Patent ID: 8124722

Claim:
A method of diagnosing sepsis comprising the steps of: 1) contacting a test blood sample with an antibody that detects soluble CD14 antigen by specifically binding to a soluble CD14 antigen, consisting of the amino acid sequence from position 1 to any one of positions 59 to 90 of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3; 2) comparing an assayed value of soluble CD14 antigen in the test blood sample to a standard value of soluble CD14 antigen in a normal blood sample; and 3) evaluating whether the assayed value of soluble CD14 antigen observed in said test blood sample is higher than the standard value of soluble CD14 antigen in the normal blood sample; wherein said soluble CD14 antigen specifically binds to an antibody which binds to a peptide consisting of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, has no ability to specifically bind to 3C10 antibody, ATCC No. TIB-228 and no ability to bind LPS; and wherein said soluble CD14 antigen has a molecular weight of 13±2 kDa when measured by SDS-PAGE under non-reducing conditions.