Role of Cervical IL-6 and IL-8 Levels in Preterm Labor in Nulliparous Pregnant Women

Background: Premature birth is a cause of prenatal mortality and covers 60-80% of deaths caused by the congenital defects. Despite eye-catching developments in medical sciences, premature birth statistics are still high and impose hefty costs on the society. Laboratory indexes such as IL-6 and IL-8 are used to predict the preterm delivery. In this study, the role of IL-6 and IL-8 of cervix in women with preterm labor and term delivery were compared. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was performed on 89 patients, 60 patients in control group and 29 patients in the study group, who had symptoms of preterm labor. Endocervical swab samples were collected from all patients in order to study IL-6 and IL-8 levels using ELISA technique. SPSS-15 statistical software was used for the analysis of data. T-test was used to assess different qualitative variables. Results: 78 patients (87.63%) and 11 patients (12.35%) had term and premature deliveries, respectively. The two groups had not significant difference in terms of weight and size. A significant statistical difference only in cervix IL-8 was observed between the two term and preterm groups after comparison of the mean variables.Conclusion: Cervico-vaginal level of IL-8 in premature deliveries is higher than term deliveries and it can be used to predict premature delivery.