COMPARISON OF SERUM NGAL BEFORE AND AFTER TRANSPLANTATION WITH GRAFT FUNCTION INDEXES

Diagnosis of poor graft function by modern biomarkers is a step to early detection
of injuries to the kidneys. Therefore, in this study, serum NGAL was evaluated in renal transplant
recipients and compared with creatinine and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) using CKD-Epi equation.
Materials & Methods: This case-control study was performed at Imam Khomeini Teaching Hospital,
Urmia. Thirty-nine kidney transplant recipients from the living- and cadaver donors were investigated
between February 2016 and September 2017. Serum NGAL predictive value during early postoperative
period was investigated studied population was divided into good early graft function (GEGF) and poor
early graft function (PEGF) as according to established protocol. Blood specimens were collected before
transplantation and also 2, 16, 24, 36, and 48 hours after transplantation. NGAL was measured by ELISA
method. The results were analyzed by SPSS software version 16.
Results: Of 39 transplant recipients, 13 were classified as PEGF No difference was seen in serum NGAL
between kidney recipients with GEGF or PEGF. Serum creatinine and GFR peri-transplantation and 2
hours after surgery were not different However, significant differences were observed 16, 24, 36, 48 and
72 hours post-surgery transplantation (p <0.05). The ROC analysis showed that the AUCs of creatinine
varied from 0/76 to 0/87 and that for GFR varied from 0/72 to 0/86. Also, there was a positive correlation
between serum NGAL measured in pre-graft and 2, 16, 24, 36, and 48 hours after transplantation with
creatinine. No difference was noted in GFR monitored at3, 6, 9, and 12 months after transplantation.
Conclusion: Our results indicated that serum NGAL was not significantly different among patients with
GEFG and PEGF. Serum creatinin and GFR (CKD-EPI) were better than NGAL in diagnosing patients
with PEGF, t High distribution living donors in this study was the main cause of the difference in the
results of this study with other There was no positive correlation between the serum NGAL measured
in the early hours of transplantation and one-year after transplantation