Pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators in neonates with perinatal pathology

Abstract

Objective: to determine the levels pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators in children with perinatal pathology over time during an early adaptation period. The results of examination were analyzed in 53 newborn infants with perinatal pathology, including 18 babies with intrauterine infection, 20 with perinatal central nervous system (CNS) lesion, and 15 with birth asphyxia and no infectious or neurological diseases. A control group consisted of 30 healthy newborn infants with the physiological course of the early adaptation period. Enzyme immunoassay was used to determine the umbilical cord and peripheral blood levels of intercellular communication mediators (pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, acute-phase proteins) on 5—7 days of life. The reduction in interleuMn (IL)-ip, tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), and IL-10 levels, which was associated with the elevated umbilical cord blood concentrations of interferon-Y (IFN-y) and IL-6, was ascertained to be a result of neonatal hypoxic changes. The distinctive characteristic of the cytokine profile in the infants with intrauterine infection is the detection of birth hypercytokinemia (IL-6 and IL-8 levels of more than 70 pg/ml) in conjunction with the high acute-phase protein concentration that is retained during the early adaptation period. The specific features of development of an immune response in the newborn infants with perinatal CNS injury are significant increases in the level of IL-8 within the first week of life and in the concentration of C-reactive protein on 5—7 days of life