Determination of alpha-defensin levels in dynamics in newborns with sepsis

Abstract

Aim - to investigate some pathogenetic mechanisms of immune system changes during sepsis in premature and full-term infants by determining the levels of alpha-defensin.

Materials and methods. A total of 130 newborns were examined. Of these, 100 were infants undergoing inpatient treatment with a diagnosis of sepsis (early and late), and 30 were healthy newborns. The children participating in the study were divided into the following groups: Group I - full-term newborns diagnosed with sepsis, gestational age 38-41 weeks (n=35); Group II - premature newborns diagnosed with sepsis, gestational age 27-37 weeks (n=65); Control group: healthy newborns (n=30), of which 23 were born full-term and 7 were premature. The determination of alpha-defensin was carried out using a standard solid-phase ("sandwich " version) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The statistical processing of the obtained data was carried out using the Wilkinson U-test.

Results. In full-term infants diagnosed with sepsis, α-defensin in the first days of the disease was 771.8±37.6 ng/ml and was significantly different from the results in the control group (p<0.001). Over time, this indicator decreased as a manifestation of the weakening of the inflammatory process and was 380.0±21.1 ng/ml. Similar dynamics of α-defensin (727.9±27.2 ng/ml and 363.2±14.5 ng/ml, respectively) were observed in premature infants. Statistically significant increase was observed in both early and late sepsis (716.7±53.3 ng/ml and 731.3±31.8 ng/ml, respectively). High values were the result of the manifestation of inflammation in both forms in the first days. With repeated measurements (re-check), this indicator decreased to a greater extent in children with early sepsis; this difference corresponded to the previous indicators (1.487±0.034 EU/ml and 0.987±0.110 EU/ml, respectively)

Conclusions. Based on the results of the study, it can be said that alpha-defensin in full-term and premature septic infants can be used as an additional criterion for characterizing the immune status and inflammatory process in sepsis, predicting outcomes, and assessing the degree of immunodeficiency.