Background: High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) has important
role in a variety of diseases, including neonatal sepsis (NS). The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical importance of HMGB1 genetic expression in NS demonstrating its diagnostic value and detecting the effect of its genetic expression on the disease outcome.
Patients and
Method: This study was carried out on 100 neonates; 28 neonates with clinical sepsis and had positive blood cultures (confirmed), 22
neonates with clinical sepsis but had negative blood cultures
(suspected) and 50 healthy non-infected newborns age and sex
matched as controls.
Results: Expression of HMGB1 in newborns with confirmed NS and those with suspected NS were higher than healthy controls. Also, it was higher in newborns with confirmed NS than those with suspected NS. The sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic value of HGMB1 were higher than that of C-reactive protein (CRP) and hematological score (H score). Assessment of the HMGB1 for prognosis of the disease was evaluated by univariate analysis (p=