Background and Aims Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic lung disease associated with premature birth and early lung injury. The pathogenesis is multifactorial, including fluid and electrolytes balance that is dependent to renal development during the first weeks of life.

We previously found a correlation between renal development during the first weeks of life and urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (UNGAL) at birth in very low birth weight infants (VLBW). The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between urinary (UNGAL) and serum NGAL (SNGAL) at birth and BPD.

Methods UNGAL and SNGAL were determined at birth in VLBW. BPD was defined as oxygen need at 36 week gestational age (GA). Statistical analysis was performed with chi square.

Results 44 VLBW admitted at birth in our NICU were included in the study; 2 of them died during stay in NICU. 20/42 infants developed BPD: all were born at ≤ 29 week (GA) and 14 of them needed diuretics. High values of UNGAL (> 100 ng/ml) were observed more frequently among BPD treated with diuretics infants than in the other subjects (57% vs 28%, p=0.04).

High levels of SNGAL (>150 ng/ml) were not significantly more frequent in VLBW with BPD.

Conclusions These preliminary data show that high UNGAL at birth is a marker of impaired renal development and fluid balance in preterm newborns, that determine increased lung water and consequently contribute to BPD development.