Table 3.

Clinical Utility of Important Markers of Immune Reactivity

Markers of Acute-phase Reactants

Lipopolysaccharide-binding protein: serum levels are nonspecific for sepsis¹²

C-reactive protein level: nonspecific; does not correlate to severity of injury or predict
survival in multiply traumatized patients¹³,¹⁴

Procalcitonin: correlates with the severity of sepsis, but nonestablished prognostic
value¹²

Markers of Mediator Activity

Tumor necrosis factor-α: equivocal utility as a clinical marker of inflammation⁸

IL-1/IL-10: equivocal clinical utility⁸

IL-6: reliable marker of the severity of injury, magnitude of systemic inflammation, and
mortality rate¹³,¹⁵-¹⁷

IL-8 serum levels are an important determinant of postinjury mortality in pediatric
blunt-trauma patients¹⁸

Markers of Cellular Activity

Human leukocyte antigen: reliable marker of clinical infection and an independent
predictor of mortality in patients with septic shock; most reliable marker of immune
reactivity mortality and morbidity following trauma⁸,¹²,¹⁹,²⁰