Background Metabolic homeostasis in liver plays a vital role in sepsis-associated liver injury (SALI). This study was aimed to identify the novel biomarkers for identifying SALI.
Materials and Methods Serum samples from mice treated with LPS for 2 h, 24 h and control were analyzed by two-dimensional liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (2D LC-MS/MS). The screened proteins including ATP citrate lyase (ACLY) and apolipoprotein (ApoA5) were confirmed in sera of patients with sepsis or SALI and healthy control.
Results A total of 185 differentially expressed proteins were identified in the sera of LPS-treated mice for indicated time. The serum ACLY was correlated with ApoA5 in pediatric patients (r = 0.531, P = 0.015). The sensitivity, specificity and under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of serum ApoA5 were 100 %, 83.3 %, and 0.929 (95% CI: 0.776-1.000) for diagnose of sepsis (P = 0.01), and 85.7 %, 85.7% and 0.918 (95% CI: 0.776-1.000) for diagnose of SALI (P = 0.009), respectively. Serum ACLY had a trend as a potential diagnostic biomarker for sepsis (P = 0.063) or as a predictor for SALI (P = 0.110), respectively.
Conclusions Elevated serum ACLY and ApoA5 levels are associated with sepsis, and both serum ACLY and ApoA5 are potential predictor for pediatric SALI.