Pediatric sepsis biomarkers for prognostic and predictive enrichment

Sepsis is a major public health problem in children throughout the world. Given that the treatment guidelines emphasize early recognition, there is interest in developing biomarkers of sepsis, and most attention is focused on diagnostic biomarkers. While there is a need for ongoing discovery and development of diagnostic biomarkers for sepsis, this review will focus on less well-known applications of sepsis biomarkers. Among patients with sepsis, the biomarkers can give information regarding the risk of poor outcome from sepsis, risk of sepsis-related organ dysfunction, and subgroups of patients with sepsis who share underlying biological features potentially amenable to targeted therapeutics. These types of biomarkers, beyond the traditional concept of diagnosis, address the important concepts of prognostic and predictive enrichment, which are key components of bringing the promise of precision medicine to the bedside of children with sepsis.