ABSTRACT

Inflamation and tendencytowards to coagulation are key pathogenic factors in various conditions of critical illness. Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator (suPAR), is a biomarker of fibrinolysis and inflammation, expressed in immunologically active cells. High serum suPAR concentrations are suggested to reflect the activation of the immune system in circumstances of inflammation and infection. In critically ill patients, elevated suPAR levels in systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis, in which high levels indicate poor prognosis. suPAR may have predictive value similar to disease severity scores in these patient population. The diagnostic value of suPAR has not been well defined, compared to other biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT). This review provides an overview of the value of suPAR in the critically ill patients.