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Color of Meconium and Interleukin-6

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Abstract

Objective

To test the hypothesis that the color of meconial fluid is associated with inflammatory biomarkers, by determining C-reactive protein (CRP) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in serum from the umbilical cord.

Methods

In this prospective study, the authors selected 30 newborns with meconium-stained amniotic fluid (MSAF): 14 with green/brown 656 R color and 16 with brown/cinnamon 654 R color, and 20 newborns which showed clear amniotic fluid without MSAF (non-MSAF); all newborns were from mothers without risk factors for neonatal sepsis.

Results

IL-6 concentration from umbilical cord blood, [median of 12.9 pg/mL (interquartile range {IQR} 8.7–31.0)] of MSAF-green/brown 656 R increased significantly (p < 0.05) when compared with IL-6 concentration, [median of 9.2 pg/mL (IQR 7.2–12.2)] of newborns with clear amniotic fluid and without meconium. CRP from MSAF-green/brown 656 R was median of 0.5 mg/mL (IQR 0.0–2.7), and median of 1.0 mg/mL (IQR 0.0–5.5) from clear amniotic fluid, without meconium.

Conclusions

Significant association was found between MSAF-green/brown 656 R and increase in IL-6, with normal CRP values.

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Acknowledgements

The authors want to extend special thanks to Jan Moreno for her editorial assistance.

Contributions

All authors participated in planning the study. RSB and GMA designed the study and recruited the patients. EZ, PH, RMC, and MCM co-designed the study and analyzed data. APP, RZA, and YRA co-designed the study and reviewed the manuscript. LPCM, SAR, MLB, and EPC co-designed the study and prepared the manuscript. LPCM and EPC wrote the final manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

None.

Role of Funding Source

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hospital General “Dr. Aurelio Valdivieso”, Servicios de Salud del Estado de Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico

    Raquel Silva-Bravo, Alberto Paz-Pacheco, Romeo Zarate-Aspiros, Magdalena López-Bravo & Yuri Roldan-Aragon

  2. Laboratorio de Patología Clínica Dr. Eduardo Pérez Ortega, Oaxaca, Mexico

    Gabriel Mayoral-Andrade & Laura Perez-Campos Mayoral

  3. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Médicas y Biológicas. Fac. Medicina UABJO, Oaxaca, Mexico

    Pedro Hernandez, Ruth Martínez-Cruz, Laura Perez-Campos Mayoral & Sergio Aguilar-Ruiz

  4. Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina UNAM, Mexico, DF, Mexico

    Edgar Zenteno

  5. Unidad de Bioquímica e Inmunología ITO-UNAM, Oaxaca, Mexico

    Gabriel Mayoral-Andrade & Eduardo Pérez-Campos

  6. Instituto de Investigación Multidiciplinaria, UNAM-UABJO, Zaragoza 213, Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico

    Edgar Zenteno, Pedro Hernandez, Ruth Martínez-Cruz & Eduardo Pérez-Campos

Authors
  1. Raquel Silva-Bravo
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  2. Gabriel Mayoral-Andrade
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  3. Edgar Zenteno
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  4. Pedro Hernandez
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  5. Ruth Martínez-Cruz
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  6. Laura Perez-Campos Mayoral
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  7. Sergio Aguilar-Ruiz
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  8. Alberto Paz-Pacheco
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  9. Romeo Zarate-Aspiros
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  10. Magdalena López-Bravo
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  11. Yuri Roldan-Aragon
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  12. Eduardo Pérez-Campos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eduardo Pérez-Campos.

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Silva-Bravo, R., Mayoral-Andrade, G., Zenteno, E. et al. Color of Meconium and Interleukin-6. Indian J Pediatr 79, 48–51 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-011-0447-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-011-0447-4

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