Association of the level of glutamic acid and iron with severity of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy in neonates

Background: dailymillions of neonates suffer from birth asphyxia worldwide,due to poor quality of mother and child health care. a large number of living neonates are terminated due to hypoxia however those who survive suffer from developmental delay,mental retardation,epilepsy and cerebral palsy. glutamate and ferrous damages the brain by generating free radicals,which causes damage to lipids,proteins and nucleic acid of these fragile beings that are just beginning to breathe in the world. methods: eighty four neonates admitted in neonatal unit of tertiary care hospital had been included. neonates were classified as hypoxic on the basis of sarnat and sarnat scoring. 34 healthy neonates served as control. among 50 patients two groups were made each containing 25 neonates. group 1 comprising of 25 neonates suffering from hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy of mild degree. group 2 comprising of 25 neonates suffering from moderate to severe encephalopathy. results: serum levels of glutamate and iron were significantly raised in this study indicating the oxidative stress by glutamate and iron in pathogenesis of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy conclusion: glutamate and iron are powerful neurotoxic agents so potential therapeutic strategies should be designed for the neonates suffering from hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy in minimizing the levels of glutamic acid by use of antagonist,chelation therapy in minimizing the level of free total iron. the use of antioxidant therapy is also recommended. © 2016,lahore medical and dental college. all rights reserved.