Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis
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J Pharm Biomed Anal · May 2013
Identification of a 14 kDa endocan fragment generated by cathepsin G, a novel circulating biomarker in patients with sepsis.
Severe septic syndrome, which is the most prevalent and lethal cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome, remains one of the most frequent causes of admission and death in intensive care units (ICU). Inflammatory phenomenon leading to severe sepsis are multiple and not yet completely understood. The main target damage during severe sepsis is the endothelium. ⋯ An immunoassay specific for p14 endocan fragment was then developed, and revealed increased plasma levels of p14 in 20 out of 55 severe septic patients, ranging from 0.52 to 10.40 ng/mL versus undetectable p14 in plasma from 32 control subjects (p=0.0011). No correlations were found between p14 and endocan blood levels in severe septic patients. Taken together, the p14 endocan fragment represents a novel interesting biomarker which could participate to the pathogenesis of sepsis.