Indian J Pediatr DOI 10.1007/s12098-014-1574-5

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Global DNA Methylation in Neonatal Sepsis Benet Bosco Dhas & Hiasindh Ashmi Antony & Vishnu Bhat & Banupriya Newton & Subhash Chandra Parija

Received: 9 January 2014 / Accepted: 25 August 2014 # Dr. K C Chaudhuri Foundation 2014

Abstract Objective To find out whether gDNA methylation can be used as a diagnostic/prognostic method for neonatal sepsis. Methods The study was conducted in the neonatal division of a tertiary care referral hospital. Fifty one newborns as cases and thirty seven newborns as controls were enrolled in the study. Using 5-mC DNA ELISA method, the percentage of genomic DNA methylated in these newborns was established. Results Highly significant difference in percentage of gDNA methylated was found between the cases and controls (Cases: 2.4±0.39; Controls: 2.07±0.35; P 4 mg/dl) [2], band cell count (>20 %) were included as cases (both clinical sepsis and probable sepsis). Newborns with surgical conditions, major congenital malformations, maternal history of infections/inflammations/antibiotic therapy and Apgar score