Am J Perinatol 2001; 18(6): 313-324
DOI: 10.1055/s-2001-17857
ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Copyright © 2001 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA. Tel.: +1(212) 584-4662

Interleukin-6 and Interleukin-8 in Newborn Bacterial Infection

Sam S. Mehr1 2 , Lex W. Doyle1 2 3 , Greg E. Rice2 , Peter Vervaart4 , Philip Henschke1
  • 1Division of Newborn Services, The Royal Women's Hospital, Carlton, Australia
  • 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
  • 3Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; and the
  • 4Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Women's and Children's Health Care Network, Parkville, Australia
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Publikationsdatum:
17. Oktober 2001 (online)

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ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to determine the plasma concentrations and diagnostic accuracy of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) in newborn infection. One hundred and one newborn infants with clinical signs of infection during their primary hospitalization were investigated with the minimum of a blood culture, C-reactive protein (CRP), full blood examination (FBE), and cytokine concentrations (IL-6 and IL-8). Infection in infants was classified without knowledge of cytokine levels into four groups-definite (n = 11), probable (n = 12), uncertain (n = 52), and nil (n = 26). The median concentrations of IL-6 and IL-8 were significantly higher in the definitely infected group compared with the other three groups (p <0.05). At the cut-off concentration of highest accuracy, IL-6 (>175 pg/mL) and IL-8 (>28 pg/mL) had similar sensitivities (80 and 82%, respectively) and specificities (91 and 81%, respectively). Cut-off concentrations could be identified with improved sensitivities (90% for IL-6 and 100% for IL-8) that maintained specificity >50%. However, the confidence intervals were wide for all sensitivities and specificities. IL-6 and IL-8 had little diagnostic accuracy in infants with probable infection. IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations increase early in newborn infants with definite infection.

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