Evaluation of the Relationship between Serum Vitamin D Level and Early Onset of Sepsis

Background: Neonatal sepsis is a critical condition caused by a generalized bacterial infection and is one of the most common causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity in the first month of life. Vitamin D is a steroid hormone that has numerous roles in the immune system and reduces inflammation. The purpose of this study was to evaluation of the relationship between serum vitamin D level and neonatal early onset of sepsis (EOS).

Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 43 newborns with EOS selected in the case group and 43 matched healthy children were selected as the control group. The demographic data such as gestational age, delivery method, birth weight and the results of blood and biochemical tests were collected and then analyzed by statistical methods in SPSS version 21.

Results: In the case group, the mean age was 4.93 days and 72.1% were boy. The most common complaints in neonates were restless with 74.71%, jaundice with 67.44% and fever with 62.7%. The average age of mothers with a septic newborns was 26.83 years and 23.3% of mothers had received vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy. Dairy consumption in studied mothers was low and the majority of them had exposure with sunlight less than 15 minutes. A high percentage of infants (94.2%) had severe to moderate vitamin D deficiency that in septic neonates was higher than healthy neonates but no significant. Also, there was no significant relation between the level of vitamin D and incidence of sepsis.

Conclusion: The results showed that there is no significant difference between vitamin D levels in mothers and their neonates but in the case group, there was a significant correlation between maternal and neonatal serum vitamin D level.

Keywords: Sepsis, neonate, serum Vitamin D, Ardabil.