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Biomarker protein panel for diagnosis of Kawasaki disease

Abstract

Protein biomarkers are traceable substances that can be used as tools in assessing the conditions of the human body. Using biomarkers related to the pathophysiology of Kawasaki disease (KD), a diagnostic tool can be formulated. I evaluated markers of cardiovascular injuries (n=8) and inflammation (n=90). Among cardiovascular biomarkers, plasma N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, soluble ST2, midregional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide, and procalcitonin concentrations were elevated in acute KD vs. febrile control (FC). However, a large overlap in protein levels and average values of area under the receiver operating characteristics (0.68-0.77) suggest that no single biomarker has the sensitivity and specificity to identify KD. Combining results from laboratory tests and inflammatory markers, 14 analytes were found to have significant difference in concentration distributions among KD and FC. An unsupervised clustering analysis using these laboratory test results (erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, absolute neutrophil count, [gamma]-glutamyl transpeptisdase, and alanine amino transferase) and inflammatory markers (Inter -cellular adhesion molecule 1, alpha-1antitrypsin, macrophage inflammatory protein-1[alpha], CD40, fibrinogen, matrix metalloproteinase-3, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1, and vascular endothelial growth factor) revealed an 84% performance at differentiating KD from FC, suggesting that a group of biomarkers is more reliable at diagnosing KD than a single marker

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