Cord blood granulocyte levels are associated with severe bronchiolitis in the first year of life.

Objectives: Bronchiolitis is a leading cause of infant hospitalisation in the first year of life, and it preferentially affects infants born to mothers with asthma. Here, we evaluate cord blood granulocytes in infants born to mothers with asthma participating in the Breathing for Life Trial (BLT), to investigate early life determinants of bronchiolitis hospitalisation within the first year of life.

Methods: Cord blood from 89 participants was collected into EDTA tubes and processed within 6 h of birth. Cells were stained in whole cord blood for eosinophils (CD45, CD193, CD16), and neutrophils (CD45, CD193, CD16). Medical records were reviewed for bronchiolitis hospitalisation in the first 12 months of life. Statistical analyses were conducted using Stata IC16.1.

Results: Logistic regression adjusted for caesarean section, gestational age, maternal smoking during pregnancy, foetal heart deceleration during labour, and season of birth revealed an association between cord blood eosinophil levels and bronchiolitis hospitalisation in the first 12 months of life with an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.943 (aOR = 1.35,  = 0.011). Neutrophils were associated with the risk of bronchiolitis hospitalisation in a univariable logistic regression (OR = 0.93,  = 0.029); however, there was no statistical significance in the adjusted model.

Conclusions: Higher eosinophil numbers in cord blood were associated with bronchiolitis hospitalisation in the first 12 months in a cohort of infants born to asthmatic mothers. This suggests that susceptibility to bronchiolitis in later life is influenced by the immune cell profile prior to viral infection.