The correlation analysis of serum tumor necrosis factor-α and neuron-specific enolase and the degree of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy

Objective To investigate the correlation between serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α,neuron-specific enolase (NSE)and the degree of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).Methods Forty-six HIE patients in acute and convalescent stage and 30 full-term newborn infant were enrolled in this study.The level of serum of TNF-α and NSE were detected.The relationship between TNF-α,NSE level and severity of HIE was analyzed.Results The level of serum TNF-α and NSE in acute stage of HIE group were (156.3 ± 28.8) ng/L and (21.5 ± 3.6) μg/L,in convalescent stage of HIE group were (80.7 ± 26.1) ng/L and (10.6 ± 1.7) μ g/L,and in control group were (76.3 ± 24.4) ng/L and (9.4 ± 1.6) μ g/L.The level of serum TNF-α and NSE in acute stage of HIE group were significantly higher than those in convalescent stage of HIE group and control group (P ＜ 0.05).The level of serum TNF-α and NSE in convalescent stage of HIE group had no significant difference compared with those in control group (P ＞ 0.05).The level of serum TNF-α and NSE in mild HIE group were (88.5 ± 25.6) ng/L and (9.7 ± 2.4) μ g/L,in moderate HIE group were (150.1 ± 16.5) ng/L and (17.8 ± 3.6) μ g/L,and in severe HIE group were (197.3 ± 30.2) ng/L and (23.6 ±4.3) μg/L.The level of TNF-αand NSE were increased with the aggravation of HIE and there had significant difference among different degree of HIE(P ＜ 0.05).The level of serum TNF-α and NSE in mild HIE group and control group had no significant difference (P ＞ 0.05),and there had significant difference between moderate HIE group,severe HIE group and control group (P ＜ 0.05).Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that the level of TNF-α and NSE had positive correlation with the degree of HIE (r =0.54,0.57,P ＜ 0.01 or ＜ 0.05).Pearson correlation analysis showed that the level of TNF-α had positive correlation with the level of NSE (r =0.46,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The variation of TNF-α and NSE level in HIE newborn infant is parallel to the severity of the disease,which can sensitively reflect the severity of HIE.Therefore,TNF-α and NSE may be used as vital indexes for the evaluation of the severity of HIE. Key words: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha; Neuron-specific enolase; Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy; Newborn infant