Elevations of inflammatory proteins in neonatal blood are associated with obesity and overweight among 2-year-old children born extremely premature.

Eliana M Perrin, T Michael O’Shea, Asheley Cockrell Skinner, Carl Bose, Elizabeth N Allred, Raina N Fichorova, Jelske W van der Burg, Alan Leviton

Pediatr Res. 2017 Dec 15. doi: 10.1038/pr.2017.313.

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We examined relationships between 25 inflammation-related proteins in blood obtained in first two postnatal weeks and body mass index at 2 years of age.

RESULTS/CONCLUSION: Among children delivered for spontaneous indications (n=734), obesity associated with ↑concentrations of 4 proteins (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-R1, and MCP-1) on first day; IL-6 on postnatal day 7; and ICAM-3 and VEGF-R1 on postnatal day 14. Among children delivered for maternal or fetal indications (n=148), obesity was associated with elevated concentrations of seven proteins on the 14th postnatal day. In MV models in spontaneous subsample, elevated IL-6 on day 1 predicted obesity (odds ratio: 2.9; 95% confidence limits: 1.2, 6.8), while elevated VCAM-1 on day 14 predicted overweight at 2 years of age (odds ratio: 2.3; 95% confidence limits: 1.2, 4.3).