[Frontiers in Bioscience E1, 560-567, June 1, 2009] 560 Urinary S100A1B and S100BB to predict hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy at term Moataza Bashir 1 , Alessandro Frigiola 2 , Iman Iskander 1 , Hala Mufeed Said 1 , Hanna Aboulgar 1 , Rosanna Frulio 3 , Pierluigi Bruschettini 3 , Fabrizio Michetti 4 , Pasquale Florio 5 , Serena Pinzauti 5 , Raul Abella 2 , Michele Mussap 6 , Diego Gazzolo 3 , 7 1 Department of Neonatology, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, 2 Perinatal Research Laboratory Department of Cardiac Surgery, S. Donato Milanese University Hospital, Milan, Italy, 3 Department of Pediatrics and Neuroscience G. Gaslini Children’s University Hospital, Genoa, Italy, 4 Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Catholic University, I-00168 Rome, Italy, 5 Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Reproductive Medicine, University of Siena, Siena, Italy, 6 Biochemical and Clinical Laboratory, San Martino Hospital, Genoa, Italy 7 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, C. Arrigo Children’s Hospital, Alessandria, Italy TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Abstract 2. Introduction 3. Materials and methods 3.1. Subjects 3.2. Cranial Assessment 3.3. Neurodevelopmental outcome 3.4. S100A1B and S100BB urine measurement 3.5. Statistical analysis 4. Results 4.1. Urine S100A1B and S100BB levels and the prediction of HIE 5. Discussion 6. Acknowledgements 7. References 1. ABSTRACT Urinary S100A1B and S100BB were measured to detect cases at risk of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in asphyxiated newborns. We recruited 42 asphyxiated infants and 63 healthy term neonates. S100A1B and S100BB were measured at first urination (time 0) and at 4 (time 1), 8 (time 2), 12 (time 3), 16 (time 4), 20 (time 5), 24 (time 6), 72 (time 7) hours after birth. 20 infants had no/mild HIE with good prognosis (Group A) and 22 had moderate/severe HIE with a greater risk of neurological handicap (Group B). Urine S100A1B and S100BB levels were significantly (P less than 0.0.01, for all) higher at all monitoring time-points in Group B than Group A and controls, but not between Group A and controls. Both S100A1B and S100BB have great sensitivity and specificity for HIE since their first measurement. In conclusion, S100A1B and S100BB are increased in urine collected from asphyxiated newborns who will develop HIE since first urination, and their measurement may be useful to early predict HIE when monitoring procedures are still of no avail. 2. INTRODUCTION Protein S100 is a family of dimeric acidic calcium-binding protein of the EF-hand family constituting a major component of the cytosol of various cell types (1), of whom proteins S100A1B and S100BB collectively denoted S100B when detected using S100B specific antibodies) are predominantly concentrated in the central nervous system (CNS). Here they are mainly located in glial cells, in Schwann cells (2, 3), but also in specific neurons sub-populations as well as in neural precursor cells (4-6). Although the biological role of S100B has not been completely clarified, it has been reported to regulate several cellular functions (cell-cell communication, cell growth, cell structure, energy metabolism, contraction and intracellular signal transduction) at physiological concentrations, while it has been shown to be neurotoxic at high concentrations (7). Elevated S100B concentrations in biological fluids such as cerebrospinal fluid, cord blood, amniotic fluid and, peripheral blood and urine have also been shown to represent a marker of brain damage (8-14). In this respect, since S100B is mainly eliminated by the