Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jun 2:12:1598624.
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1598624. eCollection 2025.

Diagnostic value of the combined detection of serum tumor necrosis factor-α and fecal calprotectin in early sepsis-related encephalopathy

Chenghong OuYang #  1 , ChunLi Yang #  1 , Qi Wu  1 , Fang Liu  1 , Zhenhuan Chen  2
Affiliations

Diagnostic value of the combined detection of serum tumor necrosis factor-α and fecal calprotectin in early sepsis-related encephalopathy

Chenghong OuYang et al. Front Med (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the value of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and fecal calprotectin in the early diagnosis and prognosis of sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE).

Methods: We recruited 150 patients with sepsis, admitted from January 2020 to January 2022. Of these, 80 patients had SAE and 70 patients did not. The levels of serum TNF-α and fecal calprotectin of patients while in the intensive care unit were measured and correlated with the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation scoring system II (APACHE II) score, the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score and 28-day mortality. We examined the value of TNF-α and fecal calprotectin in the diagnosis and prognosis of SAE.

Results: The APACHE II and SOFA scores and 28-day mortality of the SAE group were significantly higher than those of the sepsis group, which indicated that the condition of the SAE group was more critical. In the SAE group, TNF-α and fecal calprotectin levels were positively correlated with the APACHE II and SOFA scores (P < 0.05), which may be related to disease severity. Assessing TNF-α level alongside fecal calprotectin level is highly valuable for the diagnosis of SAE and determining poor prognoses in SAE patients.

Conclusions: TNF-α and fecal calprotectin may be involved in the pathogenesis of SAE. Both have high specificity and sensitivity for early SAE diagnosis. Moreover, they have good predictive value and can serve as prognostic indicators.

Keywords: diagnostic value; early sepsis-related encephalopathy; fecal calprotectin; pathogenesis of SAE; serum tumor necrosis factor-α.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart showing inclusion process and outcomes of two groups.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlation between serum TNF-α and fecal calprotectin levels in SAE patients. TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-α; SAE, sepsis-associated encephalopathy.
Figure 3
Figure 3
ROC curve of TNF-α and fecal calprotectin in the diagnosis of SAE. ROC, receiver operating characteristic curve; SAE, sepsis-associated encephalopathy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Yu D, Unger D, Unge C, Parke A, Sunden-Cullberg J, Stralin K, et al. Correlation of clinical sepsis definitions with microbiological characteristics in patients admitted through a sepsis alert system; a prospective cohort study. Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrob. (2022) 21:7. 10.1186/s12941-022-00498-3 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dumbuya JS, Li S, Liang L, Zeng Q. Paediatric sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE): a comprehensive review. Mol Med. (2023) 29:27. 10.1186/s10020-023-00621-w - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhong Y, Guan J, Ma Y, Xu M, Cheng Y, Xu L, et al. Role of imaging modalities and N-acetylcysteine treatment in sepsis-associated encephalopathy. ACS Chem Neurosci. (2023) 14:2172–82. 10.1021/acschemneuro.3c00180 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Giga H, Ji B, Kikutani K, Fukuda S, Kitajima T, Katsumata S, et al. Pharmacological and genetic inhibition of translocator protein 18 kDa ameliorated neuroinflammation in murine endotoxemia model. Shock. (2021) 56:142–9. 10.1097/SHK.0000000000001703 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Li XL, Xie JF, Ye XY, Li Y, Li YG, Feng K, et al. Value of cerebral hypoxic-ischemic injury markers in the early diagnosis of sepsis associated encephalopathy in burn patients with sepsis. Zhonghua Shao Shang Yu Chuang Mian Xiu Fu Za Zhi. (2022) 38:21–8. 10.3760/cma.j.cn501120-20211006-00346 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources