Exploring METRNL as a novel biomarker in sepsis: diagnostic potential and secretion mechanism
Authors' conclusion
This pilot study demonstrates that METRNL is a novel potential biomarker for sepsis with diagnostic capability comparable to that of PCT.
Study context
- Population
- Intensive care unit (ICU) patients with sepsis and non-septic ICU controls; Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and cecal ligation and puncture cell and mouse models of sepsis107 sepsis, 95 non-septic controls
- Comparison
- METRNL vs Procalcitonin (PCT) vs C-reactive protein (CRP) for diagnosing sepsis
- Outcome
- Diagnostic performance for sepsis (ROC analysis)
Methodological detailspilot study
- Pilot study
Performance
As reported in the abstract
Diagnostic performance for sepsis
| Test or model | AUC | AUC 95% CI | Specificity at optimal cutoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| METRNL | 0.943 | 0.91-0.975 | 91.6% |
| PCT | 0.955 | 0.929-0.981 | 88.4% |
| CRP | 0.873 | 0.825-0.921 | 69.5% |
AUC
METRNL0.943
PCT0.955
CRP0.873
AUC 95% CI
METRNL0.91-0.975
PCT0.929-0.981
CRP0.825-0.921
Specificity at optimal cutoff
METRNL91.6%
PCT88.4%
CRP69.5%
Further findings
Serum METRNL, sepsis vs non-septic patients
- Significantly higher serum METRNL in sepsis patients
METRNL in animal and cell models
- METRNL increased dose- and time-dependently in LPS-induced cell and mouse models
- In cecal ligation and puncture mice, serum METRNL rose over time and correlated with sepsis severity
- Serum METRNL increased within 1 h post-modeling, preceding PCT and CRP
Source and secretion mechanism of METRNL
- Endothelial cell-specific Metrnl knockout reduced majority of serum Metrnl in sepsis mice
- ER-Golgi pathway inhibition (chemical inhibitors or RNA interference) significantly reduced METRNL in supernatant vs controls
- Similar results with TLR4 and ERK inhibitors
Original publication
Exploring METRNL as a novel biomarker in sepsis: diagnostic potential and secretion mechanism. J Intensive Care. Published 9 April 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →