DIAGNOSTIC UTILITY OF INTERLEUKIN-6, INTERLEUKIN- 8 AND C-REACTIVE PROTEIN FOR EARLY DETECTION OF NEONATAL SEPSIS AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Abstract

Introduction and aim: Neonatal sepsis is a clinical illness that occurs in the first 28 days of life. Non-specific clinical appearance makes the early diagnosis difficult. C-reactive protein (CRP), Interleukin-6 and 8 (IL-6 & 8) have been of great interest in detecting the disease in recent days. So this study aims to determine the cut-off values for IL-6 & 8 and to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of the same.

Materials and Methods: The case-control study included 280 neonates, 140 were clinically suspected cases of sepsis and 140 were healthy neonates. Immunoassay Kits were used to determine the levels of IL 6 & 8 and CRP in the blood.

Results: All three given biomarkers were found to be extremely significant between the cases and control population. CRP levels were found to be statistically significant between the early-onset sepsis group and the late-onset sepsis group. CRP findings in EOS can be crucial. So in EOS samples, it would be beneficial if CRP results were interpreted with other biomarkers like IL 6 and IL 8.

Conclusion: We found a considerable increase in IL 6 and IL 8 levels, which could be used as a particular biomarker for detecting neonatal sepsis. The combination of these immunological markers could thus be critical for the diagnosis, as well as better indicators of the disease pathophysiology.