IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α and C-Reactive Protein Levels in the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Neonatal Sepsis

Objective: This study aimed to determine the importance and reliability of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL8, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in terms of diagnosis and prognosis in neonatal sepsis. Methods: Thirty newborns who were followed up and treated in the neonatal intensive care unit with a pre-diagnosis of neonatal sepsis and 20 healthy newborns who were born without any problem from mothers without any disease were included in the study.Gender, gestational age, postnatal age, place and mode of delivery, birth weight, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, and CRP levels were recorded. Results: Of the 30 cases diagnosed with sepsis, 16 (53.3%) were male and 14 (46.7%) were female. In the control group of 20 cases, 11 (55%) were male, and 9 (45%) were female. Of the cases diagnosed with sepsis, 8 were considered early-onset (26.6%) and 22 were considered late-onset (73.4%) neonatal sepsis. The mortality rate in early-onset sepsis was 25%, while this rate was 36.3% in late-onset sepsis cases. The levels of CRP, IL-6, and IL-8 were significantly higher in the sepsis group than in the control group. The difference between the groups in terms of TNF-α levels was not statistically significant. IL-6 (P = 0.001) and IL-8 (P = 0.007) levels were found to be statistically significantly higher in the deceased cases than in the healing cases. Conclusion: CRP, IL-6,and IL-8 levels were found to be useful parameters in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis, while TNF-α was not found to have diagnostic value.IL-6 and IL-8 levels were found to be significant in the prognosis of neonatal sepsis.