Mouse and human heart development
Mouse mutants are used to model human congenital cardiovascular disease, but little has been published comparing normal cardiovascular development in mice with that in humans. Krishnan and colleagues’ systematic comparative analysis supports the idea that mouse morphogenesis is a reliable model of human cardiovascular development.
See A detailed comparison of mouse and human cardiac development
Antibiotics and renal branching
Many preterm newborns with infections receive antibiotics during active nephrogenesis. Bueters et al. studied the effects of clinical concentrations of gentamicin, ceftazidime, and meropenem on ureteric branching in mice. Metanephroi were dissected on embryonic day 13 and cultured in media with or without drug, at various concentrations. Only ceftazidime reduced ureteric branching in mice.
See Antibiotics and renal branching morphogenesis: comparison of toxicities
Neonatal host defense
The role of T-helper 17 (Th17) cells in neonatal host defense remains to be fully explained. Caron and colleagues examined neonatal production of interleukin-17 (IL-17) in mixed mononuclear cells isolated from umbilical-cord blood for comparison with adult peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Their results suggest that a profound IL-17 deficiency, associated with a marked decrease in Th17 cells, probably contributes to the increased susceptibility of human newborns to invasive bacterial and fungal infections.
See Severely depressed interleukin-17 production by human neonatal mononuclear cells
Hepatoblastoma screening
Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome and hemihyperplasia are overgrowth conditions with a predisposition to hepatoblastoma, for which α-fetoprotein (αFP) is an early tumor marker. Mussa and coinvestigators analyzed the reliability of αFP detection using an analytical micromethod based on blood dried on filter paper. This method appears to measure αFP reliably, offering novel potential avenues for conducting cancer screening in overgrowth syndromes.
Early puberty
Hormonal indicators could be useful for detecting early onset of puberty, but there has been little research on how they are related to puberty in US girls. Using data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Addo et al. determined median age at hormonal onset of puberty and explored the extent to which body composition moderates this timing process. Among other findings, they report that preadolescent weight gain lowers the age of hormonal onset.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Krishnan, A., Samtani, R., Dhanantwari, P. et al. Editor’s Focus. Pediatr Res 76, 499 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/pr.2014.150
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/pr.2014.150