Type 1 prophospholipase A2 propeptide in acute lung injury

Abstract Neutrophil sequestration and activation in the pulmonary vasculature and interstitium are important in acute lung injury. Phospholipase A 2 plays an important part in the production of potent inflammatory mediators in this syndrome. We used our ELISA for type 1 prophospholipase A 2 activation peptides, which have the aminoacid sequence Asp-Ser-Gly-lle-Ser-Pro-Arg (DSGISPR), to show that DSGISPR concentrations in plasma and urine are a sensitive and specific marker of acute lung injury in patients admitted to intensive care. The detection of DSGISPR in the plasma of 11 of 50 unselected patients had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 93% for the presence or future development of acute lung injury.