Serum mannose-binding lectin (MBL) gene polymorphism and low MBL levels are associated with neonatal sepsis and pneumonia

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the serum mannosebinding lectin (MBL) levels and the frequency of MBL gene polymorphisms in infants with neonatal sepsis.Study Design: Between January 2008 and January 2010, a total of 93 infants were included in this study and 53 of them had neonatal sepsis diagnosis as study group and 40 infants who had no sepsis according to clinical and laboratory findings as control group.Result: Serum MBL levels were found to be low in 17 of 93 infants. Eleven of them were in the sepsis group and six of them were in the control group. Serum MBL levels were significantly lower in infants with sepsis compared with the control group. Frequencies of genotype AB and BB were also significantly higher in the study group compared with the control group. Most importantly, presence of B allele of MBL exon 1 gene was found to be associated with an increased risk for neonatal sepsis. Additionally, in the study group, the mean serum MBL levels were found to be significantly lower in the premature infants compared with the term infants. Pneumonia, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) were significantly higher in infants with MBL deficiency compared with infants with normal MBL levels.Conclusion: Low MBL levels and presence of B allele of MBL exon 1 gene were found to be important risk factors for development of both neonatal sepsis and pneumonia, especially in premature infants. Low MBL levels and MBL gene polymorphisms might also be associated with inflammation-related neonatal morbidities such as BPD and IVH.

<i>MBL2</i> Gene Polymorphism and the Association with Neonatal Sepsis in Egyptian Neonates, a Case Control Study

“…Allele B both heterozygous (AB) and homozygous (BB) was the commonest mutant allele encountered in neonatal sepsis (39.4% Considering combined MBL2genotypes, low MBL2 producing genotypes were more frequent in infected neonates compared to control group without statistical significant difference. This result somewhat agrees with the result obtained by Ozkan et al [22] who found low producing MBL2 genotypes are significant risk factor for neonatal sepsis in Turkish neonates. Other studies like Frakking et al [27] obtain different results, as they found no relation between the MBL2 gene polymorphism and neonatal sepsis.…”

Neonatal Immune Adaptation of the Gut and Its Role during Infections

“…Candidate genes have been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of sepsis [186, 187]. Several polymorphisms associated with neonatal sepsis have been identified in genes playing a role in host innate immunity: the phospholipase A2, the pattern recognition receptors TLR2 and TLR5, the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, and the serum mannose-binding lectin (MBL) [188, 189]. Moreover, mutations of genes also involved in the innate immune system have been associated with sepsis in very low birth weight infants, such as CD14, TLR4, NOD2, IL-6, and MBL [190].…”

Restoration of MBL-deficiency: Redefining the safety, efficacy and viability of MBL-substitution therapy

“…This meta-analysis did not yet include four recently published studies, all of which reported lower MBL levels in infected neonates (Auriti et al, 2010;Ozkan et al, 2012;Schlapbach et al, 2010;Wahab Mohamed and Saeed, 2012). In summary, the available evidence indicates that low MBL levels are a risk factor for bacterial sepsis in the neonatal age group.…”