Mr. Alreza Mohebbi, Dr. Najmaldin Saki, Dr. Hossein Karimpourian, Dr. Shaban Alizadeh,
Volume 16, Issue 3 (9-2024)
Introduction: Patients with acute leukemia (AL) are at an increased risk of infection, particularly in acute or critical situations, where timely identification of the cause of infection is crucial. While traditional methods such as microbial cultures remain the gold standard, they require 24–48 hours for results. In recent years, novel biomarkers like neutrophil CD64 expression have been widely investigated as indicators of infection. However, the diagnostic utility of CD64 within the clinical context of AL patients, especially those who are neutropenic and undergoing treatment, has not been extensively studied. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the diagnostic potential of neutrophil CD64 expression in monitoring the progression of infection and evaluating antibiotic therapy in AL patients complicated by infection.
Methods: Forty AL patients (20 in the infection group and 20 in the non-infection group), along with 40 healthy controls, were recruited. Data on the percentage of neutrophil CD64+ (%CD64+), CD64 index, C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell (WBC) count, and absolute neutrophil count (ANC) were collected.
Results: Patients with infection exhibited higher %CD64+, CD64 index, and CRP levels compared to those without infection (p<0.001). The sensitivity of both %CD64+ and the CD64 index in diagnosing infection was 90%, while their specificities were 83.3% and 86.7%, respectively. Furthermore, in the infection group, both %CD64+ and the CD64 index were significantly down-regulated after effective antibiotic therapy (p<0.001).
Conclusion: CD64 shows significant promise in enhancing diagnostic precision and in assessing the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy in AL patients.