Urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin values alone and combined with Prognostic Index predict septic AKI, DIC, and shock: a pilot study

OBJECTIVE: Sepsis is a syndrome involving life-threatening organ dysfunction. The present study aimed to determine whether septic AKI, ARDS, DIC, and shock can be predicted more readily by combining uNGAL values and inflammation-based prognostic scores, over the use of uNGAL values alone. RESULTS: ROC curve analyses yielded the following cut-off values: AKI: 438.5 (ng/ml) for uNGAL at Day 1 (AUC, 0.8), 476.9 (ng/ml) for uNGAL at Day 2 (AUC, 0.86), 123.8 (ng/ml) for uNGAL at Day 3 (AUC, 0.81), 133.6 (ng/ml) for uNGAL at Day 4 (AUC, 0.78), 1.0 for iNS NGAL-NLR (AUC, 0.75), 2.0 for iNS NGAL-PI (AUC, 0.77), DIC; 648.5 (ng/ml) for uNGAL at Day 1 (AUC, 0.77); shock; 123.8 (ng/ml) for uNGAL at Day 3 (AUC, 0.71) and 9 for SOFA (AUC, 0.71). Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed iNS NGAL-PI to be a significant independent predictor of AKI (OR, 20.62; 95% CI, 1.03–412.3; p = 0.048).