Blood suPAR, Th1 and Th17 cell may serve as potential biomarkers for elderly sepsis management

Abstract

Although soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), T helper (Th)-1 and Th17 cells are separately reported to be dysregulated and correlate with disease severity in several infection-mediated diseases, fewer studies report their interaction and clinical value in sepsis management. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the correlation of blood suPAR with Th1 and Th17 cell proportion, as well as their diagnostic and prognostic value in elderly sepsis patients. Totally, 223 elderly sepsis patients were recruited. Serum suPAR was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Besides, Th1 and Th17 cell proportion from CD4⁺ T cells were determined by flow cytometry. For sepsis severity evaluation, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score and the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score were used. Moreover, survival profile within 28 days was documented. The mean value of suPAR, Th1 cell proportion and Th17 cell proportion was 27.5 ± 15.1 ng/mL, 15.3 ± 4.3% and 4.0 ± 2.3%, respectively. Furthermore, suPAR was positively correlated with Th1 cell proportion, Th17 cell proportion, IFN-γ, IL-17 and TNF-α. Meanwhile, suPAR was positively correlated with APACHE II score and SOFA score, so did Th17 cell proportion. Regarding their prognostic value, suPAR and Th17 cell proportion were superior to differ survivors from deaths than Th1 cell proportion. SuPAR positively correlates with Th1, Th17 cell proportion; and they correlate with increased disease severity and mortality risk in elderly sepsis patients.

Keywords:

• Elderly sepsis patients
• suPAR
• Th1 and Th17 cell proportion
• disease severity
• 28-day mortality rate

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this article.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Youth Science and Technology Project of Hebei Provincial Department of Health, China [No. 20201506].