Abstract
In this study we aimed to evaluate the relationship between serum granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) levels and absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) in infants of preeclamptic mothers. The study group consisted of 31 infants of preeclamptic mothers while the control group consisted of 24 gestational age-adjusted infants of normotensive mothers. G-CSF levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The mean G-CSF level was 981.8 +/- 1682.5 (25.7-5924) pg/ml in the study group and 770.8 +/- 1779 (18-8526) pg/ml in control group (p > 0.05). There was no correlation between G-CSF levels and absolute or total neutrophil counts on the 1st, 2nd and 7th days in infants of preeclamptic mothers. There were positive correlations between G-CSF levels and ANC on the 1st and 7th days of life in infants of normotensive mothers. Neutropenia developed in 42.3% of the study group and in 21.7% of the control group on the 1st day of life (p > 0.05). On the 2nd day, neutropenia was observed in 61.5% of the study group and 26.1% of the control group (p = 0.013). Serum G-CSF levels were not low in neutropenic babies of preeclamptic mothers. In contrast, higher G-CSF levels in neutropenic infants suggest impaired G-CSF response in infants of preeclamptic mothers.
Copyright and license
Copyright © 2007 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.