Significance of neutrophil CD11b in early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis

Background: Sepsis necessitates additional diagnostic evaluations. In an effort to surmount the constraints of conventional laboratory diagnostic methods, there has been a recent emphasis on the development of novel markers for the sepsis diagnosis. We aimed to study the neutrophil CD11b significance in early neonatal sepsis diagnosis and to determine its association with disease risk factors and prognostic impact of the disease. Methods: This case-control study was conducted on full-term neonates diagnosed with clinical sepsis based on the Töllner scoring system criteria. The study group comprised 50 newborns with clinical sepsis, while the control group included 40 newborns without sepsis. For all participants, complete blood counts, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and D-dimer levels were measured. Blood cultures were also performed, and CD11b expression was assessed using flow cytometry. Results: The D-dimer, CRP, CD11b % and CD11b levels mean fluorescent intensity (MFI) were significantly elevated in the patient group compared to in the control group (p<0.05). Receiver operating characteristic analysis of CD11b % detected 76 % sensitivity, 67.5 % specificity, 72 % accuracy, and AUC was 0.759 at cutoff 66.5 (P<0.001). CD11b% was significantly greater in patients presenting with poor reflexes, cyanosis and seizures, and in patients associated with maternal risk factor (UTI) and neonatal risk factors (assisted ventilation, low APGAR score). Conclusion: CD11b may be a reliable, rapid and correct biomarker for the early neonatal sepsis recognition and significantly associated with poor risk and prognostic factors of neonatal sepsis.