Naima Kh. Aly, Sahar S. khatab and Safaa
El-Meneza.
Departments
of Clinical Pathology and Pediatrics Faculty of medicine for girls, Al Azhar University.
Platelet derived
growth factor (PDGF) is secreted from the α -granules of platelets and is known to be a
major mitogen for connective tissue cells including, dermal fibroblasts, gliat
cells, and some epithelial cells. PDGFs are an important neurotropic peptides
which have been found to be increased during perinatal asphyxia (PA). Nitric
oxide (NO) is a major secretory product of mammalian cells, that has several
biological activities in immune, vascular, neurological and other systems.
Elevated NO level after perinatal asphyxia was found to be related to severity
of brain damage and neurological outcome. PDGF- AB and NO were measured in
sixty-four infants (using ELISA and colorimetric techniques respectively) to
study their relation to perinatal asphyxia (PA). Twelve apparently healthy
newborns were chosen as a control group. Newborns suffering from PA were
further subdivided into those with ischaemic heart (26 cases) and with
neurological manifestations (26 cases). There was a highly significant increase
in PDGF-AB in asphyxiated newborns as compared to controls (P<0.001). The
mean value of PDGF-AB in PA with neurological manifestations (116.13 ± 111.12
pg/ml) was higher than that in PA with ischaemic heart (85.85 ± 59. 05 pg/ml).
Similarly NO results showed significant increase in PA newborns as compared to
control (P<0.001), and the mean value was higher in patients with ischaemic
heart (130.64 ± 34.59 μ mol/
ml), than with neurological manifestations (127.38 ± 33.96 μ mol/ ml.). In conclusion, PDGF- AB may play
a protective role in PA with ischaemic heart and neurological manifestations
while NO may be protective only in PA with ischaemic heart.