Purpose: The aim of this study is to assess the diagnostic utility of serum leucine-rich α-2-glycoprotein 1 (LRG1) in pediatric patients with acute abdominal pain, admitted to the emergency surgical unit, in order to make a prompt and accurate diagnosis of acute appendicitis.
Patients and methods: Pediatric patients older than 5 years of age who presented to the emergency department from 15 October 2021 to 30 June 2022 with acute abdominal pain and suspected acute appendicitis were prospectively recruited in the study. Demographic and clinical data, as well as operative and postoperative data, were recorded. A total of 92 patients were equally distributed into two groups: children with acute appendicitis who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy and non-appendicitis patients, presenting with non-specific abdominal pain. LRG1 levels were determined using a commercially available LRG1 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Serum LRG1 levels, as well as other inflammatory markers (white blood cell count (WBC), C-reactive protein (CRP) and absolute neutrophil count) were compared between groups.
Results: The median level of LRG1 in serum was significantly higher in the group of children with pathohistologically confirmed acute appendicitis than in the control group, at 350.3 µg/mL (interquartile range (IQR) 165.2-560.3) and 25.7 µg/mL (IQR 14.7-36.8) (p < 0.001), respectively. Receiver operating characteristic area under the curve for LRG1 from serum was 1.0 (95% CI 0.96-1.00; p < 0.001) and the value of >69.1 µg/mL was found to perfectly separate acute appendicitis cases from controls. Additionally, as expected, each of the examined laboratory inflammatory markers provided a significantly higher values in the acute appendicitis group compared to the control group: WBC 14.6 × 109/L (IQR 12.7, 18.7) vs. 7.0 × 109/L (IQR 5.4, 9.0) (p < 0.001), CRP 16.3 mg/dL (IQR 6.9, 50.4) vs. 2.2 mg/dL (IQR 2, 2) (p < 0.001) and absolute neutrophil count 84.6% (IQR 79.5, 89.0) vs. 59.5% (IQR 51.5, 68.6) (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: LRG1 in the serum was found to be a promising novel biomarker, with excellent differentiation of acute appendicitis from non-appendicitis cases in children presenting with non-specific abdominal pain.
Keywords: LRG1; acute appendicitis; biomarker; children; leucine-rich α-2-glycoprotein; serum.