Plasma NGAL (Neutrophil Gelatinase Associated Lipocalin) Levels in Septic Patients With & Without Acute Kidney Injury: A Plausible Biomarker

Abstract

Introduction: Acute kidney injury is extremely common among septic patients. Its early recognition among critically ill patients can help in better prognosis and decrease the risk of longer hospital stay and dialysis requirement. Creatinine is considered as a gold standard for diagnosis of Acute Kidney Injury but it has its own disadvantages. New biomarkers for Acute Kidney Injury that can help in its early recognition are the need of time. Many plasma and urinary markers including Neutrophil Gelatinase Associated Lipocalin are being studied. Its role in earlier detection of septic Acute Kidney Injury in septic patients in our set of population still needs extensive research where incidence of sepsis associated complications leading to death is extremely high. Aims and Objectives: To measure plasma Neutrophil Gelatinase Associated Lipocalin levels in septic patients with and without acute injury compare pNGAL levels in two groups, and to measure specificity and sensitivity of plasma Neutrophil Gelatinase Associated Lipocalin levels in both sets of patients. Place and Duration of study: A cross sectional analytical study was carried out in National Health Research Complex, Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore over a period of 3 years from 2016-2019 Material and Methods: This is a cross-sectional analytical study carried out in ninety two patients that are divided in two groups on the basis of creatinine levels measured at 72hrs. First group consists of septic patients who developed Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) and second group consists of septic patients Without Acute Kidney Injury(WAKI). Plasma NGAL levels are compared in two groups. SPSS v 20 was used for analysis, p-value ? 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The plasma NGAL level at 24 hours for group without Acute Kidney Injury was 126.4±15.4 ng/ml and for the group which developed Acute kidney Injury was 191.1±15.9 ng/ml and the difference was clearly significant with p- value <0.001. Conclusion: pNGAL levels are significantly raised than the cut-off value of 150ng/ml at 0hrs in septic patients who developed AKI as compared to septic patients who didn’t develop AKI.