title: Serum levels of interleukin-8 and gut-associated biomarkers in diagnosing necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In recent years several potential biochemical markers have been evaluated to facilitate a reliable diagnosis of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), but none have made progress to clinical routine. We performed a comparative assessment in premature infants to evaluate the diagnostic value of the routinely available cytokine interleukin (IL)-8, and two promising experimental biomarkers, the gut barrier proteins liver fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP) and intestinal fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP), respectively, for the diagnosis of NEC.
  
  
  METHODS
  IL-8, L-FABP, and I-FABP concentrations were analyzed in the serum of 15 infants with NEC and compared with 14 gestational age-matched infants serving as a control group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum concentrations of I-FABP, L-FABP and IL-8 were significantly higher in infants with NEC compared with controls. IL-8 showed the highest diagnostic value with an area under the curve of 0.99, followed by L-FABP and I-FABP. In addition we found a significant correlation between IL-8 and both FABPs in infants with NEC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results further advocate the possible role of IL-8 as a specific marker for NEC. The diagnostic value of IL-8 seems to be superior to I-FABP, and similar to L-FABP. The routinely availability facilitates IL-8 as a possible candidate for further clinical investigations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: thomas.benkoe@meduniwien.ac.at.
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Benkoe
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Research Core Unit for Pediatric Biochemistry and Analytics, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Mechtler
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Intensive Care and Neuropediatrics, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weninger
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pones
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rebhandl
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Research Core Unit for Pediatric Biochemistry and Analytics, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Kasper
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D020345:Enterocolitis, Necrotizing / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000097:blood*; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins; D016209:Interleukin-8
keywords: Biomarker; I-FABP; IL-8; Interleukin-8; Intestinal fatty acid binding protein; L-FABP; Liver fatty acid binding protein; NEC; Necrotizing enterocolitis