Assessment of Kidney Injury Molecule-1 in Acute Kidney Injury in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Study in Northeast Iran from 2019 to 2020

Background: Drugs cause approximately 20%-40% of acute kidney injuries (AKI). Amikacin (AMK) is one of the common medications used as empiric therapy for severe infections, such as sepsis in neonates. One of the newly recommended biomarkers in AKI is Kidney Injury Molecule-1 (KIM-1). In this study, we evaluated the use of KIM-1 for diagnosing tubular injury in neonates treated with Amikacin in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of our educational hospital in Gorgan, Iran.Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at the NICU of the two educational hospitals affiliated to the Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran. There were two groups of patients, namely neonates treated with Amikacin plus Ampicillin (group A; n=45) and neonates treated with Ampicillin plus Cefotaxime (group B; n=45). Demographic characteristics were recorded. Blood and urine samples were collected in both groups. The urinary secretion of KIM-1 was determined using an ELISA kit.Results: The total number of patients in both groups was 45, 26 (57.8%) of whom were male, and 19 (42.2%) cases were female. The mean age was obtained at 5.25±1.47 days in group A and 5.15±1.5 days in group B. None of our patients had AKI. There was no difference between leukocyte count and platelets on the first and seventh day. There was a significant difference among K, Na, urine specific gravity, C-reactive protein, Cr, and BUN on the seventh day, compared to the first day. The difference between urinary levels of KIM-1 in the two groups was not statistically significant.Conclusion: We have not found a significant relationship between urinary KIM-1 and AKI in our patients