| Literature DB >> 27552216 |
Andrew J McArdle1, James Webbe1,2, Kathleen Sim3, Graham Parrish2, Clive Hoggart3, Yifei Wang4, J Simon Kroll1,3, Sunit Godambe2,3, Aubrey J Cunnington1,3.
Abstract
Carboxyhemoglobin levels in blood reflect endogenous carbon monoxide production and are often measured during routine blood gas analysis. Endogenous carbon monoxide production has been reported to be increased during sepsis, but carboxyhemoglobin levels have not been thoroughly evaluated as a biomarker of sepsis. We sought to determine whether carboxyhemoglobin levels were elevated during sepsis in a high risk population of premature neonates. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 30 infants in two neonatal intensive care units using electronic medical and laboratory records. The majority of infants were extremely premature and extremely low birth weight, and 25 had at least one episode of sepsis. We collected all carboxyhemoglobin measurements during their in-patient stay and examined the relationship between carboxyhemoglobin and a variety of clinical and laboratory parameters, in addition to the presence or absence of sepsis, using linear mixed-effect models. We found that postnatal age had the most significant effect on carboxyhemoglobin levels, and other significant associations were identified with gestational age, hemoglobin concentration, oxyhemoglobin saturation, and blood pH. Accounting for these covariates, there was no significant relationship between the onset of sepsis and carboxyhemoglobin levels. Our results show that carboxyhemoglobin is unlikely to be a clinically useful biomarker of sepsis in premature infants, and raise a note of caution about factors which may confound the use of carbon monoxide as a clinical biomarker for other disease processes such as hemolysis.Entities:
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Year: 2016 PMID: 27552216 PMCID: PMC4995038 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161784
Source DB: PubMed Journal: PLoS One ISSN: 1932-6203 Impact factor: 3.240
Characteristics of study subjects.
| Sepsis (n = 25) | No sepsis (n = 5) | |
|---|---|---|
| Gestational age, completed weeks + days. Median (range) | 25+0 (23+2 to 34+5) | 25+3 (25+2 to 27+0) |
| Birth weight, g.Median (range) | 735 (460–1885) | 740 (692–820) |
| Male, n (%) | 14 (56%) | 0 (0%) |
| Antenatal glucocorticoid, n (%) | 23 (92%) | 5 (100%) |
| Vaginal delivery, n (%) | 17 (68%) | 4 (80%) |
| Length of stay on neonatal unit, days. Median (range) | 48.5 (1–392) | 20 (3–78) |
| Number of carboxyhemoglobin measurements.Median (range) | 34 (3–145) | 17 (5–29) |
| At least one blood transfusion, n (%) | 21 (84%) | 4 (80%) |
| Respiratory distress syndrome, n (%) | 24 (96%) | 5 (100%) |
| Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, n (%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (20%) |
| Survived to discharge, n (%) | 18 (72%) | 2 (40%) |
Characteristics of sepsis episodes.
| Early Onset (n = 4) | Late Onset (n = 24) | |
|---|---|---|
| Group B | 2 | 2 |
| 1 | 1 | |
| Coagulase-negative Staphylococci | 0 | 17 |
| 0 | 2 | |
| Other organisms | 1 ( | 2 ( |
| Survived, n (%) | 3 (75%) | 20 (83%) |
| Duration of sepsis in survivors, days. Median (range) | 14 (5–14) | 5 (5–14) |
Fig 1Variation in carboxyhemoglobin levels with postnatal age.
(A) Carboxyhemoglobin levels plotted against postnatal age on a linear scale. (B) Carboxyhemoglobin levels plotted against postnatal age on a logarithmic scale. Solid line indicates the line of best fit using a third order polynomial (cubic) function and shaded region indicates 95% confidence interval.
Comparison of models to explain the association of postnatal age with carboxyhemoglobin levels.
| Model and variables | Akaike Information Criterion | Bayesian Information Criterion | Log likelihood | Chi- squared | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0. Intercept only (null) | 1211 | 1225 | -603 | Reference | |
| 1. Age | 1013 | 1031 | -502 | 201 | < 2.2 x10-16 vs. model 0 |
| 2. ln (Age) | 891 | 909 | -441 | 121 | < 2.2 x10-16 vs. model 0 |
| 3. ln (Age) + (ln (Age))2 | 852 | 875 | -421 | 41.1 | 1.48x10-10 vs. model 2 |
| 4. ln (Age) + (ln (Age))2 + (ln (Age))3 | 814 | 841 | -401 | 40.2 | 2.35x10-10 vs. model 3 |
†All models include subject identity as a random factor.
Linear mixed-effects model to describe the effect of variables on COHb levels in the absence of sepsis.
| Variables included in model | Estimate (standard error) | t value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ln Age | -4.97 x10-2 (2.91 x10-2) | -1.71 | 0.087 |
| (ln Age)2 | -0.11 (1.47 x10-2) | -7.13 | 2.68 x10-12 |
| (ln Age)3 | 1.48 x10-2 (2.75 x10-3) | 5.39 | 9.77 x10-8 |
| Oxyhemoglobin (%) | 6.54 x10-3 (1.67 x10-3) | 3.92 | 9.83 x10-5 |
| Gestational age (weeks) | -8.45 x10-2 (1.66 x10-2) | -5.09 | 3.55 x10-5 |
| pH | -0.53 (0.23) | 2.32 | 0.020 |
| Hemoglobin g/L | 1.92 x10-3 (7.39 x10-4) | 2.60 | 9.49 x10-3 |
| Variables eliminated from model | |||
| Unit (St Mary’s / QCCH) | NS | ||
| Atmospheric CO (ppm) | NS | ||
| Gender | NS | ||
| Methemoglobin (%) | NS | ||
| Birthweight (g) | NS | ||
| Recent blood transfusion | NS | ||
| Outcome (survived/died) | NS |
†Based on 674 observations; all models include subject identity as a random factor. NS, not significant (P>0.05) and therefore removed sequentially from model.
Linear mixed-effects model to describe the effect of variables on COHb levels including data at the onset of sepsis.
| Variables included in model | Estimate (standard error) | t value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ln Age | -6.55 x10-2 (2.71 x10-2) | -2.42 | 0.016 |
| (ln Age)2 | -6.53 x10-2 (9.34 x10-3) | -6.99 | 6.41 x10-12 |
| (ln Age)3 | 7.23 x10-3 (2.01 x10-3) | 3.61 | 3.33 x10-4 |
| Oxyhemoglobin (%) | 5.57 x10-3 (1.73 x10-3) | 3.22 | 1.33 x10-3 |
| Gestational age (weeks) | -7.38 x10-2 (1.68 x10-2) | -4.40 | 2.18 x10-4 |
| pH | -0.52 (0.22) | -2.34 | 0.019 |
| Hemoglobin g/L | 2.13 x10-3 (7.42 x10-4) | 2.87 | 4.17 x10-3 |
| Methemoglobin (%) | 0.17 (5.35 x10-2) | 2.18 | 0.030 |
| Variables eliminated from model | |||
| Onset of sepsis | NS | ||
| Unit (St Mary’s / QCCH) | NS | ||
| Atmospheric CO (ppm) | NS | ||
| Gender | NS | ||
| Birthweight (g) | NS | ||
| Recent blood transfusion | NS | ||
| Outcome (survived/died) | NS |
†Based on 733 observations; all models include subject identity as a random factor. NS, not significant (P>0.05) and therefore removed sequentially from model.
Fig 2Carboxyhemoglobin levels in individual subjects in relation to postnatal age and episodes of sepsis.
Trellis plot of COHb levels over time (ln (Age)) for each individual subject and relationship to presence or absence of sepsis (red, no sepsis; blue, suspected sepsis; orange, onset of proven sepsis; green, established sepsis). Timing and cause of sepsis are indicated for each individual (EO, early onset; LO, late onset; GBS, Group B Streptococcus; CONS, coagulase-negative Staphylococcus; Pseud, Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Acinetobacter, Acinetobacter sp.)