Clinical Value of Serum Interleukin-33 Biomarker in Infants with Neonatal Cholestasis.

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to estimate the value of serum IL-33 levels in infants with cholestasis, correlate serum IL-33 levels with the clinicopathological profile of infants with cholestasis and compare its level with that of healthy infants who served as control METHODS:: sixty infants with cholestasis were enrolled in this study and divided into biliary atresia group and non-biliary atresia group, in addition to thirty healthy infants as a control group. All infants were analyzed for their clinical, biochemical features, histopathological profile and serum level of IL- 33 by ELISA. RESULTS serum level of IL -33 in BA group (median 48.0, IQR: 28.9-106.2) was significantly higher than the non-BA group (median 17.3, IQR: 13.7-18.8 pg/ml) and both were higher than the control group. There was a positive correlation between serum IL-33 and AST, ALT, bilirubin (total and direct) levels and fibrosis stage among the BA group. Serum IL-33 at a cut-off value of 20.8 pg/ml can detect biliary atresia with a specificity of 95% and a sensitivity of 96.7%. CONCLUSION The significantly higher production of IL -33 in patients with BA compared to non-BA suggests a potential role of IL -33 for initiation and progression of the disease process. also, IL -33 may have a diagnostic role in infants with BA.