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H-ficolin serum concentration and susceptibility to fever and neutropenia in paediatric cancer patients.
Journal article

H-ficolin serum concentration and susceptibility to fever and neutropenia in paediatric cancer patients.

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  • 2009-08-08
Published in:
  • Clinical and experimental immunology. - 2009
Adolescent
Bacteremia
Bacterial Infections
Biomarkers
Child
Child, Preschool
Disease Susceptibility
Female
Fever
Fluoroimmunoassay
Glycoproteins
Humans
Lectins
Male
Neoplasms
Neutropenia
Risk Factors
Statistics, Nonparametric
English H-ficolin (Hakata antigen, ficolin-3) activates the lectin pathway of complement similar to mannose-binding lectin. However, its impact on susceptibility to infection is currently unknown. This study investigated whether the serum concentration of H-ficolin at diagnosis is associated with fever and neutropenia (FN) in paediatric cancer patients. H-ficolin was measured by time-resolved immunofluorometric assay in serum taken at cancer diagnosis from 94 children treated with chemotherapy. The association of FN episodes with H-ficolin serum concentration was analysed by multivariate Poisson regression. Median concentration of H-ficolin in serum was 26 mg/l (range 6-83). Seven (7%) children had low H-ficolin (< 14 mg/l). During a cumulative chemotherapy exposure time of 82 years, 177 FN episodes were recorded, 35 (20%) of them with bacteraemia. Children with low H-ficolin had a significantly increased risk to develop FN [relative risk (RR) 2.24; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.38-3.65; P = 0.004], resulting in prolonged duration of hospitalization and of intravenous anti-microbial therapy. Bacteraemia occurred more frequently in children with low H-ficolin (RR 2.82; CI 1.02-7.76; P = 0.045). In conclusion, low concentration of H-ficolin was associated with an increased risk of FN, particularly FN with bacteraemia, in children treated with chemotherapy for cancer. Low H-ficolin thus represents a novel risk factor for chemotherapy-related infections.
Language
  • English
Open access status
green
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/1220
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