Abstract:

Objective: Previous studies have revealed that severity and variability in the spectrum comprising sepsis are associated with toll-like receptor (TLR) polymorphism. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between neonatal sepsis and TLR polymorphism. Material and Method: In this cross-sectional study, 40 newborns with sepsis and 27 healthy newborns in department of neonatal intensive care unit, were evaluated. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of TLR2 and TLR4 were investigated in peripheral blood of both term newborns with sepsis before treatment and healthy age- and weight-matched control newborns. Results: Twenty-four (60%) newborns with sepsis had blood culture positivity. Nine SNPs were determined in these two genes in seven patients. In addition, TLR2 gene variants; Pro631His; C>A variants and TLR4 gene variants; Asp299Gln; A>G, Thr399Ile; and C>T variants were associated with neonatal sepsis (p =0.016). TLR2 and TLR4 are important candidate genes regulating the immune response in sepsis pathways. Conclusion: The findings of this study can assist with the identification of the mechanism involved in sepsis and host susceptibility to sepsis in term newborns.

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