The Role of IL-6 in the Diagnosis of Neonatal Sepsis and Its Influence on Maternal Mental Health

Neonatal sepsis (NS) remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in newborns, particularly in preterm and low-birthweight infants. It has been shown previously that interleukin-6 (IL-6) can predict sepsis, and its non-invasive determination can be performed quickly, leading to the diagnosis and appropriate treatment for each case. Elevated IL-6 levels have been associated with early and late-onset NS, showing potential as an early indicator of infection before the onset of clinical symptoms. IL-6, in conjunction with other biomarkers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin, may improve the accuracy of sepsis diagnosis and help guide antibiotic therapy. We conducted a retrospective study to assess the validity of IL-6 in predicting NS. The optimal IL-6 cutoff was 181 pg/ml, yielding a sensitivity of 80.1%, a specificity of 85.7%, a positive predictive value of 84.6%, and a negative predictive value of 81.8%. Among culture-positive cases, IL-6 sensitivity was 90%, while in culture-negative cases, sensitivity was 71.4%. Our study showed that IL-6 is a new biomarker with high sensitivity and good specificity for identifying sepsis, and it has been linked with a better diagnostic value than CRP.