Calprotectin, a promising biomarker for prediction of severe events in sepsis
Moss 27.03.2019

Gentian Diagnostics AS is pleased to announce that the results from a study conducted in collaboration with Karolinska University Hospital are published in Critical Care 2020, Meeting Abstracts from the 40th International Symposium on Intensive Care & Emergency Medicine. The results indicate that calprotectin in plasma is a useful biomarker in prediction of severe events in septic patients and with better performance than other conventional biomarkers.

Prediction of severe events in clinical sepsis is challenging and of great importance for correct treatment and care for the affected patients. The aim of the study was to investigate performance of calprotectin in prediction of early severe events in septic patients and to compare it to the performance of the routine biomarkers, procalcitonin and C-reactive protein (CRP) The study was performed in patients with suspected sepsis at Emergency Department at Karolinska University Hospital.

In the prospective study, blood samples were collected from consecutive patients who triggered a sepsis alert in the emergency department at Karolinska Hospital Huddinge. CRP, procalcitonin, neutrophils, and lymphocytes were analysed according to routine practice. Calprotectin was analysed using a specific particle enhanced turbidimetric assay (GCAL®, Gentian Diagnostics AS). The composite endpoint, which was termed a severe event, was defined as death, admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) or high dependency unit (HDU) within 48 hours from arrival.
The study included 367 patients with written informed consent, of whom 335 were considered to have an infection (defined as an obtained blood culture and subsequent antibiotic therapy for at least 4 days or until discharge or death), and 32 had no infection. 74 patients (22%) with infection developed a severe event.

Analysis of the area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve for prediction of severe events showed superiority for p-calprotectin, compared with procalcitonin and neutrophil-lymphocyte-ratio, both regarding all sepsis alert cases and regarding the patients with an infection. In addition, there was a trend toward superior performance compared to CRP.

Results from this study show that in patients with sepsis, the level of p-calprotectin was significantly higher in those who subsequently developed severe events. P-calprotectin was superior to traditional biomarkers for prediction of severe events in clinical sepsis.


For further information, please contact:


Hilja Ibert

CEO, Gentian Diagnostics

E-mail: hilja.ibert@gentian.no

Cell Phone: +47 919 05 242



Njaal Kind

CFO, Gentian Diagnostics

E-mail: njaal.kind@gentian.no

Cell Phone. +47 919 06 525