FIGURE 3.

Low serum S100A8/A9 at birth predicts an increased risk of later development of sepsis in preterm newborn infants. (A and B) S100A8/A9 concentrations were determined in n = 314 serum samples obtained on the first two days of life from n = 198 preterm infants at 22–32 gestational weeks without signs of infection or inflammation. (A) Plotted are medians and interquartile ranges of S100A8/A9 levels grouped according to the occurrence of late‐onset sepsis (LOS n = 45; no LOS n = 269). The significance of the difference in S100A8/A9 levels between these groups was determined in a nested generalized linear mixed effect model to calculate the impact of S100A8/A9 on later LOS, when adjusting for mode of delivery (MOD), sex, birth weight (BW), BW percentile, central venous line (CVL), and invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) (likelihood ratio test). ***p < 0.0005. (B) Effect sizes building a generalized linear model of indicated risk factors were plotted as log odds ratio. Male sex, MOD, and presence of CVL were not significantly related to an increased risk of LOS in our cohort. However, significant associations with LOS were found for IMV, SGA status, low BW, and low S100A8/A9 levels with the latter showing the strongest association with later LOS. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001