The Correlation of Antibacterial Peptides Concentration in Umbilical Cord Blood and Early-Onset Sepsis in Preterm Infants

Background: The role of serum LL37 in systemic inflammation has been confirmed, and the influence of it in umbilical cord blood to early-onset sepsis in preterm infants is currently being investigated. Results: : The level of LL37 of sepsis group was higher than those of in control group (362.13±46.71 vs 248.13±83.30 ng/ml), the levels of CRP, WBC and MPV in sepsis group were higher than those of in control group (6.25±4.19 vs 2.89±2.77 mg/L; 17.60±12.35 vs 8.24±3.55×10 9 /L; 11.10±1.11 vs 8.93±0.68 fL), the level of PLT was lower than those of in control group (175.20±38.51 vs 245.75±49.85×10 9 /L) ( P < 0.05). The expression of LL37 was negatively correlated with PLT (r = -0.9347, P < 0.0001), and positively correlated with MPV ((r =0.9463 , P < 0.0001), the expression of PLT was negatively correlated with MPV (r = -0.9641, P < 0.0001). The area under curve of LL37 for diagnosis of early-onset sepsis was 0.875, the prediction probability was 0.7, the sensitivity was 90.0% and the specificity was 80.0%. Conclusions: ： The higher level of LL37 in umbilical cord blood was associated with the development of early-onset sepsis in preterm infants.