Changes in serum IL-1β, IFN-γ and IL-4 levels in children with sepsis and their values in differential diagnosis of Gram-positive/Gram-negative bacterial infection / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the changes in serum IL-1β, IFN-γ and IL-4 levels in children with sepsis and analyze their values in the differential diagnosis of Gram-positive (G + )/Gram-negative (G -) bacterial infection. Methods:Clinical data of 195 children with sepsis admitted to Xuzhou Central Hospital from February 2020 to February 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. They were all confirmed to have G + /G - bacterial infection based on pathogen culturing and identification and enrolled as disease group. Another 180 healthy children taking physical examination in the same hospital during the same period were recruited as control group. The distribution of G + /G - bacterial infection in the disease group was analyzed after pathogen culturing. ELISA was used to detect serum IL-1β, IFN-γ and IL-4 levels in both groups. Differences in the levels of serum IL-1β, IFN-γ and IL-4 were compared between the disease group and the control group as well as between the patients with G + /G - bacterial infection. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the values of serum IL-1β, IFN-γ and IL-4 levels used alone or in combination in the differential diagnosis of G + /G - bacterial infection. Results:A total of 211 strains were isolated from 195 blood culture samples in the disease group, including 181 strains (85.78%) of G + bacteria and 30 strains (14.22%) of G - bacteria. Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus and Salmonella were the predominant bacteria causing G + /G - bacterial infection, respectively. The levels of serum IL-1β and IFN-γ in the disease group were higher than those in the control group ( P<0.05), while the levels of serum IL-4 were similar in the two groups ( P>0.05). The levels of serum IL-1β, IFN-γ and IL-4 in the patients with G - bacterial infection were higher than those in the patients with G + bacterial infection ( P<0.05). The sensitivity and the area under the ROC curve of serum IL-1β, IFN-γ and IL-4 levels used in combination in the differential diagnosis of G + /G - bacterial infection were respectively 91.62% and 0.960, which were higher than those of each parameter used alone ( P<0.01, P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the specificity ( P>0.05). Conclusions:The levels of serum IL-1β and IFN-γ increased in children with sepsis, while the serum IL-4 level was basically normal in them. Children with G - bacterial infection tended to have higher serum IL-1β, IFN-γ and IL-4 levels. The combination use of all three parameters showed higher value in the differential diagnosis of G + /G - bacterial infection.