title: Pentraxin 3 in neonates with and without diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pentraxin 3 is a novel biomarker produced by vascular endothelial cells and macrophages. In recent studies involving adults, pentraxin 3 has been introduced as a reliable biomarker in the evaluation of cardiovascular disease and pulmonary hypertension. This study was conducted with an aim to measure the level of pentraxin 3 in neonates with pulmonary hypertension and comparing with normal healthy controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a case-control study, plasma pentraxin 3 levels were evaluated in 3 groups of neonates including neonates with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), neonates with congenital heart disease without pulmonary arterial hypertension (CHD-PAH) and normal healthy neonates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma pentraxin 3 levels in 72 neonates (21 in PAH, 19 in CHD-PAH, and 32 in control group) were measured. Demographic characteristics had no significant statistical difference among the 3 groups. Pentraxin 3 levels in PAH group was significantly higher than CHD-PAH and control groups (2.12±2.32 vs. 0.58±0.57 and 1.03±1.38ng/mL, P=0.008, respectively). No significant correlation was found between concentrations of pentraxin 3 and cardiac ejection fractions between PAH and CHD-PAH (r=0.009, P=0.97). However, significant positive correlation was detected between PTX3 concentrations and pulmonary pressures between these two groups (r=0.499, P=0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results from our study showed that pentraxin 3 levels were increased in newborn infants with pulmonary hypertension. Plasma pentraxin 3 could be considered as a novel adjunct diagnostic tool in the evaluation of pulmonary hypertension in combination with echocardiography or as a diagnostic tool when echocardiography is not readily available for confirmation of increased pulmonary pressure.
authors.affiliation: Pediatrics Department, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. Electronic address: dr.royafarhadi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Roya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Farhadi
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cell Biology Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rafiei
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Sahar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamdamian
authors.affiliation: Pediatrics Department, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zamani
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Health, Mazandaran University of Medical Science, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Jamshid
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yazdani
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012372:ROC Curve; D000683:Serum Amyloid P-Component / Q000378:metabolism*; D000099153:Pentraxins
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D000683:Serum Amyloid P-Component; D000099153:Pentraxins
keywords: Biomarker; Congenital heart disease; Neonate; Pentraxin 3; Pulmonary hypertension