Evaluation of NGAL Levels in Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections

Document Type : New and original researches in the field of Microbiology.

Authors

Department of Biology, College of Sciences, University of Babylon, Hilla. Iraq

10.21608/ejmm.2025.392551.1703

Abstract

Background:  Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) is secreted from cells during inflammation or infection. Its levels in urine increase during urinary tract infections. Objective: Evaluation of NGAL levels in urine of patients with recurrent urinary tract infections. Methodology Only 68 urine samples were included in this study, including individuals aged 6 to over 60 years, males and females, suffering from recurrent urinary tract infections from Imam Al-Sadiq Hospital in Babylon Governorate, Iraq, during the period from November 2024 to February 2025. The level of NGAL was assessed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, which is an indicator of urinary tract and kidney infections. It was also compared with 30 controls. Results: The average level of NGAL in urine samples of patients was (104.6 ng/l) while the level of the control group was (75.75 ng/l) with statistically significant differences as (P=0.043) which means that there is a statistically significant difference in NGAL levels between patients and control. Since the P value is less than 0.05, the difference is significant and statistically significant at the significance level of 0.05. The level of urine samples for males was (101.8 ng/l) and for females (106. 1 ng/l) and the value was (P=0.82) which means that there is no statistically significant difference between males and females in NGAL levels in urine, which indicates that gender does not clearly affect the concentration of this vital indicator in urine. Conclusion:  NGAL levels are elevated in cases of urinary tract infections, and this study found that testing for NGAL protein in urine can be used as a biomarker for diagnosing urinary tract infections.

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