Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in the cord blood of premature neonates born to mothers with pregnancy-induced hypertension.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the cord blood levels of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in preterm infants and to study the relationship of these levels to pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) and absolute neutrophil counts.


METHODS
G-CSF and GM-CSF levels in the cord blood of preterm neonates (n = 74) either with or without maternal PIH were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.


RESULTS
Infants in the PIH group had lower white blood cell, absolute neutrophil, absolute lymphocyte, and monocyte counts. The levels of G-CSF in cord blood were significantly lower in infants whose mothers had PIH (P =.04) and in infants with neutropenia (P =. 01). G-CSF levels were positively correlated with both absolute neutrophil count (P =.02) and total white blood cell count (P =.01). GM-CSF was undetectable in all subjects. According to logistic regression with neutropenia as the dependent variable, only maternal PIH (P <.001), gestational age (P <.001), and G-CSF (P =.01) were independently related.


CONCLUSIONS
In this study maternal PIH and low gestational age were significantly associated with neutropenia in premature infants. Low G-CSF levels may contribute to the neutropenia that is commonly seen in infants born to mothers with PIH.
Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University, Medical College, Taipei, Taiwan.
P N
PN
Tsao
R J
RJ
Teng
J R
JR
Tang
K I
KI
Yau
D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor