Clinical significance of serum intestinal fatty acid-binding protein in full-term infants with necrotizing enterocolitis

Abstract:

Objective To evaluate the clinical value of intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (Ⅰ-FABP) in full-termnew born infants with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Methods Forty-one full-term infants with a confirmed diagnosisof NEC from February 2012 to January 2014 were recruited as case group (stage I:24 cases; stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ:17 cases).Sixty-two children diagnosed with non-digestive diseases in the same period were recruited as the control group. Serumlevels of Ⅰ-FABP and C-reactive protein (CRP) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The diagnosticvalue of I-FABP for NEC was assessed using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results Stage Ⅰ andstage Ⅱ-Ⅲ cases in the case group had significantly higher serum Ⅰ-FABP levels than the control group (P<0.05), andstage Ⅱ-Ⅲ cases had significantly higher serum Ⅰ-FABP levels than stage Ⅰ cases (P<0.05). The area under the ROCcurve for serum Ⅰ-FABP was 0.85 (95% CI:0.78-0.92), with the optimal cut-off point of 2.25 ng/mL. Under this cut-offpoint, the sensitivity and specificity were 80.49% and 70.19%, respectively. There was no significant difference in serum CRP level between the case and control groups (P>0.05). Conclusions In newborn infants with NEC, serum I-FABPlevel increases significantly in stage I, and it is correlated with the disease severity. Therefore, serum I-FABP can beused as a biomarker for the diagnosis of NEC.