarkers
• diagnosis

Author contributions

Zhi-De Hu and Wen-Qi Zheng designed and supervised the study. Xi-Shan Cao collected and analyzed the data from previous studies and drafted the manuscript. Zhi-De Hu and Wen-Qi Zheng critically reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural and Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region for Distinguished Young Scholars [NO: 2020JQ07], the Zhixue Project, Zhiyuan Funding of Inner Mongolia Medical University [NO: ZY 0130013] and the Scientific Project of Health and Technology Commission of Inner Mongolia [NO: 202201340].