Shaikh N, Liu H, Kurs-Lasky M, et al. - Researchers sought to evaluate the accuracy of the following markers in the diagnosis of UTI: CCL3, IL-8, CXCL1, TNF-alpha, IL-6, IFN-gamma, IL-17, IL-9, IL-2, and NGAL.

• Urine samples from febrile children with a UTI, matched febrile controls without a UTI, and asymptomatic healthy controls were examined and compared with respect to the inflammatory proteins present in them.

• A total of 192 children (75 with febrile UTI, 69 febrile controls, and 48 asymptomatic healthy controls) were included.

• NGAL (a protein that exerts a local bacteriostatic role in the urinary tract through iron chelation), CCL3 (a chemokine involved in leukocyte recruitment) and IL-8 (a cytokine involved in neutrophil recruitment) were the urinary proteins that best differentiates between febrile children with and without UTI.