The clinical value of high mobility group box-1 and CRP/Alb ratio in the diagnosis and evaluation of sepsis in children.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the clinical value of high mobility group box-1 (HMGB-1), C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), and CRP to albumin (Alb) ratio in the diagnosis and evaluation of the severity of sepsis in children.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 90 children, 50 with sepsis and 40 with general infection, whose symptoms did not meet the criteria for diagnosis of sepsis, were admitted to the Pediatrics Department of Jingzhou Central Hospital in Hubei Province between November 2021 and December 2022, were enrolled and selected as experimental and control group, respectively. The serum of two groups was collected within 24 hours after admission, the levels of HMGB-1 were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and CRP, PCT, Alb, and hospitalization days were recorded. The differences in indicators between the two groups were compared, and correlation analysis was performed between hospitalization days and various indicators. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the independent or combined value of CRP, PCT, HMGB-1, and CRP/Alb ratio in the early diagnosis of sepsis in children.

RESULTS

These four indicators of children with sepsis were significantly higher than those in the general infection group (all p=0.000). The levels of CRP, PCT and CRP/Alb ratio were significantly positively correlated with the hospitalization days (r=0.329, 0.333, 0.329; p=0.02, 0.01, 0.002). The area under curve (AUC) of CRP, PCT, HMGB-1, and CRP/Alb ratio for the diagnosis of sepsis in children was 0.798, 0.817, 0.838, 0.809, respectively, and that of the combination of four indicators was 0.952.

CONCLUSIONS

CRP, PCT, HMGB-1, and CRP/Alb ratio resulted as effective indicators for early diagnosis and evaluation of childhood sepsis, having a higher value in combined diagnosis.