Influence of mode of delivery on cytokine expression in cord blood.

The mode of delivery is a known risk factor for immune-related disorders. Normal term vaginal delivery is an inflammatory process and several cytokines are suggested to be involved. The purpose of the study was to evaluate differences in cord blood cytokine expression between modes of delivery in term-born children. Cord blood was collected from 49 elective Caesarean section (C-section) cases and from 49 normal vaginal term deliveries. Plasma was tested for 17 cytokines with Bio-Plex®-200-system. Mann-Whitney test was used for comparing the groups with Bonferroni correction for multiple testing. Four cytokines showed significant differences between the modes of delivery. Interleukin-6, Interleukin-8 showed a significantly higher expression in the vaginal delivery group, while Tumor-Necrosis Factor-a, Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor showed a significantly higher level of expression in the C-section cord blood. Our study shows that there is differential expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in elective C-section compared with normal term vaginal delivery.