Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 May;62(4):288-294.
doi: 10.1177/00099228221124672. Epub 2022 Sep 22.

Serial Measurement of Interleukin-6 Enhances Chance to Exclude Early-Onset Sepsis in Very Preterm Infants

Ivan Berka  1   2 , Peter Korček  1   2 , Zbyněk Straňák  1   2
Affiliations

Serial Measurement of Interleukin-6 Enhances Chance to Exclude Early-Onset Sepsis in Very Preterm Infants

Ivan Berka et al. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2023 May.

Abstract

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the reliability of peak interleukin-6 (IL-6) level within 24 hours after delivery as a predictor for early-onset sepsis (EOS) in very preterm neonates. Interleukin-6 was assessed at 2 hours and at 12 to 24 hours after delivery. The highest level was considered a peak value. The definition of EOS was based on positive blood culture and clinical signs of infection or negative blood culture, clinical signs of infection, and C-reactive protein >10 mg/L. Among 445 enrolled infants, 53 developed EOS. A peak IL-6 level of more than 200 ng/L had a sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 77% for the presence of EOS. The negative predictive value was 98%. Receiver operating characteristics curve had area under the curve of 0.92. Peak IL-6 is a reliable marker of systemic inflammatory response and might be useful to exclude EOS within the first 24 hours.

Keywords: interleukin-6; neonatal early-onset sepsis; systemic inflammatory response; very preterm infants.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types