Material and
Methods
We used the umbilical cord blood of 180 babies born in Gynecology and
Obstetrics Clinic in 2015-2016. This prospective study was approved by
the Dicle University medical school ethics committee.
Umbilical cord blood samples were collected from neonates who born in
Dicle University Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic. The blood samples
were centrifuged for 10 minutes at 4000 rpm and were kept at -20 °C.
Serum NGAL was studied on these 180 blood samples obtained. Serum NGAL
levels were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
technique via a commercial kit (SunRed® Biotechnology
Company).
The gestational ages of the babies were determined according to the last
menstrual period or the New Ballard Score. Those with a gestational age
below 37 weeks were classified as preterm, those with a gestational age
between 37-42 weeks were classified as term, and those with a
gestational age over 42 weeks were classified as postterm. There were no
babies in our study older than 42 weeks. The babies were divided as 28
weeks below, 28-31 weeks, 32-37 weeks, and 37 weeks and over according
to their gestational ages. They were also divided as 750 grams and
below, 750-1200 grams, 1200-1800 grams, 1800-2500 grams, and 2500 grams
and over according to their birth weights.
Exclusion criteria:
1- Having chromosomal disorders (such as trisomy 13, 18, 21)
2- Having major congenital malformations
3- Stillbirth
4- Preterm babies born at <22 gestational week.
Statistical Analysis
In the statistical evaluation of our research data, IBM SPSS 21.0
statistical package program for Windows was used. Numeric variables were
presented with mean ± standard deviation (SD); categorical variables
were presented with numbers and percentages (%). The compliance of the
data with normal distribution was examined. In the comparison of groups
with normal distribution and two measurements, dependent and independent
t-tests were used. In the comparison of groups with non-normal
distribution and two measurements, Mann Whitney U and Wilcoxon tests
were used. In the comparison of means in groups with normal distribution
and multiple measurements, the one-way analysis of variance was used. In
the comparison of groups with non-normal distribution and multiple
measurements, Kruskal Wallis H and Friedman tests were used. The
measured data were expressed as mean and standard deviation. Hypotheses
were two-sided; p≤0.05 was considered as statistically significant,
p≤0.01 highly significant, and p≤0.001extremely significant.