Association between vitamin D level and community-acquired late-onset neonatal sepsis

The objective was to determine the relationship between mother and infant vitamin D levels and late onset sepsis.

Infants born > 37 weeks of gestational age who were hospitalized with the diagnosis of late-onset sepsis were enrolled to this prospective case control study. VitaminD levels of the infants and their mothers in the study and a control group were compared.

Fourty six term patients with late-onset sepsis composed the study group, 46 patients with hyperbilirubinemia as the control group. Vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy was lower in mothers of study group compared to the control group (p = 0.001). Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of infants and mothers in the study group were significantly lower than the control group (p < 0.001). There was a positive correlation between 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of mothers and infants in both groups (r: 0.38, p < 0.001). The best cut off value of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which determines the risk of late-onset sepsis in neonates, was detected as 15.45 ng/ml (sensitivity: 91.3 %, specificity: 71.7 %, area under the curve: 0.824, p < 0.001).

In this study, 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were found to be lower in term infants with late-onset sepsis and among their mothers compared to the control group. Positive correlation was found between serum 25(OH)D levels of infants and their mothers.