Table 4.
Association between birth order, gestational age, and sex, respectively, and neonatal concentrations of inflammatory markers
| Birth order |
Gestational age |
Sex (boys vs. girls) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage change (95% CI) | Pa | Percentage change (95% CI) | Pa | Percentage change (95% CI) | Pa | |
| 0.02 | <0.01 | <0.01 | ||||
| IL6b | 3.0 (−10.0–19.0) | 0.6 (−7.5–9.5) | −2.4 (−20.7–20.1) | |||
| sIL6Rα | −0.4 (−6.0–5.5) | −5.2 (−8.4 to −1.9) | −8.9 (−16.2 to −1.0) | |||
| IL8 | −2.5 (−8.0–3.2) | −2.8 (−6.1–0.6) | −8.4 (−15.7 to −0.5) | |||
| IL12 | 3.9 (−1.1–9.3) | 0.4 (−2.6–3.5) | 2.8 (−4.4–10.6) | |||
| IL17c | 2.6 (−8.3–14.9) | −3.5 (−9.8–3.2) | −3.4 (−17.8–13.5) | |||
| IL18 | 9.3 (1.0–18.4) | 4.7 (−0.2–9.9) | 2.2 (−9.1–14.8) | |||
| TGFβ1 | −1.4 (−6.7–4.1) | −4.2 (−7.3 to −1.0) | −7.6 (−14.6–0.0) | |||
| MCP-1 | 3.7 (−0.6–8.3) | 0.3 (−2.3–3.0) | −5.5 (−11.2–0.6) | |||
| CRP | −13.9 (−24.3 to −2.0) | 18.7 (9.9–28.1) | 22.1 (1.1–47.5) | |||
NOTE: The reported estimates correspond to the percentage changes in the inflammatory markers with increasing birth order, increasing gestational age in weeks, and among boys vs. girls, respectively. Linear regression models with log-transformed concentrations of inflammatory markers as the outcomes, birth order and gestational age as continuous exposures, and sex as binary exposure, adjusted for birth year (continuous), patient/control status, and day after birth of neonatal blood spot sampling (continuous).
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval.
Multivariate analysis of variance P value for joint tests, excluding children with any missing concentrations (n = 53, leaving n = 269 for analysis).
Excluding children with missing IL6 concentrations (n = 24, leaving n = 298 for analysis).
Excluding children with missing IL17 concentrations (n = 31, leaving n = 291 for analysis).