Author(s): Priyadharshini NA, Parkash Chand, VishnuBhat B, Ramachandra Rao K.
Infection is one of the most important cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. This case control study was undertaken to assess free radical induced DNA damage in babies with neonatal sepsis using single cell gel electrophoresis (Comet assay). Thirty five term babies with sepsis and equal number of age and gender matched controls were included in this study. Mean comet length (125.87 ± 42.95μm Vs 66.62 ± 11.62μm) and tail length (60.05 ± 48.80μm Vs 5.99 ± 4.63μm) were significantly higher (p <0.001) among cases when compared with controls. Similarly percentage of DNA in tail (19.66 ± 10.35 Vs 6.32 ± 2.39) was higher among cases. DNA damage represented as tail length (74.51 ± 49.41 Vs 23.88 ± 21.24μm) was significantly higher (p<0.05) among culture positive neonates when compared with probable sepsis cases (sepsis screening tests positive). Thus there is increased DNA damage among babies with neonatal sepsis and the DNA damage is higher among babies with severe infection.