Clinical value of serum neuron-specific enolase in sepsis-associated encephalopathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Objective This study aimed to investigate the serum levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) and perform a meta-analysis to assess the diagnostic and prognostic potential of serum NSE in SAE patients. Methods We searched English and Chinese databases for studies related to SAE that reported serum NSE levels until November 2023. We extracted information from these studies including the first author and year of publication, the number of samples, the gender and age of patients, the collection time of blood samples in patients, the assay method of serum NSE, the study methods, and the levels of serum NSE with units of ng/mL. The quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies 2 (QUADAS-2) tool was used to evaluate the study quality. A meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager version 5.3, employing either a random effects model or a fixed effects model. Results A total of 17 studies were included in the final meta-analysis, including 682 SAE patients and 946 NE patients. The meta-analysis demonstrated significantly higher serum NSE levels in SAE patients compared to NE patients (Z = 5.97, P