The clinical significance of CRP and IL-6 in early recognition of neonatal sepsis

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine serum CRP and IL-6 levels in confirmed and clinically suspected groups of neonatal sepsis and these biochemical parameters are being compared with blood culture of neonates with clinical signs and symptoms of sepsis. Material and Methods: The samples of 180 suspected cases of neonatal sepsis were sent to pathology department. Out of them 92 were proven positive for blood culture and were considered as confirmed septic group while rests were included in clinically suspected group. Blood culture was performed on BACT/ALERT® 3D. Serum CRP was performed by immunoturidimetric method on AU 680 Beckman Coulter and IL-6 measurement was done on Access 2. Results: The serum CRP and IL-6 levels were higher in confirmed sepsis group and their levels were in correspondence to severity of infection. At cut off values of >10mg/L, CRP showed sensitivity of 94%, and specificity of 74% while at cut off of >35ng/L, IL-6 had sensitivity and specificity of 70% and 88% respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study suggested that CRP was a highly sensitive marker and IL-6 was a more specific for detection of neonatal sepsis. Keywords: neonatal sepsis, CRP, IL-6