Combination of Serum Interleukin-1β and 6 Levels in the Diagnosis of Perinatal Asphyxia

Perinatal asphyxia is an important cause of death, as well as permanent neurological and developmental complications. Diagnosing in time would lead to better prognosis and applying the most proper treatment. We sought to define the predictive values of serum concentrations of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in newborns with perinatal asphyxia to see if there is a relation between the short-term neurological deficit and serum IL-1β and IL-6 concentrations.
This was a prospective (case-control) study conducted between March 2006 and April 2013, at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Mashhad, Iran. Serum IL-1β and IL-6 levels were measured at birth in 38 consecutive uninfected neonates with perinatal asphyxia (blood pH Serum IL-1β and IL-6 concentrations in the infants who developed perinatal asphyxia were significantly higher compared to values in the normal infants [16.88 vs 3.34 pg/mL for IL-1β, (P = 0.006), and 88.15 vs 6.74 pg/ mL for IL-6, (P Evaluating serum IL-6 and 1β simultaneously, could improve the sensitivity and specificity of early diagnosis of the perinatal asphyxia. The most appropriate indicator of perinatal asphyxia is combined measurement of interleukin 1β and interleukin 6.