BackgroundThe aim of this study was to investigate the association of congenital heart disease (CHD) with serum ghrelin, tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-) and interleukin (IL)-6. MethodSixty-three children with CHD, hospitalized between January 2012 and September 2014 at Wuhan Women and Children's Health Care Center, were selected as the study group. Additionally, 28 healthy individuals who had physical examinations at this hospital were selected as the control group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure serum ghrelin, TNF- and IL-6. SPSS 18.0 and Comprehensive Meta-analysis 2.0 were used for data analysis. ResultsThere was significant difference in weight, height and body mass index (BMI; all P0.05) between the cyanotic CHD (CCHD), acyanotic CHD (ACHD) and control groups. On one-way analysis of variance serum ghrelin, TNF- and IL-6 in both the CCHD and ACHD groups had a tendency to be higher compared with the control group (all P<0.05), whereas, on Pearson correlation analysis, there was a correlation between serum ghrelin and BMI (all P<0.05), and TNF- was negatively, and IL-6 positively, correlated with BMI (all P<0.05). Meta-analysis further demonstrated that serum ghrelin, TNF- and IL-6 in both the CCHD and ACHD groups were higher than in the control group (all P<0.05). ConclusionSerum ghrelin, TNF- and IL-6 are elevated in children with CHD, and may play a role in the development and progression of CHD.