Serum neuromodulin content in preterm infants with perinatal lesions of the central nervous system in the first day of life

Presently, authors of scientific publications pay much attention to the study of individual neuromarkers of damage to the central nervous system in newborns. One such marker is the growth protein neuromodulin.

The aim of the study is to estimate the concentration of neuromodulin in the first day of life in preterm infants with perinatal damage to the central nervous system and compare it with the clinical indicators of newborns in the early neonatal period.

Characteristics of children and research methods. 81 extremely preterm newborns were examined, which were divided into groups depending on the presence of intraventricular hemorrhages: Group 1 — 48 preterm infants in whom intraventricular hemorrhage was verified during the observation in the early neonatal period; Group 2 — 33 preterm infants without intraventricular hemorrhage. Determination of the concentration of the GAP-43 protein in the blood serum was carried out by enzyme immunoassay. The groups were comparable in terms of weight and height parameters, gestational age, the degree of respiratory failure at birth, and the need for mechanical ventilation (p<0,05).

Results. Group 1 had a significantly lower Apgar score at the end of the 1st (p=0,034) and 5th minutes of life (p=0,037) compared to Group 2. A comparative analysis of the concentration of neuromodulin revealed that in preterm infants of Group 1, the values of neuromodulin were significantly higher than in preterm infants of Group 2 (1,469 [1,284; 1;966] and 0,541 [0,461; 0,595] ng/mL, respectively; p<0,001). The degree of intraventricular hemorrhage (r=0,771; p<0,001), the minimum amplitude of the amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (r=–0,404, p=0,004), the Ballard score (r=–0,614, p=0,019) were statistically significantly correlated with serum neuromodulin concentration.

Conclusions. Characteristics of the concentration of GAP-43 in preterm infants with perinatal lesions of the central nervous system are given depending on the presence of intraventricular hemorrhage and the gestational age on the first day of life, significant correlations between clinical data and the level of the studied protein are revealed.  

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