Maternal treatment with antenatal steroids is recommended to induce fetal lung maturation when there is threatened premature delivery. Steroids are known to produce lymphopenia in children and adults. We hypothesized that ANS would reduce the number of circulating stem cells and total lymphocytes in exposed infants. Umbilical cord blood was collected from 86 preterm infants between 24 and 36 weeks of gestational age and from 8 term infants. Complete blood counts and flowcytometric immunophenotype assay were performed on these specimens to determine the number of stem cells (CD34) and lymphocytes. ANOVA was used to make comparisons among full term infants, preterm infants with no ANS exposure and preterm infants exposed to ANS. Data presented are means and SEM. Regression analysis revealed no significant relationship between gestational age and absolute number of CD34 cells or total lymphocytes.

We concluded that ANS do not decrease the number of circulating lymphocytes or stem cells in the cord blood of preterm infants. Table

Table 1 No caption available.
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