The Relationship Between Copeptin Level and Enuresis in Children Aged 5 - 15 Years

Abstract

Background: Enuresis is bedwetting that occurs during sleep in children over five years old. If left untreated, it can lead to social and psychological problems for children and their parents. The role of copeptin in patients with primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (PMNE) has been reported in several studies. Due to the favorable structural properties of copeptin and the reflection of arginine vasopressin (AVP) concentration, it can be used as an alternative marker for AVP secretion. Objectives: This study aims to compare the levels of copeptin in healthy and enuresis children aged 5 - 15 years. Methods: This case-control study was performed on 42 children with primary monosymptomatic enuresis and 42 children without enuresis who were referred to the clinic of Taleghani hospital in Gorgan in 2020. Copeptin levels were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Results: Out of 84 patients, an equal proportion of girls (21 patients) and boys (21 patients) participated in both the case and control groups. The age of the children was 8.05 ± 2.46 years, and there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.16). The mean level of copeptin in the case and control groups were 6.7 ± 4.27 and 6.87 ± 8.52 pg/mL, respectively, significantly lower in the case group (P = 0.03). There was a statistically significant difference in the level of copeptin between the boys in the two groups (P = 0.03). Although the mean level of copeptin in the girls in the patient group was lower than that in the control group, this difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.35). Conclusions: In this study, the mean level of copeptin in PMNE was significantly lower than that in the control group, which suggests it may be considered as a probable biomarker for the prediction of response to treatment with desmopressin, but further study is required to confirm this hypothesis.