Acute kidney injury

Stojanović and colleagues examined the sensitivity of KIM-1 and cystatin-C, two biomarkers of renal injury, and investigated whether erythropoietin protects the kidneys of rat pups exposed to global ischemia in utero. As measured by both biomarkers, absolute injury scores were significantly lower in pups that received darbepoetin-α.

See Early biomarkers of renal injury and protective effect of erythropoietin on kidneys of asphyxiated newborn rats

Tobacco and adiposity

Zinkhan and coinvestigators hypothesized that in utero exposure to tobacco smoke would increase visceral adiposity and alter the glucocorticoid pathway in young adult rats. Pregnant rats were exposed to cigarette smoke from E11.5 to term. Their newborns exhibited increased visceral adiposity and glucocorticoid pathway alterations in a sex-specific manner.

See Maternal tobacco smoke increased visceral adiposity and serum corticosterone levels in adult male rat offspring

Caffeine and developing white matter

Caffeine is widely used to treat apnea of prematurity, but the standard dosing regimen is not always sufficient to prevent apnea. Atik et al. sought to determine the impact of daily high-dose caffeine administration on developing ovine brain white matter. Caffeine or saline was administered to pregnant sheep. Necropsy showed no apparent structural alterations in white or gray matter resulting from daily high-dose caffeine.

See Impact of daily high-dose caffeine exposure on developing white matter of the immature ovine brain

Oxygenation during feeding

Corvaglia et al. investigated the differences between bolus and continuous feeding with respect to cerebral and splanchnic oxygenation in healthy preterm infants. They monitored oxygenation trends during feeding and found that only splanchnic oxygenation was influenced by the feeding method.

See Bolus vs. continuous feeding: effects on splanchnic and cerebral tissue oxygenation in healthy preterm infants

Perinatal infection and encephalopathy

Jenster and colleagues investigated whether maternal or neonatal infection is associated with adverse outcomes in term newborns with encephalopathy. Clinical records for 258 term newborns with encephalopathy were examined for signs of chorioamnionitis and sepsis. The results suggest that the timing of infection and inflammatory response may influence whether infection potentiates or mitigates injury in term newborns.

See Maternal or neonatal infection: association with neonatal encephalopathy outcomes

Growth hormone and arm growth

The process of growth and maturation of long and short bones of the hand differs from that for the carpal cuboid bones. Even and coauthors assessed the impact of growth hormone (GH) on the two processes of bone maturation. Both GH-deficient children and children with idiopathic short stature received GH treatment for two years. The dominant effect of GH appeared to be on growth of the carpal cuboid bones, with a milder effect on the long and short bones of the hand.

See Role of growth hormone in enchondroplasia and chondral osteogenesis: evaluation by X-ray of the hand