Potential of serum S100B and NSE to predict the severity and chance of recovery from infant hand, foot, and mouth disease: a hospital-based retrospective study in China

Abstract

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common contagious disease in small children, especially those under 1 year old. Recent reports have shown that abnormal levels of serum S100B and neuron-specific enolase (NSE, also called enolase 2) may be associated with HFMD. However, their ability to predict the severity and chance of recovery from this disease is still unclear. We conducted a hospital-based retrospective study, including 80 infants with common HFMD (cHFMDs), 76 infants with severe HFMD (sHFMDs), and 70 healthy age- and gender-matched controls, to investigate possible predictive values of serum S100B and NSE for HFMD severity and prognosis. S100B and NSE were tested using ELISA. The predictive value for severity and chance of chance of recovery was elucidated using Spearman’s correlation, the Kaplan–Meier method, and the Cox regression model. Higher serum levels of S100B and NSE were observed in the individuals with HFMD, especially sHFMD. Such increased serum levels were positively associated with the severity of HFMD (r = 0.80 for S100B and 0.91 for NSE). Furthermore, the serum levels of S100B and NSE were significantly associated with the clinicopathological characteristics of HFMD. In addition, the increased serum levels were correlated with a longer recovery time (7.09 [6.62-7.55] days for S100B and 7.14 [6.68-7.60] days for NSE, respectively) and less chance of recovery (0.22 [0.15-0.34] for S100B and 0.16 [0.10-0.25] for NSE, respectively). These results suggest that serum S100B and NSE may predict the severity and chance of recovery for HFMD.
[Am J Transl Med 2021. 5 (2): 102-115].