Project description:PurposePerinatal brain injury is a primary cause of cerebral palsy, a condition resulting in lifelong motor impairment. Infancy is an important period of motor system development, including development of the corticospinal tract (CST), the primary pathway for cortical movement control. The interaction between perinatal stroke recovery, CST organization, and resultant motor outcome in infants is not well understood.MethodsHere, we present a protocol for multimodal longitudinal assessment of brain development and motor function following perinatal brain injury using transcranial magnetic stimulation and magnetic resonance imaging to noninvasively measure CST functional and structural integrity across multiple time points in infants 3 to 24 months of age. We will further assess the association between cortical excitability, integrity, and motor function.DiscussionThis protocol will identify bioindicators of motor outcome and neuroplasticity and subsequently inform early detection, diagnosis, and intervention strategies for infants with perinatal stroke, brain bleeds, and related diagnoses.
Project description:Placental and fetal hypoxia caused by perinatal hypoxic-ischemic events are major causes of stillbirth, neonatal morbidity, and long-term neurological sequelae among surviving neonates. Brain hypoxia and associated pathological processes such as excitotoxicity, apoptosis, necrosis, and inflammation, are associated with lasting disruptions in epigenetic control of gene expression contributing to neurological dysfunction. Recent studies have pointed to DNA (de)methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNAs as crucial components of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). The understanding of epigenetic dysregulation in HIE is essential in the development of new clinical interventions for perinatal HIE. Here, we summarize our current understanding of epigenetic mechanisms underlying the molecular pathology of HI brain damage and its clinical implications in terms of new diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic tools.
Project description:Concerns have been raised regarding the potential adverse health effects of the ubiquitous herbicide glyphosate. Here, we investigated long-term effects of developmental exposure to a glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH) by analyzing serum melatonin levels and cellular changes in the striatum of adult male rats (90 days old). Pregnant and lactating rats were exposed to 3% GBH (0.36% glyphosate) through drinking water from gestational day 5 to postnatal day 15. The offspring showed reduced serum melatonin levels (43%) at the adult age compared with the control group. The perinatal exposure to GBH also induced long-term oxidative stress-related changes in the striatum demonstrated by increased lipid peroxidation (45%) and DNA/RNA oxidation (39%) together with increased protein levels of the antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD1, 24%), glutamate-cysteine ligase (GCLC, 58%), and glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPx1, 31%). Moreover, perinatal GBH exposure significantly increased the total number of neurons (20%) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons (38%) in the adult striatum. Mechanistic in vitro studies with primary rat pinealocytes exposed to 50 µM glyphosate demonstrated a decreased melatonin secretion partially through activation of metabotropic glutamate receptor 3 (mGluR3), while higher glyphosate levels (100 or 500 µM) also reduced the pinealocyte viability. Since decreased levels of the important antioxidant and neuroprotector melatonin have been associated with an increased risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders, this demonstrates the need to consider the melatonin hormone system as a central endocrine-related target of glyphosate and other environmental contaminants.
Project description:BackgroundT cells have been implicated in various neurological conditions, yet their role in neonatal brain injuries remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the impact of perinatal factors on frequencies of T cell subsets in preterm infants and to explore the differences in blood genome expression profiles between preterm infants with and without brain injury.Materials and methodsThree cohorts of preterm infants were used. Blood samples were collected soon after birth for the first cohort and late timepoint for the second and third cohorts. In the first cohort (88 infants), flow cytometry measured the proportions of αβT and γδT cell subsets in peripheral blood, analyzing associations with gestational age, birth weight, sex, delivery type, and maternal conditions. The second cohort focused on the relationship between T cell subsets and brain injury. In the third cohort, transcriptome sequencing identified differentially expressed genes and pathways in infants with brain injury, highlighting immune-related changes.ResultsInfants born at 29-30 weeks or with a birth weight of 1000-1500 g had significantly higher proportions of Vδ2+ T cells compared to those born at 30-32 weeks or with a birth weight > 1500 g, while no significant difference was found between infants born at < 29 weeks or with a birth weight < 1000 g. A negative correlation was observed between gestational age and Vδ2+ T cell frequency. No significant associations were found between Vδ2+ T cell proportions and perinatal factors other than gestational age or brain injury. Blood transcriptome analysis revealed 173 differentially expressed genes, characterized by downregulated interferon signaling and upregulated antimicrobial and neutrophil pathways in infants with brain injury.ConclusionsGestational age and birth weight influence Vδ2+ T cell proportions in preterm infants, likely reflecting immune maturation. While no direct link to brain injury was found, altered immune pathways suggest potential biomarkers for prognosis, warranting further research into their roles and therapeutic implications in neonatal brain injuries.
Project description:ObjectiveThe authors explored the relationship of cord-maternal antidepressant concentration ratios and maternal depression with perinatal events and preterm birth.MethodThe investigators examined 21 mother-infant pairs that had antidepressant exposure during pregnancy. The antidepressants included serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) and nortriptyline (a norepinephrine inhibitor and mild SRI). The mothers were evaluated with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Depression ratings were repeated at 20, 30, and 36 weeks' pregnancy. At delivery, investigators assessed cord and maternal antidepressant concentrations, neonatal outcomes on the Peripartum Events Scale (PES), and gestational weeks at birth. The investigators performed this study at the Women's Behavioral HealthCARE Program, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pennsylvania, from April 2003 until September 2006.ResultsMean ± SD cord-to-maternal concentration ratios were 0.52 ± 0.35 (range, 0.00-1.64) for the parent drug and 0.54 ± 0.17 (range, 0.28-0.79) for the metabolite. Nine of 21 mothers (43%) had a major depressive episode. From examining the maximum depression ratings, the mean ± SD Structured Interview Guide for the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Atypical Depression Symptoms Version score was 16.0 ± 7.6. One third (7/21) of infants had at least 1 perinatal event (PES ≥ 1). The frequency of deliveries complicated by any perinatal event was similar in depressed and nondepressed mothers. There was no significant association between perinatal events and cord-to-maternal antidepressant concentration ratios or maternal depression levels. Exposure to short half-life antidepressants compared to fluoxetine resulted in more perinatal events (7/16 = 44% vs 0/5 = 0%; P = .06). Fourteen percent (3/21) of infants were preterm. Preterm birth was not associated with cord-to-maternal metabolite concentration ratios, depression levels, or exposure to fluoxetine.ConclusionsAntidepressant-exposed infants experienced a limited number of transient perinatal events. No association between cord-maternal concentration ratios or maternal depression and perinatal events could be identified. Contrary to other reports, we detected no increased risk for perinatal events with fluoxetine therapy compared to the short half-life antidepressants.Trial registrationclinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00279370.
Project description:ObjectiveThe Birth Score Project (Project WATCH) began in the rural state of West Virginia (WV) in the United States in 1984. The project is intended to identify newborns with a greater risk of infant mortality. The primary objective of this study was to update the current Birth Score based on current literature and rigorous statistical methodology.Study designThe study merged data from the Birth Score, Birth Certificate (birth years 2008-2013), and Infant Mortality Data (N = 121,640). The merged data were randomly divided into developmental (N = 85,148) and validation (N = 36,492) datasets. Risk scoring system was developed using the weighted multivariate risk score functions and consisted of infant and maternal factors.ResultsThe updated score ranged from 0 to 86. Infants with a score of ≥17 were categorized into the high score group (n = 15,387; 18.1%). The odds of infant mortality were 5.6 times higher (95% confidence interval: 4.4, 7.1) among those who had a high score versus low score.ConclusionThe updated score is a better predictor of infant mortality than the current Birth Score. This score has practical relevance for physicians in WV to identify newborns at the greatest risk of infant mortality and refer the infants to primary pediatric services and case management for close follow-up.
Project description:Infants born in early term (37-38 weeks gestation) experience slower neurodevelopment than those born at full term (40-41 weeks gestation). While this could be due to higher perinatal morbidity, gestational age at birth may also have a direct effect on the brain. Here we characterise brain volume and white matter correlates of gestational age at birth in healthy term-born neonates and their relationship to later neurodevelopmental outcome using T2 and diffusion weighted MRI acquired in the neonatal period from a cohort (n = 454) of healthy babies born at term age (>37 weeks gestation) and scanned between 1 and 41 days after birth. Images were analysed using tensor-based morphometry and tract-based spatial statistics. Neurodevelopment was assessed at age 18 months using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III). Infants born earlier had higher relative ventricular volume and lower relative brain volume in the deep grey matter, cerebellum and brainstem. Earlier birth was also associated with lower fractional anisotropy, higher mean, axial, and radial diffusivity in major white matter tracts. Gestational age at birth was positively associated with all Bayley-III subscales at age 18 months. Regression models predicting outcome from gestational age at birth were significantly improved after adding neuroimaging features associated with gestational age at birth. This work adds to the body of evidence of the impact of early term birth and highlights the importance of considering the effect of gestational age at birth in future neuroimaging studies including term-born babies.
Project description:Large-scale longitudinal neuroimaging studies of the infant brain allow us to map the spatiotemporal development of the brain in its early phase. While the postmenstrual age (PMA) is commonly used as a time index to analyze longitudinal MRI data, the nonlinear relationship between PMA and MRI data imposes challenges for downstream analyses. We propose a mathematical model that provides a Developmental Score (DevS) as a data-driven time index to characterize the brain development based on MRI features. 319 diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) datasets were collected from 87 term-born and 66 preterm-born infants at multiple visits, which were automatically segmented based on the JHU neonatal atlas. The mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) in 126 brain parcels were used in the model to derive DevS. We demonstrate that transforming the time index from PMA to DevS improves the linearity of the longitudinal changes in MD and FA in both gray and white matter structures. More importantly, regional developmental differences in DTI metrics between preterm- and term-born infants were identified more clearly using DevS, e.g. 79 structures showed significantly different regression patterns in MD between preterm- and term-born infants, compared to only 27 structures that showed group differences using PMA as the index. Therefore, the DevS model facilitates linear analyses of DTI metrics in the infant brain, and provides a useful tool to characterize altered brain development due to preterm-birth.
Project description:Zika virus (ZIKV) infection has a profound impact on the fetal nervous system. The postnatal period is also a time of rapid brain growth, and it is important to understand the potential neurobehavioral consequences of ZIKV infection during infancy. Here we show that postnatal ZIKV infection in a rhesus macaque model resulted in long-term behavioral, motor, and cognitive changes, including increased emotional reactivity, decreased social contact, loss of balance, and deficits in visual recognition memory at one year of age. Structural and functional MRI showed that ZIKV-infected infant rhesus macaques had persistent enlargement of lateral ventricles, smaller volumes and altered functional connectivity between brain areas important for socioemotional behavior, cognitive, and motor function (e.g. amygdala, hippocampus, cerebellum). Neuropathological changes corresponded with neuroimaging results and were consistent with the behavioral and memory deficits. Overall, this study demonstrates that postnatal ZIKV infection in this model may have long-lasting neurodevelopmental consequences.
Project description:IntroductionInitiation of breastfeeding has been associated with reduced post-perinatal infant mortality. Although most states have initiatives to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding, no analysis of the association between breastfeeding and infant mortality has been conducted at the state and regional levels. To understand the associations between breastfeeding and post-perinatal infant mortality, the initiation of breastfeeding with post-perinatal infant mortality was analyzed by geographic region and individual states within each region.MethodsThis study was a prospective cohort analysis linking U.S. national birth and post-perinatal infant death data for nearly 10 million infants born in 2016-2018, who were then followed for one year after birth and analyzed in 2021-2022.ResultsA total of 9,711,567 live births and 20,632 post-perinatal infant deaths from 48 states and the District of Columbia were included in the analysis. The overall AOR and 95% CIs for breastfeeding initiation with post-perinatal infant mortality was 0.67 (0.65, 0.69, p<0.0001) for days 7-364. All seven U.S. geographic regions had significant reductions in postperinatal infant deaths associated with breastfeeding initiation; Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions had the largest reductions with AOR of 0.56 (95% CI=0.51, 0.61, p<0.001 and 0.50, 0.63, p<0.001, respectively), whereas the Southeast had the smallest reduction with AOR of 0.79 (95% CI=0.75, 0.84, p<0.001). Statistically significant results were noted for 35 individual states for reduction in total post-perinatal infant deaths.ConclusionsAlthough regional and state variation in the magnitude of the association between breastfeeding and infant mortality exists, the consistency of reduced risk, together with existing literature, suggests that breastfeeding promotion and support may be a strategy to reduce infant mortality in the U.S.