Abstract 1736 Poster Session IV, Tuesday, 5/4 (poster 281)

INTRODUCTION: Infants who develop BPD have an exaggerated inflammatory response when compared to infants who do not develop BPD. Several cytokines, including interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-10 (IL-10), interleukin-13 (IL-13) and Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) down regulate inflammatory responses. METHODS: Serial tracheal aspirates (TA) were prospectively obtained from 36 very low birth weight infants and the concentrations of IL-4, IL-10, IL-13 and IL-1Ra were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cytokine concentrations were normalized to secretory component. ANOVA was used to assess the statistical differences between cytokine concentrations. Clinical characteristics were compared using Student t-test or Chi square where appropriate. RESULTS: Infants who developed BPD (n=19) were less mature (25.3±0.02 wks vs. 27.8±0.05 wks; p<0.001), of lower birth weight (739±27 g vs. 1052±41 g; p<0.001), and were more likely to have a positive tracheal culture for Ureaplasma urealyticum (Uu) (37% vs 6 %; p=0.026) than those who did not develop BPD (n=17). While IL-1Ra increased during the first week of life in all infants, the concentrations were not significantly different between infants who developed BPD and those who did not. Interleukin-10, IL-4 and IL-13 were detectable in only 27 of 132, 70 of 139 and 9 of 132 samples assayed respectively. Further, detectable levels for IL-10, IL-4 and IL-13 were well below physiologic concentrations required for biologic activity and did not correlate with the development of BPD. These data suggest that very low birth weight infants may be deficient in the production of cytokines that down regulate the inflammatory processes. (Figure)

Fig 1
figure 1

No caption

Full size image