BACKGROUND

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common cause of mortality and morbidity in asphyxiated newborns. Recent research suggests serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (sNGAL) as an early biomarker of AKI in newborns with perinatal asphyxia. The prospect of sNGAL is yet to be studied in Nigeria, with a huge burden of asphyxia-related neonatal deaths.

METHODS

A cross-sectional analytic study was conducted on 53 asphyxiated term newborns and 53 healthy babies at the newborn unit of the Wesley Guild Hospital Ilesa, Nigeria. sNGAL was assessed in all neonates with perinatal asphyxia at baseline (within 30 min of delivery), 2 h, and 48 h of life.

RESULTS

Mean sNGAL was significantly higher in asphyxiated newborns than in the control group, 81.4 (45.9) vs. 53.7 (29.2), p < 0.001. However, the mean 2-h sNGAL levels were similar in asphyxiated babies with and without AKI 100.5 (36.7) ng/ml vs. 85.3 (31.4) ng/ml, p = 0.115. The 2-h sNGAL with an AUC of 0.61 at an 83.0 ng/ml cut-off had an acceptable discriminating capability of predicting AKI. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 80%, 51.5%, 50%, and 81%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

This study shows that sNGAL levels were significantly elevated in newborns with perinatal asphyxia compared to healthy neonates, but the 2-h sNGAL is less predictive of AKI in newborns with perinatal asphyxia. The negative predictive value is high, and this may find some relevance in the attempts at early exclusion of asphyxiated babies prone to AKI. A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information.