title: Urine bombesin-like peptide elevation precedes clinical evidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia.
abstract: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic lung disease of very low birth weight infants, associated with oxygen therapy, barotrauma, and/or infections. Improved medical care has led to a paradoxically increased incidence of BPD due to greater infant survival. Early prediction of BPD has proven challenging. Increased pulmonary neuroendocrine cells containing bombesin-like peptide immunoreactivity occur in infants with BPD. We hypothesized that elevated urine bombesin-like peptide levels precede BPD. One hundred thirty-two infants, 28-weeks gestation or less, were studied. Urine bombesin-like peptide levels, determined by radioimmunoassay, were normalized for creatinine. BPD was defined as oxygen dependence at 36 weeks postmenstrual age. A first urine bombesin-like peptide level greater than 20,000 pg/mg creatinine (12,500 fmol/mg) between postnatal days 1-4 occurred among 54% of the infants who later developed BPD (p < or = 0.001), versus 10% among non-BPD infants (specificity 90%). Multivariable logistic regression analyses revealed that elevated urine bombesin-like peptide levels are associated with BPD (odds ratio 9.9, 95% confidence interval: 3.4, 29) (p < or = 0.001) after adjusting for all confounding factors. Thus, elevated bombesin-like peptide levels in these infants at 1-4 days after birth are associated with a 10-fold increased risk of developing BPD. Utilizing urine bombesin-like peptide for screening might permit early therapeutic interventions to reduce disease progression and could provide a target for new preventive therapies.
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital, Department of Pathology, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cullen
authors.forename: Linda J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Van Marter
authors.forename: Elizabeth N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Allred
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Richard B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Parad
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Sunday
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D001839:Bombesin / Q000652:urine*; D001997:Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D001839:Bombesin