title: Is urine interleukin-8 level a reliable laboratory test for diagnosing late onset sepsis in premature infants?
abstract: The present study is aimed to determine serum and urine interleukin-8 (IL-8) levels in premature infants with late onset sepsis (LOS) and to evaluate if urine IL-8 is a useful test for LOS diagnosis. Fifty-six premature infants admitted to the NICU over 1 year had serum and urine IL-8 determined by ELISA. They were divided into three groups: I definite sepsis, II probable sepsis and III non-infected. Results were expressed as mean or median. Differences between groups were assessed by ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA and Dunn's Method. Sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values were calculated and a receiver operator characteristic curve was constructed to determine serum and urine IL-8 accuracy. There were no differences between groups for birth weight, and gestational and post-natal age. Median serum and urine IL-8 levels were significantly higher in GI and GII: 929 x 906 x 625 pg/ml; P = 0.024, and 249 x 189 x 42 pg/mgCr; P < 0.001. Optimal cut-off point was 625 pg/ml for serum IL-8 with 69% sensitivity and 75 pg/mgCr for urine IL-8 with 92% sensitivity. IL-8 can be determined in urine from premature infants with LOS and is an accurate and feasible diagnosis method.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital, Botucatu School of Medicine, São Paulo State University, Brazil. mbentlin@fmb.unesp.br
authors.forename: Maria Regina
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Bentlin
authors.forename: Lígia Maria Suppo
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: de Souza Rugolo
authors.forename: Antonio Rugolo
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Júnior
authors.forename: Míriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: João César
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lyra
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018805:Sepsis / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D016209:Interleukin-8