Objective: To investigate whether blood cytokines during the perinatal period predict the risk of cerebral palsy (CP) in preterm infants.
Methods: This prospective cohort study comprised 169 children born before 32 weeks of gestation. Cord blood was drawn at birth, and 109 cytokines were analyzed using microarrays. Eleven cytokines were further measured from both cord and peripheral blood on days 1 and 7. Cerebral palsy was confirmed at 5 years of age.
Results: Cerebral palsy was diagnosed in 19 children. Five clusters of cord blood cytokines were scored using factor analysis. According to logistic regression analysis, the scores of factors 1 and 2 independently predicted the risk of CP. These cytokines included several growth factors and chemokines, and they all tended to be higher in children with CP than in children without CP. Inflammatory cytokine levels were associated with CP risk on days 1 and 7 after birth.
Conclusion: The high blood concentrations of various cytokines during the perinatal period may relate to CP, and these cytokines may influence the pathways leading to early insult in the central nervous system. The risk profile of inflammatory cytokines is different at birth than during the first week after birth.