Biomarker preterm infants

Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (nRDS) is a challenging condition to diagnose which can lead to delays in receiving appropriate treatment. Mid infrared (IR) spectroscopy is capable of measuring the concentrations of two diagnostic nRDS biomarkers, lecithin (L) and sphingomyelin (S) with the potential for point of care (POC) diagnosis and monitoring. The effects of varying other lipid species present in lung surfactant on the mid IR spectra used to train machine learning models are explored. This study presents a lung lipid model of five lipids present in lung surfactant and varies each in a systematic approach to evaluate the ability of machine learning models to predict the lipid concentrations, the L/S ratio and to quantify the uncertainty in the predictions using the jackknife + -after-bootstrap and variant bootstrap methods...

Iron deficiency in the fetal and neonatal period (perinatal iron deficiency) bodes poorly for neurodevelopment. Given its common occurrence and the negative impact on brain development, a screening and treatment strategy that is focused on optimizing brain development in perinatal iron deficiency is necessary. Pediatric societies currently recommend a universal iron supplementation strategy for full-term and preterm infants that does not consider individual variation in body iron status and thus could lead to undertreatment or overtreatment...

PURPOSE: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an emerging adjunct imaging modality to evaluate retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). From an 11-year research database, we identify early OCT biomarkers that predict treatment-requiring ROP (TR-ROP). METHODS: For preterm infants with acceptable OCT images at 32 ± 1 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA), we extracted the following measures: total retina, inner retinal layer (IRL), and outer retinal layer (ORL) thicknesses at the fovea and the parafovea, inner nuclear layer (INL) and choroidal thickness, parafovea/fovea (P/F) ratio, and presence of macular edema...

INTRODUCTION: Due to improvements in perinatal care, survival rates of preterm infants have improved during the last decades. However, these infants remain at risk of developing cardiovascular sequelae later in life. This study aimed to investigate the cardiac biomarkers and left ventricular systolic function in former preterm infants in comparison with term controls at preschool age. METHODS: The study included children aged 5-7 years old born below 32 weeks of gestational age...

BACKGROUND: There are limited data on the impact of perinatal inflammation on child neurodevelopment in low-middle income countries and among growth-restricted infants. METHODS: Population-based, prospective birth cohort study of 288 infants from July 2016-March 2017 in Sylhet, Bangladesh. Umbilical cord blood was analyzed for interleukin(IL)-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and C-reactive protein(CRP). Child neurodevelopment was assessed at 24 months with Bayley-III Scales of Infant Development...

Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is a cause of morbidity and mortality in preterm infants and is strongly associated with adverse neurological outcomes. The incidence of severe IVH (grade 3 or 4) has persisted despite the overall decline in IVH. IVH has been attributed to changes in cerebral blood flow to the immature germinal matrix microvasculature. The cascade of adverse events following IVH includes inflammation, white matter injury, and delayed oligodendrial maturation. In this study, we aimed to identify long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), microRNA (miRNA), and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in the peripheral blood of preterm infants with IVH compared to normal controls, resulting in the finding of novel biomarkers for IVH...

OBJECTIVE: To validate a serum biomarker developed in the USA for preterm birth (PTB) risk stratification in Viet Nam. METHODS: Women with singleton pregnancies ( n  = 5000) were recruited between 19+0 -23+6 weeks' gestation at Tu Du Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City. Maternal serum was collected from 19+0 -22+6 weeks' gestation and participants followed to neonatal discharge. Relative insulin-like growth factor binding protein 4 (IGFBP4) and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) abundances were measured by mass spectrometry and their ratio compared between PTB cases and term controls...

AIM: Retinopathy of prematurity is a significant global cause of childhood blindness. This study aims to identify serum biomarkers that are associated with the development of ROP. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted using PRISMA guidelines. Three databases were searched (Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science) from 2003 to March 2023. Only studies investigating serum biomarker levels in preterm infants (<37 weeks gestation) were included. RESULTS: Meta-analysis suggests that low serum IGF-1 levels have a strong association with the development of ROP [SMD (95% CI) of -...

The study aims to explore the epigenetic mechanisms of neurodevelopmental impairment accompanied in chorioamniotic preterm infants. Our study included 16 full-term infants and 69 preterm infants. The methylation status of the pleomorphic adenoma gene-like 1 (PLAGL1) gene in the cord blood was determined by pyrosequencing. Brain B-ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed to diagnose brain injury. The activity of candidate fragments of PLAGL1 and the effect of methylation on PLAGL1 activity were evaluated by double luciferase reporter assay...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3) and long-term growth, body composition, and neurodevelopment in preterm infants. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective data were collected from ≤32 weeks gestational age infant cohort (N = 50). IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 concentrations were measured at 1 week (early) and 35 weeks (late) post-menstrual age (PMA). Growth, body composition, and neurodevelopment outcomes were measured at 4 and 12 months PMA...

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common late-onset infections in preterm infants, characterized by nonspecific symptoms and a pathogenic spectrum that diverges from that of term infants and older children, which present unique diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Existing data on the role of gut microbiota in UTI pathogenesis in this demographic are limited. This study aims to investigate alterations in gut microbiota and fecal calprotectin levels and their association with the development of UTIs in hospitalized preterm infants...

Brain injury is highly associated with preterm birth. Complications of prematurity, including spontaneous or necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)-associated intestinal perforations, are linked to lifelong neurologic impairment, yet the mechanisms are poorly understood. Early diagnosis of preterm brain injuries remains a significant challenge. Here, we identified subventricular zone echogenicity (SVE) on cranial ultrasound in preterm infants following intestinal perforations. The development of SVE was significantly associated with motor impairment at 2 years...

PURPOSE: To assess Gram-positive bacterial (GPB) bloodstream infection (BSI) in neonates, covering incidence, morbidity, mortality, antimicrobial resistance patterns and biomarkers in Region Stockholm, Sweden between 2006 and 2016. METHODS: A population-based retrospective epidemiological study including infants with GPB-BSI, admitted to the neonatal units at Karolinska University Hospital (KUH). Data were collected from patient records, the Swedish Neonatal Quality Register, the microbiological laboratory at KUH and the Swedish Public Health Agency...

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a common gastrointestinal complication in premature infants, resulting in high morbidity and mortality, and its early detection is crucial for accurate treatment and outcome prediction. Extensive research has demonstrated a clear correlation between NEC and extremely low birth weight, degree of preterm, formula feeding, infection, hypoxic/ischemic damage, and intestinal dysbiosis. The development of noninvasive biomarkers of NEC from stool, urine, and serum has attracted a great deal of interest because to these clinical connections and the quest for a deeper knowledge of disease pathophysiology...

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BACKGROUND: The occurrence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a common and severe disease of the digestive system in neonates. This study aims to assess the value of the intestinal tissue oxygen saturation (rint SO2 ) combined with the levels of procalcitonin (PCT) and mean platelet volume (MPV) in predicting the severity of NEC in preterm infants. METHODS: This experiment was a retrospective cohort study conducted in the Department of Pediatrics, Hongqi Hospital Affiliated to Mudanjiang Medical University between January 2017 and July 2022...

BACKGROUND: Unstable cerebral hemodynamics places preterm infants at high risk of brain injury. We adapted an innovative, fiber-free, wearable diffuse speckle contrast flow-oximetry (DSCFO) device for continuous monitoring of both cerebral blood flow (CBF) and oxygenation in neonatal piglets and preterm infants. METHODS: DSCFO uses two small laser diodes as focused-point and a tiny CMOS camera as a high-density two-dimensional detector to detect spontaneous spatial fluctuation of diffuse laser speckles for CBF measurement, and light intensity attenuations for cerebral oxygenation measurement...

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of gestational age (GA) is key in clinical management of individual obstetric patients, and critical to be able to calculate rates of preterm birth and small for GA at a population level. Currently, the gold standard for pregnancy dating is measurement of the fetal crown rump length at 11-14 weeks of gestation. However, this is not possible for women first presenting in later pregnancy, or in settings where routine ultrasound is not available. A reliable, cheap and easy to measure GA-dependent biomarker would provide an important breakthrough in estimating the age of pregnancy...

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to assess the diagnostic potential of serum intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP), fecal calprotectin (FC), and fecal human β-defensin 2 (hBD2) in predicting necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in preterm infants. METHODS: A prospective cohort of neonates with a gestational age < 32 weeks, suspected of NEC, was enrolled between June 2021 and December 2022. Serum I-FABP, FC, and fecal hBD2 levels were measured upon NEC suspicion, and diagnosis was confirmed through radiological examination or surgical intervention...

INTRODUCTION: Hyaluronan (HA) is a major component of the extracellular matrix. Increased pulmonary HA concentrations are associated with several respiratory disorders and is a pathophysiological feature of lung disease. We investigated whether elevated urine HA is a biomarker of an unfavorable 40-week respiratory outcome in preterm infants. METHODS: Infants comprised a cohort of preterm neonates &lt;31 weeks gestational age (GA) from the Prematurity-Related Ventilatory Control (Pre-Vent) multicenter study...