Diagnostic efficacy of serum cytokines and chemokines in fungal bloodstream infection in febrile patients

BACKGROUND: The role of serum cytokines/chemokines in early diagnosis of fungal infections has not been clearly clarified yet. This study aims to measure the serum levels of cytokines/chemokines in cases of fungemia and to compare them with culture‐negative controls. METHODS: In total, fourteen types of serum cytokines and chemokines from 41 patients with fungemia were compared with 57 patients with negative blood culture results. The cytokine and chemokine levels were detected with multiplex platform. We then performed statistical analysis as a two‐tailed P < .05. ROC analysis was performed, and an area under the curve (AUC), and sensitivity and specificity values were calculated to determine the efficacy of various cytokines and chemokines for fungemia. Binary logistic regression was performed to further explore the combination mode of cytokines and chemokines, which could increase the diagnostic efficiency. RESULTS: C‐reactive protein and procalcitonin were significantly higher compared with those in negative control group, while white blood cell, percentage of neutrophil, percentage of lymphocyte, and ratio of neutrophil and lymphocyte did not differentiate between two groups. Serum levels of IFN‐γ, TNF‐α, MIP‐1β, IL‐6, IL‐8, IL‐10, IL‐12p70, and IL‐17 were significantly higher in patients with fungemia compared with the control group. Combination of MIP‐1β and IL‐17 could improve the AUC, sensitivity, and specificity for the diagnosis of fungemia. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that serum cytokines and chemokines including IFN‐γ, TNF‐α, MIP‐1β, IL‐6, IL‐8, IL‐10, IL‐12p70, and IL‐17 could be considered as diagnostic markers for fungemia. Combination of these biomarkers might improve the diagnostic efficiency of fungemia.