Using blood calprotectin as a measure of blood neutrophils
Åsberg, Arne; Løfblad, Lena; Felic, Amela; Aune, Marthe Wedø; Hov, Gunhild Garmo; Fagerli, Unn-Merete
Peer reviewed, Journal article
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Date
2021Metadata
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Original version
Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation. 2021, 81 (4), 303-306. 10.1080/00365513.2021.1904283Abstract
Presently, bed-side or at home quantification of neutrophils in blood (b-neutrophils) is not practical, because cytometric methods are too expensive and technically demanding. We have explored whether calprotectin concentration in whole blood (b-calprotectin) might be a valid measure of b-neutrophils because this principle might be used in a simple and robust immunoassay device. We obtained heparin blood samples from 77 patients with possible neutropenia, most of them cancer patients treated with cytostatic drugs, and compared b-calprotectin with their b-neutrophils in a simultaneously taken EDTA-blood sample. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient between b-calprotectin and b-neutrophils was 0.986 (p < .0001). In a regression model of b-neutrophils as a function of age, gender, type of hematology instrument, total leukocyte count minus neutrophils, b-calprotectin, and plasma calprotectin (p-calprotectin), only b-calprotectin was a statistically significant predictor. B-neutrophils below 1 x 109/L was unlikely if b-calprotectin was above 50 mg/L. In conclusion, b-calprotectin, without adjusting for p-calprotectin, correlates closely with b-neutrophils and could be used to detect b-neutrophils below 1 x 109/L.