High serum laminin concentrations in patients with Candida sepsis

Background Laminin, a major component of the basement membrane, plays a critical role in normal cell adhesion and also during tissue invasion of pathogenic microorganisms. Materials and methods Serum laminin concentrations were determined in 19 patients with Candida albicans sepsis, in 13 patients with bacterial sepsis and in 20 noninfectious controls. Results Serum laminin concentrations of both, patients with candidal and bacterial sepsis, were significantly elevated compared to the controls (486 ng mL −1 [155–924], median [range]; P < 0.01). Laminin concentrations were significantly higher in patients with Candida sepsis than in patients with bacterial sepsis on day 1 (2565 ng mL −1 [659–6064] vs. 994 ng mL −1 [386–2064]; P < 0.01), day 7 (1594 ng mL −1 [607–4611] vs. 684 ng mL −1 [284–1920]; P < 0.05) and day 14 (1444 ng mL −1 [202–2131] vs. 386 ng mL −1 [180–1658]; P < 0.05). Conclusions Laminin serum concentrations might be useful to differentiate nonbacterial, bacterial and fungal etiology.