Relation between Vitamin D Level and Some Inflammatory Cytokines in Full-Term Newborns with Early Onset Sepsis

摘要

Neonatal sepsis remains a serious problem with a high mortality and morbidity rate in neonates especially in developing countries. The present study was designed to investigate the possible association between vitamin D level and inflammatory cytokines such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in neonates with early onset sepsis (EOS). This study was conducted on fifty full-term neonates who, divided into 25 neonates diagnosed with EOS based on the clinical and laboratory findings (study group) and 25 healthy neonates with no signs of infection (control group). Blood samples were obtained within the first 72 hours of the neonate's life for measuring of CRP and IL-6 for all neonates in the two groups.25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) level was measured for all neonates and their mothers in the two groups. Our results indicated that, the mean maternal and neonatal 25-OHD (22.30/8.56 ng /ml respectively) were significantly lower than the control group (36.04/28.55 ng/ml respectively, p-value < 0.001), the mean IL-6 level (198.07 pg/ml) was significantly higher in the study group than the control group (24.71 pg/ml, p-value < 0.001). The cutoff value of neonatal 25-OHD was ≤ 11.5 ng/ml and for maternal 25-OHD was ≤ 29.12 ng/ml. A positive correlation between maternal and neonatal 25-OHD levels was detected, a significant negative correlation between 25-OHD level and IL-6 level in neonates with EOS. Our study showed a significant inverse relation between 25-OHD level and IL-6 level so adequate vitamin D level could decrease the risk of EOS in neonates.