Background. The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is an inflammation-perpetuating receptor, and soluble
RAGE (sRAGE) is a marker of cellular RAGE expression. This study investigated whether raised plasma levels prior to surgery of
sRAGE or S100A8/A9 (a RAGE ligand) were associated with longer duration of hospital care in patients undergoing cardiac surgery
necessitating cardiopulmonary bypass. Methods. Patients (𝑛 = 130) undergoing elective cardiac surgery were enrolled prospectively.
Plasma sRAGE and S100A8/A9 concentrations were measured before and 2 h after surgery. Results. Preoperative plasma sRAGE
increased significantly (𝑃 < 0.0001) from 1.06 ng/mL (IQR, 0.72–1.76) to 1.93 ng/mL (IQR, 1.14–2.63) 2 h postoperatively. Plasma
S100A8/9 was also significantly (𝑃 < 0.0001) higher 2 h postoperatively (2.37 𝜇g/mL, IQR, 1.81–3.05) compared to pre-operative
levels (0.41 𝜇g/mL, IQR, 0.2–0.65). Preoperative sRAGE, but not S100A8/A9, was positively and significantly correlated with
duration of critical illness (𝑟 = 0.3, 𝑃 = 0.0007) and length of hospital stay (LOS; 𝑟 = 0.31, 𝑃 < 0.0005). Multivariate binary
logistic regression showed preoperative sRAGE to be, statistically, an independent predictor of greater than median duration of
critical illness (odds ratio 16.6, 𝑃 = 0.014) and to be, statistically, the strongest independent predictor of hospital LOS. Conclusion.
Higher preoperative plasma sRAGE levels were associated with prolonged duration of care in adults undergoing cardiac surgery
requiring cardiopulmonary bypass.