Components of the lectin pathway of complement activation in paediatric patients of intensive care units

• Low MBL-conferring genotypes (LXA/O + O/O) were associated with paediatric sepsis.
• Low serum MBL, ficolin-2 and -3 on admission were associated with paediatric sepsis.
• Low ficolin-3 seemed to be associated with higher mortality from neonatal sepsis.
• No impact of SNPs of FCN1, FCN2, FCN3, MASP1/3, MASP2, TLR2, TLR4 genes was found.

Infections are a major cause of childhood mortality. We investigated components of the lectin pathway of complement activation in the context of sepsis at both genetic and protein levels in neonates, infants and older children. Major components of the lectin pathway and two genes for Toll-like receptors were studied in 87 neonates with confirmed sepsis and compared with 40 babies with infections who did not develop sepsis (disease controls) and 273 infection-free neonatal controls. A second cohort comprised 47 older children with sepsis and 87 controls. Low MBL-conferring genotypes (LXA/O + O/O) were more frequent in sepsis patients than in healthy controls but no significant differences in the frequency of SNPs of other lectin pathway genes (FCN1, FCN2, FCN3, MASP1/3, MASP2) or TLR receptor genes (TLR2, TLR4) were found. One case of primary MASP-2 deficiency was found among healthy pre-terms and one neonate suffering from SIRS was heterozygous for the rare FCN1 gene mutation, +6658 G > A. Generally, sepsis was associated with low serum MBL and low ficolin-2 concentrations on admission. Among neonates, ficolin-1 and MASP-2 levels were elevated in sepsis relative to healthy, but not disease, controls. Unlike neonates, ficolin-3 and MASP-2 levels were lower in older patients than in healthy controls while no difference was found for ficolin-1. With the possible exception of MBL, inherited lectin pathway insufficiencies do not seem to predispose to sepsis, rather changes in protein concentrations reflect alterations in disease course.