Peak plasma cytokine concentrations (pg/ml) in very low birthweight infants with necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), and sepsis secondary to different types of organisms
| IL2 | IL4 | IL5 | IL6 | IL10 | IFNγ | TNFα | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results are median (interquartile range). | |||||||
| IFN, interferon; IL, interleukin; TNF, tumour necrosis factor. | |||||||
| Subgroup A | |||||||
| NEC (n=8) | 4.9 (3.2–8.6) | 8.7 (5.1–14.6) | 9.0 (4.7–43.7) | 174 (100–5140) | 91 (38–354) | 94 (75–390) | 4.4 (3.2–5.3) |
| Non-NEC (n=29) | 3.7 (2.7–5.5) | 5.9 (3.9–9.7) | 5.2 (3.3–15.7) | 201 (38–2431) | 166 (53–549) | 152 (52–2196) | 4.7 (2.9–16.9) |
| Subgroup B | |||||||
| DIC (n=15) | 4.3 (2.4–13.3) | 7.4 (2.6–18.3) | 6.2 (2.9–38.9) | 2864 (258–17435) | 305 (123–1986) | 176 (57–6242) | 10.5 (4.7–18.9) |
| Non-DIC (n=22) | 3.5 (2.4–5.1) | 5.0 (3.9–7.8) | 5.7 (4.1–8.9) | 55 (23–109) | 44 (11–150) | 87 (43–760) | 3.3 (1.9–4.7) |
| Subgroup C | |||||||
| Infection due to Gram negative organisms or fungi (n=9) | 4.1 (3.2–8.2) | 7.6 (4.6–15.3) | 11.9 (2.7–43.5) | 2864 (212–28969) | 150 (60–5441) | 57 (49–2175) | 10.5 (3.3–26.4) |
| Infection due to Gram positive organisms (n=15) | 3.6 (1.8–5.6) | 5.0 (2.7–7.8) | 4.2 (3.1–6.2) | 109 (34–1007) | 174 (51–305) | 431 (71–2307) | 4.7 (1.9–11.1) |