Interleukin-4 and 13 concentrations in infants at risk to develop Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

R John Baier,John Loggins,Thomas E Kruger

doi:10.1186/1471-2431-3-8

R John Baier, John Loggins + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2431-3-8

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Abstract

BackgroundAn exaggerated inflammatory response occurs in the first few days of life in infants who subsequently develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). The increase of inflammatory cytokines in many disease processes is generally balanced by a rise in anti-inflammatory cytokines. Interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) have been shown to inhibit production of several inflammatory cytokines important in the development of BPD.MethodsWe sought to determine if a correlation exists between the presence or absence of IL-4 and IL-13 in tracheal aspirates (TA) during the first 3 weeks of life and the development of BPD in premature infants. Serial TAs were prospectively obtained from 36 very low birth weight infants and IL-4 and IL-13 concentrations were determined by ELISA.ResultsInfants who developed BPD (n = 19) were less mature (25.3 ± 0.02 wks vs. 27.8 ± 0.05 wks; p < 0.001), and had lower birth weights (739 ± 27 g vs.1052 ± 41 g; p < 0.001). IL-4 and IL-13 were detectable in only 27 of 132 and 9 of 132 samples assayed respectively. Furthermore, the levels detected for IL-4 and IL-13 were very low and did not correlate with the development of BPD.ConclusionsTA concentrations of IL-4 and IL-13 do not increase significantly during acute lung injury in premature infants.

Highlights

An exaggerated inflammatory response occurs in the first few days of life in infants who subsequently develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)
The magnitude of the inflammatory response seems to correlate with the infant's ability to recover fully from acute lung injury that occurs with hyaline membrane disease
Serial aspirates were obtained at 0–24 hours, 48– 72 hours, 4–5 days, 7–9 days, 12–14 days and on day 21 if the infant remained on mechanical ventilation

Summary

Introduction

An exaggerated inflammatory response occurs in the first few days of life in infants who subsequently develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). This response includes an increase in airway protein, inflammatory cells and cytokines [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Inflammatory responses may be modulated by several anti-inflammatory or otherwise immunomodulatory cytokines The role of these cytokines in the pulmonary inflammatory response of the preterm newborn with hyaline membrane disease or its progression to BPD has had little study. Interleukin-10, which inhibits cytokine production from activated macrophages, is undetectable or (page number not for citation purposes)

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