β-nerve growth factor levels in newborn cord sera

Abstract

This study was designed to examine β-nerve growth factor (NGF) levels in human cord blood by a two-site enzyme immunoassay using MAb 27/21 to mouse NGF and to determine whether β-NGF levels show developmental changes. Blood was collected at delivery from 61 newborns, 55 neonates appropriate for gestational age (46 term infants and 9 premature infants), 5 neonates small for gestational age, and 1 neonate with congenital hydrocephalus. In addition, samples were collected from 2 microcephalic children (microcephaly vera) aged 15 and 18 mo, 2 control children, and 4 healthy adults. Mean levels of NGF in preterm infants (n = 9; 13.7 ± 8 pg/mL) were significantly lower than levels in term infants (n = 47; 21.2 ± 8.8 pg/mL; p = 0.034 by Mann-Whitney U test). There was no correlation between birth weight, length, head circumference, and β-NGF levels. In microcephalic children, NGF levels were low (8 pg/mL) compared with control infants’ values (22 pg/mL). In adults, β-NGF levels were higher and ranged between 238 and 292 pg/mL. Our study demonstrates that β-NGF levels can be assessed in human newborn sera using a two-site enzyme immunoassay with MAb 27/21 to mouse β-NGF, that β-NGF levels are extremely low in newborns compared with adults, that β-NGF levels seems to show developmental changes, and that β-NGF levels may be used to assess NGF utilization under normal and pathologic conditions such as cerebral malformations. © 1994 International Pediatric Research Foundation, Inc.