Introduction: The identification and treatment of sepsis continues to be a major health issue. The 
incidence of sepsis is particularly high in the neonatal population. Aim of the work: The aim of the 
present study is to evaluate the role of apelin in neonatal sepsis and its relation with other biomarkers 
as procalcitonin and blood culture results. Subjects and Methods: This study included 90 neonates 
divided into two groups: Group I: included 60 neonates with clinically sepsis diagnoised according to 
(Thaver and Zaidi, 2009) who were subgrouped into group I a (EOS) (early onset ≤ 72h) included 36 
neonates and group I b (LOS) ( late onset > 72) included 24 neonates. Results: The study was carried 
out on 90 neonates divided into two groups: Group I : included 60 neonates with clinically sepsis and 
subgrouped according to onset of sepsis into group I a (early onset ≤ 72h) included 36 neonates and 
group I b (late onset > 72) included 24 neonates. They were selected from NICU (neonatal intensive 
care unit) of El-Minia Obstetric and Pediatric University Hospital from February to September 2015.
Conclusion: Although blood culture is a gold standerd for diagnosis of neonatal sepsis, but we 
cannot depend on it only. Apelin and procalcitonin are reliable diagnostic markers of neonatal sepsis 
which have the same diagnostic accuracy. Apelin and procalcitonin are a good marker for early 
diagnosis of neonatal sepsis but Apelin is more perfect marker than procalcitonin in diagnosis of early 
neonatal sepsis. The use of apelin and other markers (procalcitonin, CRP, TLC, platlets and blood 
culture ) collectively yeild the best results for diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.