Background: Sepsis continues to be a major cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Because neonatal sepsis has hazy signs and symptoms, tests are required to make the diagnosis. Important treatment decisions may be postponed due to the time-consuming nature of the classic techniques for culture utilized in current diagnostic procedures.
Objective: The study sought to evaluate the diagnostic utility of interferon-gamma inducible protein 10 (IP-10) in newborn sepsis.
Patients and methods: There were two groups in the study: group (1) consisted of thirty newborns who were diagnosed with neonatal sepsis based on laboratory and clinical data, and group (2) consisted of fifteen healthy neonates who showed neither clinical nor laboratory indicators of sepsis. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELIZA) was used to determine the serum level of IP-10.
Results: According to the findings, there was a statistically significant variation in IP-10 between the two groups under study. With the exception of age, which showed a strong positive association with IP10, other patient factors showed no significant link with IP10. According to the Roc curve analysis, the IP-10's sensitivity and specificity as a marker to differentiate between patients and controls were 93.3% sensitivity and 100% specificity, with a cutoff of 133.
Conclusion: In comparison to other regularly used laboratory markers, IP-10 demonstrated superiority in detecting neonatal sepsis when added to the panel of screening tests for the condition. It is an easy, quick, and predictive tool (CBC and CRP).