Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36759691›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2023

Diagnostic accuracy of novel mRNA blood biomarkers of infection to predict outcomes in emergency department patients with undifferentiated abdominal pain.

Andrew C Meltzer, Richard S Wargowsky, Seamus Moran, Tristan Jordan, Ian Toma, Tisha Jepson, Shiyu Shu, Yan Ma, Timothy A McCaffrey

Erratum issued Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT07579312 (Neutrophil Activation Test Using RNA Levels to Assist in the Diagnosis of Abdominal Pain), which is not on this map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 21% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07579312 recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

Neutrophil Activation Test Using RNA Levels to Assist in the Diagnosis of Abdominal Pain: The NATURAL Study

TypeobservationalSponsorTrue Bearing Diagnostics, Inc.Ran2026 to 2027Enrolled1,000ConditionsIntra Abdominal Infections, Appendicitis Acute, Pyelonephritis, DiverticulitisArmsTruNAV, an RNA-based blood test for host immune activation by infections
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Andrew C MeltzerDepartment of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, 20037, USA. ameltzer@mfa.gwu.edu.
Richard S WargowskyDivision of Genomic Medicine, Department of Medicine, The George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, 20037, USA.
Seamus MoranDepartment of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, 20037, USA.
Tristan JordanDepartment of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, 20037, USA.
Ian TomaDivision of Genomic Medicine, Department of Medicine, The George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, 20037, USA.
Tisha JepsonDivision of Genomic Medicine, Department of Medicine, The George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, 20037, USA.
Shiyu ShuDepartment of Biostatistics, The George Washington University Milken School of Public Health, Washington, DC, 20037, USA.
Yan MaDepartment of Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA.
Timothy A McCaffreyDivision of Genomic Medicine, Department of Medicine, The George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, 20037, USA.
Washington University Medical Center · USGeorge Washington University · USUniversity of Pittsburgh · US

Funding

Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Childrens NationalUL1TR001876 · NCATS · CHILDREN'S RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI BELL, MICHAEL J · 2016 to 2021
$25.6M
Data Driven Methods for Missing Data Imputation in Surgical Disparities ResearchR01MD013901 · NIMHD · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI MA, YAN · 2019 to 2022
$996k
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001876NCATS NIH HHS UL1TR001876NIMHD NIH HHS R01 MD013901NIMHD NIH HHS R01MD013901
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Abdominal pain represents greater than 20% of US Emergency Department (ED) visits due to a wide range of illnesses. There are currently no reliable blood biomarkers to predict serious outcomes in patients with abdominal pain. Our previous studies have identified three mRNA transcripts related to innate immune activation: alkaline phosphatase (ALPL), interleukin-8 receptor-β (IL8RB), and defensin-1 (DEFA1) as promising candidates to detect an intra-abdominal infection. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of these mRNA biomarkers to predict likely infection, hospitalization and surgery in Emergency Department patients with undifferentiated abdominal pain. We prospectively enrolled Emergency Department patients with undifferentiated abdominal pain who received an abdominal CT scan as part of their evaluation. Clinical outcomes were abstracted from the CT scan and medical records. mRNA biomarker levels were calculated independent of the clinical outcomes and their accuracy was assessed to predict infectious diagnoses, surgery and hospital admission. 89 patients were enrolled; 21 underwent surgery; 47 underwent hospital admission; and, no deaths were observed within 30 days. In identifying which cases were likely infectious, mRNA biomarkers' AUC values were: ALPL, 0.83; DEFA1 0.51; IL8RB, 0.74; and ALPL + IL8RB, 0.79. In predicting which Emergency Department patients would receive surgery, the AUC values were: ALPL, 0.75; DEFA1, 0.58; IL8RB, 0.75; and ALPL + IL8RB, 0.76. In predicting hospital admission, the AUC values were: ALPL, 0.78; DEFA1, 0.52; IL8RB, 0.74; and, ALPL + IL8RB, 0.77. For predicting surgery, ALPL + IL8RB's positive likelihood ratio (LR) was 3.97; negative LR (NLR) was 0.70. For predicting hospital admission, the same marker's positive LR was 2.80 with an NLR of 0.45. Where the primary cause for admission was a potentially infectious disorder, 33 of 34 cases (97%) had positive RNA scores. In a pragmatic, prospective diagnostic accuracy trial in Emergency Department patients with undifferentiated abdominal pain, mRNA biomarkers showed good accuracy to identify patients with potential infection, as well as those needing surgery or hospital admission.

Indexed as

Abdominal PainEmergency Service, HospitalBiomarkersHumansProspective StudiesRNA, MessengerBiomarkersRNA, Messenger

Identifiers

PMID36759691
PMCPMC9909648
OpenAlexW4319748038

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.