Patent ID: 7645613

Claim:
A method of detecting the onset sepsis in a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (“SIRS”)-positive individual using mass spectrometry, comprising: (a) obtaining a first biological sample taken from the SIRS-positive individual; (b) pre-treating the first biological sample, wherein said pre-treating comprises removing albumin, transferrin, haptoglobulin, anti-trypsin, IgG and IgA from the first biological sample, and (c) comparing (i) a first biomarker profile resolved from the pre-treated first biological sample using a mass spectrometry technique and (ii) a reference biomarker profile obtained from biological samples from a reference population; wherein a single such comparison classifies the individual as belonging to or not belonging to the reference population; wherein said individual's first biomarker profile and said reference biomarker profile comprise a plurality of ions each having a mass-to-charge ratio of about 200 Daltons to about 2200 Daltons; and wherein the comparison comprises applying a decision rule that detects the onset of sepsis in the SIRS-positive individual where the reference population is a SIRS-positive reference population confirmed as having sepsis after about 0-36 hours, a SIRS-positive reference population confirmed as having sepsis after about 36-60 hours, or a SIRS-positive reference population confirmed as having sepsis after about 60-84 hours.