Clinical Significance of Serum TLR4 and NF-κB Levels in Neonatal Jaundice.

BACKGROUND: To explore the expression of serum TLR4 and NF-κB levels in neonatal jaundice.

METHODS: A total of 63 jaundice infants admitted to our hospital from January 2017 to January 2018 were enrolled into the experimental group (34 pathological jaundice infants and 29 physiological jaundice infants). The serum TLR4 level (0.5 ng/mL as positive expression) was determined by immunohistochemical staining, and the serum NF-κB level in peripheral blood was determined by ELISA. A total of 40 healthy infants with simultaneous blood sampling and physical examination were enrolled into the control group to measure the levels of TLR4 and NF-κB which were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS: The levels of serum TLR4 and NF-κB in the infants in the experimental group were higher than those in normal newborns in the same period, the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (p < 0.05), and the levels of TLR4 and NF-κB showed a gradual downtrend after treatment. TLR4 expressions were positive in pathologic and physiologic jaundice infants of the experimental group, and negative in the control group. The correlation analysis showed that the elevated levels of TLR4, NF- kb, IL-Iβ, and TNF-α were risk factors for jaundice.

CONCLUSIONS: The elevated levels of TLR4 and NF-κB are the main factors of neonatal jaundice. TLR4, NF- kb, IL-Iβ, and TNF-α are closely related to the onset of jaundice, which can be used as an important marker in clinical diagnosis of neonatal jaundice.