title: Neonatal infections in Saudi Arabia: Association with cytokine gene polymorphisms.
abstract: In recent years, many studies have reported potential associations between cytokine gene polymorphisms and the development, course, and outcome of sepsis, often with apparently conflicting results. The objective of this study was to investigate single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the interleukin (IL)-1β -31 T/C, IL-6 -174 G/C, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) -308 G/A, and interferon γ (IFN-γ) +874 A/T genes for their possible association with susceptibility to early onset sepsis (EOS) in Saudi newborn infants. A total of 205 newborn infants aged 1-2 days were consecutively enrolled onto the study having met the inclusion criteria (as per the research protocol). DNA was extracted from filter papers using the Chelex-100 method. The cytokines SNP were genotyping using Taqman 5' nuclease allelic discrimination. For cytokine measurements we used the commercially available Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kit. Our results show that the circulating IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ were significantly (p < 0.001) elevated in EOS patients compared to suspected and sepsis-free control groups; and IL-1β -31C, IL-6 -174G, TNF-α -308G, and IFN-γ +874A alleles were associated with EOS in Saudi infants. In conclusion, analysis of cytokines concentrations and SNP for the four tested genes can be used as a predictor of sepsis outcome in newborns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia ; Immunology Section, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt.
authors.forename: Gamal
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Allam
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, College of Medicine, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Adnan A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Alsulaimani
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, College of Medicine, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia ; Department of Neonatology, King Abdel Aziz Specialist Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ali K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Alzaharani
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Al-Neelain University, Sudan.
authors.forename: Amre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nasr
keywords: early onset sepsis; proinflammatory cytokines; single nucleotide polymorphism