Association of lower vitamin a levels in neonates and their mothers with increased risk of neonatal late-onset sepsis: A case-control study
Article Category: Original articles
Pubblicato online: 22 feb 2023
Pagine: 78 - 86
Ricevuto: 19 mag 2022
Accettato: 02 dic 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34763/jmotherandchild.20222601.d-22-00023
Parole chiave
© 2022 Choobdar et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Background
In developing countries, neonatal sepsis is one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity. Vitamin A deficiency also affects the immune system severely and is associated with various neonatal infections. We aimed to compare maternal and neonatal vitamin A levels among neonates with and without late-onset sepsis.
Material and methods
40 eligible infants were entered into this case-control study according to inclusion criteria. The case group included 20 term or near-term infants who had late-onset neonatal sepsis from three to seven days of life. The control group consisted of 20 term or near-term infants who were icteric hospitalized neonates without sepsis. Demographic, clinical and paraclinical features, as well as neonatal and maternal vitamin A levels, were compared between the two groups.
Results
The average gestational age of the neonates was 37.1 ± 1.2, ranging from 35 to 39 days. There was a significant difference between the septic and non-septic groups in terms of white blood cell and neutrophil count, C-reactive protein, and neonatal and maternal vitamin A levels. A Spearman correlation analysis showed a significant direct correlation among maternal and neonatal vitamin A levels (correlation coefficient = 0.507; P-value = 0.001). Multivariate regression analysis showed that neonates’ vitamin A level had a significant direct association with sepsis (OR: 0.541; P-value=0.017).
Conclusion
Our findings demonstrated the association of lower vitamin A levels in neonates and their mothers with an increased risk of late-onset sepsis, which emphasizes the importance of the consideration of vitamin A level evaluation and its appropriate neonatal and maternal supplementation.