title: Comprehensive evaluation of 11 cytokines in premature infants with surgical necrotizing enterocolitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A prospective study to investigate the pattern of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine responses in neonates with surgical necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and identify those cytokines being the most promising for future research.
  
  
  METHODS
  A panel of 11 different cytokines were measured in 9 infants with proven NEC and compared with 18 age-matched healthy neonates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The serum concentrations of the interleukins (IL)-6, IL-8, and IL-10 were significantly (32-fold to 56-fold) higher in NEC infants compared with controls. In contrast, IL-5, IFN gamma, IL-4 and IL-2 showed slightly (1.4-fold to 5.9-fold) lower levels in the NEC samples. However, these cytokines showed a very low absolute concentration in infants with NEC and in controls. The sum of the serum concentrations of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 was able to clearly separate infants with NEC from control samples. IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha showed no statistically different levels. The serum levels of TNF-beta and IL-12p70 were below the detection limit in more than 50% of all samples per group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In spite of strong local inflammation only three out of eleven cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10) showed strongly increased serum levels indicating an important role of them in the pathogenesis of NEC. At least two of these three cytokines were elevated in every single NEC patient. Thus, longitudinal monitoring of combined IL-8, IL-6, and IL-10 levels could reveal their potency in being clinical relevant markers in NEC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. thomas.benkoe@meduniwien.ac.at
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Benkoe
authors.forename: Suzann
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baumann
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weninger
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pones
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reck
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rebhandl
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Oehler
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D004200:Diseases in Twins; D020345:Enterocolitis, Necrotizing / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood; D007378:Interleukins / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D007378:Interleukins