Can we use endocan level to determine severity of pancreatitis?

Background and study aims: Endothelial cell specific molecule-1 (ESM-1), also known as endocan, is a soluble proteoglycan secreted by human vascular endothelial cells. In some studies, it has been found that endocan have important effects on cell adhesion, inflammation and angiogenesis. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the endocan level in patients with pancreatitis and the availability of endocan level in determining the severity of the disease.

Patients and methods: A total of 42 patients with pancreatitis and 33 healthy individuals were included in the study. The serum endocan levels in patients were evaluated 1st and 3 th days after the symptom’s onset. Current scoring systems and the relationship between the severity of the disease and endocan levels were evaluated.

Results: The endocan levels of the patients on day 1 are significantly correlated only with the APACHE II score (p=0.039 r=0.319), while the endocan values on day 3 are significantly correlated with the BISAP (bedside index of severity in acute pancreatitis) (p=0.013 r=0.380), APACHE II (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation)(p<0.001; r=0.53) and Ranson (p=0.037 r=0.32) scores. The cutoff level of endocan (day 3) was calculated 92.2 pg/ml (83% sensitivity and 50% specificity; p=0.039 area under the curve 0.706) for severe pancreatitis when considering the patients with a score of 8 or higher in the APACHE II scoring system.

Conclusion: Serum endocan level can be used as a marker of prognosis in patients with pancreatitis. However, studies involving large populations are needed on this matter.

Keywords: pancreatitis, endocan, pancreatitis score.