• Barbara Królak-Olejnik, Brygida Beck, and Igor Olejnik.
• Department of Perinatology, Medical University of Silesia, Chorzow, Poland. olejnik@pik-net.pl
• Pediatr Int. 2006 Dec 1; 48 (6): 586-90.

BackgroundThe objective of this study was to explore the relationship between labor (preterm and term) and umbilical blood serum regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) and melanoma growth stimulatory activity/growth-related oncogene-a (MSGA/GRO-alpha) concentration, and to determine whether early sepsis and pneumonia are associated with changes in concentrations of the chemokines (RANTES and MSGA/GRO-alpha) in umbilical blood serum.MethodsUmbilical blood was obtained from 67 neonates in the following groups: (i) preterm neonates with early sepsis; (ii) preterm neonates with pneumonia; (iii) non-infected preterm neonates; and (iv) full-term healthy neonates. RANTES and MGSA/GRO-alpha concentrations were determined by use of a commercially available immunoassay kit.ResultsNon-infected preterm neonates had lower RANTES concentrations than healthy term neonates. Preterm infected neonates (pneumonia or sepsis) did not have higher RANTES concentrations than non-infected preterm neonates. In contrast, non-infected preterm neonates had higher MSGA/GRO-alpha concentrations than full-term healthy neonates. And preterm neonates with sepsis had higher MGSA/GRO-alpha concentrations than preterm ones with pneumonia and non-infected preterm ones.ConclusionsPreterm neonates had constitutively lower RANTES concentrations than term ones and it seems that during infection RANTES concentrations did not increase. MGSA/GRO-a concentrations were constitutively higher in preterm than term neonates, and septic events further increased its concentrations in preterm neonates.

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