Wolach B, Carmi D, Gilboa S, Satar M, Segal S, Dolfin T, Schlesinger M
Department of Pediatrics, Sapir Medical Center (Meir Hospital), Kfar Saba, Israel.
Isr J Med Sci. 1994 May-Jun;30(5-6):331-5.
Newborn infants, particularly those born prematurely, are prone to develop life-threatening pyogenic infections. Different studies have demonstrated impairment of various aspects of the humoral immunity and the phagocytic activity of neutrophils in newborns. We conducted a comprehensive study evaluating the complement function (CH50 and AP50) and the level of the vast majority of the complement components (Clq, Clr, Cls, C2-C9, FB and properdin) in preterm and full-term newborn infants as compared to adults. Furthermore, we investigated the effect of autologous and heterologous serum on the bactericidal activity of neutrophils, by crossing newborn serum with adult cells and vice versa. Results showed that preterm and full-term newborns have an impaired complement activity as compared to adults (CH50 P < 0.05, AP50 < 0.01) and significantly reduced complement components except for C7, which was found to be normal in full-term infants and in most appropriate-for-gestational age preterm newborns at 34-36 weeks. A statistically significant correlation was found between gestational age and the level of most of the complement components. CH50 and AP50 also showed a positive trend which, however, was not statistically significant. No correlation was found between birthweight and complement activity or complement component levels. The neutrophil bactericidal activity of full-term newborns was about one-third that of adults (P < 0.001). Adult serum improved the bactericidal activity of newborn neutrophils by 93%, indicating a considerable neonatal humoral defect. Conversely, neonatal serum blunted the adult bactericidal activity by 86%. Our results support the fact that both humoral and phagocytic functions in newborn infants are impaired, which may possibly account for their increased tendency to develop severe pyogenic infections.
新生儿，尤其是早产儿，容易发生危及生命的化脓性感染。不同的研究表明，新生儿的体液免疫和中性粒细胞的吞噬活性在各个方面都存在损害。我们进行了一项全面的研究，评估早产儿和足月儿与成年人相比的补体功能（CH50和AP50）以及绝大多数补体成分（Clq、Clr、Cls、C2 - C9、FB和备解素）的水平。此外，我们通过将新生儿血清与成人细胞交叉以及反之亦然，研究了自体和异体血清对中性粒细胞杀菌活性的影响。结果显示，与成年人相比，早产儿和足月儿的补体活性受损（CH50 P < 0.05，AP50 < 0.01），除C7外，补体成分显著减少，C7在足月儿和34 - 36周的大多数适于胎龄的早产儿中是正常的。胎龄与大多数补体成分的水平之间存在统计学上的显著相关性。CH50和AP50也呈现出正相关趋势，然而，这在统计学上并不显著。出生体重与补体活性或补体成分水平之间没有相关性。足月儿的中性粒细胞杀菌活性约为成年人的三分之一（P < 0.001）。成人血清使新生儿中性粒细胞的杀菌活性提高了93%，表明新生儿存在相当大的体液缺陷。相反，新生儿血清使成人的杀菌活性降低了86%。我们的结果支持这样一个事实，即新生儿的体液和吞噬功能均受损，这可能是他们发生严重化脓性感染倾向增加的原因。
