Ulrich Büscher, Frank C.-K. Chen, Alois Pitzen, Ramkumar Menon, Martin Vogel, Michael Obladen, Joachim W. Dudenhausen
Il-1?, Il-6, Il-8 and G-CSF in the diagnosis of early-onset neonatal infections
Objective: To determine whether inflammatory cytokine
concentrations (Il-1?, Il-6, Il-8 and G-CSF) in umbilical
cord blood are useful predictors of an early-onset
neonatal infection.
Material and methods: 240 women and their newborns
were enrolled in our study and umbilical cord
blood samples collected from neonates (n = 240) were
subjected to ELISA for Il-1?, Il-6, Il-8 and G-CSF.
Clinical outcome of the neonates was followed
and documented. Placenta histology was also available
in majority of the cases (n = 195).
Results: Early-onset neonatal infection was diagnosed
in 5.4% of neonates (13/240) and placental examination
showed histologic chorioamnionitis in 17.9% (35/195).
Both Il-1? and Il-6 cord blood concentrations were elevated
in association with histologic chorioamnionitis
(Il-1? – 2.7 vs. 2.1 pg/ml, p < 0.05 and Il-6 15.6 vs.
12.8 pg/ml, p < 0.005). Only Il-6 was elevated (16.0
vs. 13.2 pg/ml, p < 0.05) in neonates with early-onset
bacterial infections. ROC analysis showed acceptable
diagnostic performance of Il-6 in the identification of
acute histologic chorioamnionitis and clinical neonatal
infection.
Conclusion: Il-6 in umbilical cord blood seems to be
a promising predictor for early-onset neonatal infections.
Journal of Perinatal Medicine, Walter de Gruyter
Print ISSN: 1619-3997
Volume: 28, 09/2000
Pages: 383 - 388
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