title: Evaluation of serum interleukins-6, 8 and 10 levels as diagnostic markers of neonatal infection and possibility of mortality.
abstract: Bacterial infection contributes substantially to neonatal morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis is difficult because clinical signs are non-specific. We have evaluated serum IL-6, 8 and 10 as potential early diagnostic markers of neonatal infection and their relationship to mortality rate and poor prognosis. Materials and Methods : A total of 84 infants, aged ≥ 72 hr were enrolled in this prospective case-control trial. The case group (n=41) included babies with clinical and laboratory findings compatible with sepsis and/or positive blood or cerebrospinal fluid cultures. The control group (n=43) included healthy infants. IL-6, 8 and 10 were measured for all infants. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used for the determination of thresholds. Results : Statistically significant differences were observed between control and case groups for serum median level of IL-6, 8 and 10 (P<0.001). IL-6 cut-off values of 10.85 Pg/ml for discriminating between cases and controls and 78.2 Pg/ml for predicting mortality are suggested. IL-8 at a cut-off value of 60.05 Pg/ml was valuable for differentiation of definite versus indefinite infection. Conclusion : Evaluating the IL-6, 8 and 10 simultaneously, could improve the sensitivity and specificity of early diagnosis of the neonatal sepsis. Regarding our results, interleukin 6 had the greatest value for predicting infection and possible mortality, whereas IL-8 was valuable for diagnosing definitive infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ghaem Hospital, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Boskabadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ghaem Hospital, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamali
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Maamouri
authors.affiliation: Immunology Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute. Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Jalil
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tavakol Afshari
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ghaem Hospital, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mafinejad
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry of Nutrition Research Center, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Golkoo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hosseini
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry of Nutrition Research Center, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Hesam
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mostafavi-Toroghi
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry of Nutrition Research Center, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamidreza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saber
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry of Nutrition Research Center, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghayour-Mobarhan
authors.affiliation: Brighton & Sussex Medical School, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9PH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferns
keywords: Infection; Interleukin-10; Interleukin-6; Interleukin-8; Newborn; Sepsis