Predictive value of combined serum IL-6 with UREA on severity of neonatal pneumonia: an observational study

Abstract Objectives IL-6 is an inflammatory marker and urea nitrogen (UREA) is a common indicator of glomerular filtration function. Their combined detection has predictive value for the severity of neonatal pneumonia. Methods We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the clinical and laboratory data, collected from 105 neonatal patients (including 76 mild to moderate pneumonia patients and 29 severe pneumonia patients). Results Mann–Whitney U-test showed serum IL-6 and UREA levels were significantly increased in severe pneumonia, compared with that in mild to moderate pneumonia (p<0.05). Correlation analysis showed the severity of neonatal pneumonia was positively correlated with serum IL-6 (r=0.284, p<0.05) and UREA (r=0.303, p<0.05) levels. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed the increased levels of IL-6 (OR=1.002, 95 % CI 1.001–1.004) and UREA (OR=1.420, 95 % CI 1.046–1.926) were independent risk factors for the severity of neonatal pneumonia. ROC curve analysis showed that the predictive value of combined detection of serum IL-6 and UREA in the severity of neonatal pneumonia was better than that of either detection alone (area under curve [AUC] = 0.809, 95 % CI 0.711–0.894, p<0.001). Conclusions Combined detection of IL-6 and UREA had a good predictive value for evaluating the severity of neonatal pneumonia.