Diagnostic value of nerve growth factor in detrusor overactivity: a study on women with mixed urinary incontinence

• Published in: International urology and nephrology Vol. 53; no. 8; pp. 1557 - 1562
• Main Authors: Salehi-Pourmehr, Hanieh, Ghojazadeh, Morteza, Jahantabi, Elham, Hajebrahimi, Sakineh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-08-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomarkers; Growth factors; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nephrology; Nerve growth factor; Quality of life; Urinary incontinence; Urology; Urology - Original Paper; Nerve growth factor; Biomarker; Sensitivity; Specificity; Overactive detrusor
• ISSN: 0301-1623; 1573-2584
• DOI: 10.1007/s11255-021-02864-0

Objective
Urinary incontinence has a profound impact on women’s quality of life. Studies have shown that changes in urinary protein levels could be a potential diagnostic biomarker in some urological diseases. The aim of present study is to determine the diagnostic value of nerve growth factor (NGF) in women with mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) as a diagnostic biomarkers of detrusor overactivity (DO).
Methods
Seventy women aged between 20 and 75 years with MUI were enrolled in this prospective study. All participants underwent urodynamic study. Urine NGF levels were measured using an ELISA method. NGF level was compared between groups using Mann–Whitney
U
test. Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) analysis was employed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of urinary NGF.
Results
The results showed that the median (min, max) of NGF in patients with DO was significantly higher in comparing to its level in women without DO [184.10 (31, 346.60) pg/ml vs. 151.80 (21, 210.70)], respectively (
P
 = 0.035). Using receiver-operator characteristics analysis, the threshold urinary NGF value of 102.00 pg/ml provided a sensitivity of 88% and specificity of 40% in diagnosing DO, PPV of 39.1%, and NPV of 88.2%, positive likelihood ratio 2.18 and negative likelihood ratio of 0.45 (
P
 = 0.02).
Conclusion
Based on high sensitivity and low specificity, we can conclude that NGF can be a good tool for ruling out the OAB when the test is negative. However, the future investigations are needed to expand the observed correlation in larger groups of women with DO.