Decreased pattern recognition receptor signaling, interferon-signature, and bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein gene expression in cord blood of term low birth weight human newborns

Morbidity and mortality rates of low birth weight (LBW) newborns at term are higher than rates in normal birth weight (NBW) newborns. LBW newborns are at greater risk to acquire recurrent bacterial and viral infections during their first few weeks of life possibly as an outcome of compromised innate immune functions. As adaptive immunity is in a naive state, increased risk of infection of LBW as compared to NBW newborns may reflect impairments in innate immunity. Methodology: To characterize the increased susceptibility to infections in LBW newborns we used microarray technology to identify differences in gene expression in LBW newborns (n = 8) compared to NBW newborns (n = 4) using cord blood. The

Diminished PRRs, IFN-signature, and BPI gene expression raises the possibility that impairments in these pathways contribute to the susceptibility of LBW term infants to infection.