Comparative measurement of plasma soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor using a point-of-care device and a clinical analyzer in stroke patients

Background: Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) reflects immune activation and chronic inflammatory responses and has been proposed as a prognostic biomarker in several acute conditions. Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the clinical performance of two analytical methods for plasma suPAR determination in patients with stroke: a point-of-care (POC) lateral-flow assay and an automated particle-enriched turbidimetric immunoassay performed on a biochemistry analyzer. Methods: Plasma samples from 27 patients with stroke and 14 age-matched healthy controls were analyzed with both methods. suPAR concentrations were significantly higher in stroke patients compared with controls for both assays. Results: A statistically significant difference between POC and analyzer measurements was observed only within the stroke group (p=0.024), and a strong positive correlation between the two methods was identified (r = 0.745, p