INTERLEUKIN-8 LEVEL IN MATERNAL SERUM AS A MARKER FOR SCREENING OF HISTOLOGICAL CHORIOAMNIONITIS AT TERM

Objective: To establish a clinical method for immediate diagnosis of h istological chorioamnionitis, by maternal blood sampling at term. Meth od: The sera of 22 mothers with chorioamnionitis and 81 mothers withou t chorioamnionitis at term delivery were collected. The serum levels o f cytokines including interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin- 6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) were titered and other conventional markers such as white blood cell and CRP were measured simultaneously. Chorioamnionitis was histopathologically confirmed after delivery. Re sult: The sera of mothers with histological chorioamnionitis showed a significant increase in IL-8 titer, but not in those of other cytokine s or conventional markers, compared with those without chorioamnioniti s. A positive correlation was observed between maternal and cord serum IL-8 levels. Maternal IL-8 showed the highest predictive value for di agnosis of histological chorioamnionitis. Conclusion: Measurement of m aternal IL-8 is useful for rapid prenatal screening of histological ch orioamnionitis at term. (C) 1997 International Federation of Gynecolog y and Obstetrics.