Relationship between cytokine IL 6 levels and early-onset neonatal morbidity.

UNLABELLED: Perinatal infections exert considerably negative effects on morbidity and mortality of newborns.

HYPOTHESIS: elevations of cytokine IL levels may be used as a marker of early-onset neonatal infections.

TARGETS: to establish relationships between elevated IL 6 cytokine levels and neonatal morbidity (cranial and pulmonary).

METHODS: examinations of the umbilical blood for IL 6 values in 392 newborns weighing under 1500 g treated in Ceské Budĕjovice at the Intensive Care Unit and Unit of Intensive Care and Resuscitation.

RESULTS: a statistically significant relationship was demonstrated between elevations of cytokine IL 6 levels and pulmonary morbidity in newborns.

DISCUSSION: the authors recommend examination of cytokine IL levels in the umbilical blood with a possibility to acquire the result within 2 hours after the delivery, which makes neonatologists possible to initiate goal-directed antibiotic therapy.