TY - JOUR
T1 - A pilot study on potential new plasma markers for diagnosis of acute appendicitis
AU - Thuijls, Geertje
AU - Derikx, Joep P.M.
AU - Prakken, Fred J.
AU - Huisman, Bregje
AU - Van Bijnen Ing, Annemarie A.
AU - Van Heurn, Ernest L.W.E.
AU - Buurman, Wim A.
AU - Heineman, Erik
N1 - Funding Information: Grant support:This research was supported by AGIKO-stipendium 920-03-438 (to JPM Derikx) from the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development. This work was partially funded by a “Profileringsfonds” grant from the University Hospital Maastricht. Copyright: Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2011/3
Y1 - 2011/3
N2 - Background: Diagnosis of acute appendicitis (AA) remains a surgical dilemma, with negative appendectomy rates of 5% to 40% and perforation suggestive for late operative intervention in 5% to 30%. The aim of this study is to evaluate new plasma markers, representing early neutrophil activation, to improve diagnostic accuracy in patients suspected for AA. Materials and Methods: Fifty-one patients who underwent surgery for AA were included (male-female = 28:23), and blood was sampled. Plasma concentrations of 2 neutrophil proteins were measured: lactoferrin (LF) and calprotectin (CP). Controls consisted of 27 healthy volunteers. C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cell count (WBC) concentrations were measured for routine patient care. Results: Median plasma concentrations for LF and CP were significantly higher in 51 patients with proven AA (665 and 766 ng/mL, respectively) than in 27 healthy volunteers (198 and 239 ng/mL, respectively, P < .001). No clinically relevant correlation exists between the plasma levels of LF and CP and the conventional laboratory tests for CRP and WBC. Conclusions: Circulating LF and CP levels are significantly elevated in patients with appendicitis and are detectable in plasma using relatively simple and low-cost enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Furthermore, plasma levels of LF and CP give additional information to conventional markers WBC and CRP, making them potential new markers for AA diagnosis.
AB - Background: Diagnosis of acute appendicitis (AA) remains a surgical dilemma, with negative appendectomy rates of 5% to 40% and perforation suggestive for late operative intervention in 5% to 30%. The aim of this study is to evaluate new plasma markers, representing early neutrophil activation, to improve diagnostic accuracy in patients suspected for AA. Materials and Methods: Fifty-one patients who underwent surgery for AA were included (male-female = 28:23), and blood was sampled. Plasma concentrations of 2 neutrophil proteins were measured: lactoferrin (LF) and calprotectin (CP). Controls consisted of 27 healthy volunteers. C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cell count (WBC) concentrations were measured for routine patient care. Results: Median plasma concentrations for LF and CP were significantly higher in 51 patients with proven AA (665 and 766 ng/mL, respectively) than in 27 healthy volunteers (198 and 239 ng/mL, respectively, P < .001). No clinically relevant correlation exists between the plasma levels of LF and CP and the conventional laboratory tests for CRP and WBC. Conclusions: Circulating LF and CP levels are significantly elevated in patients with appendicitis and are detectable in plasma using relatively simple and low-cost enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Furthermore, plasma levels of LF and CP give additional information to conventional markers WBC and CRP, making them potential new markers for AA diagnosis.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79951893591&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2009.09.029
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2009.09.029
M3 - Article
C2 - 20825793
SN - 0735-6757
VL - 29
SP - 256
EP - 260
JO - American Journal of Emergency Medicine
JF - American Journal of Emergency Medicine
IS - 3
ER -