The Potential Value of Plasma Receptor Interacting Protein 3 for Neonatal Sepsis Diagnosis

Abstract Background: Neonatal sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response syndrome in neonates. The molecular mechanism of neonatal sepsis remains incompletely clarified. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential value of receptor interacting protein 3 (RIP3) in neonatal sepsis.Methods: 93 neonates with sepsis and 93 neonates without infectious diseases were enrolled in this study from September 2019 to March 2021. Plasma RIP3 was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and assessed along with whole blood hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and platelet count (PLT). Differences of RIP3, hs-CRP and PLT between the two groups were compared. Changes of the three indicators in sepsis were also observed after treatment. The diagnostic value of indicators for neonatal sepsis was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Results: In sepsis group, RIP3 and hs-CRP levels were significantly higher than those in control group (RIP3, p ＜ 0.0001; hs-CRP, p ＜ 0.0001), and PLT level was significantly lower than that in control group (p＜0.0001). After treatment, RIP3 and hs-CRP levels among septic survivors had a significant decrease (p＜0.0001) and PLT level had a significant improvement (p=0.0028). With RIP3＞15464.72 pg/mL, CRP>3.24 mg/L, PLT<205.00×109 /L as the positive criteria, the sensitivity of the three indicators in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis was 68.8%, 64.5%, 59.1%, and the specificity was 91.4%, 82.8%, 79.6%, respectively. The combination of RIP3, CRP and PLT showed 76.3% sensitivity and 94.6% sensitivity.Conclusions: RIP3 may attribute to the early diagnosis and understanding therapeutic effect of neonatal sepsis. The combined detection of RIP3, CRP and PLT may be more effective than individual ones in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.