Altered Cerebellar Biochemical Profiles in Infants Born Prematurely.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Brossard-Racine M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5557848 | biostudies-other | 2017 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description:ContextPrematurely born children have a high risk of developmental and behavioral disabilities. Cerebral abnormalities at term age have been clearly linked with later behavior alterations, but existing studies did not focus on the amygdala. Moreover, studies of early amygdala development after premature birth in humans are scarce.ObjectiveTo compare amygdala volumes in very preterm infants at term equivalent age (TEA) and term born infants, and to relate premature infants' amygdala volumes with their performance on the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB) fear episode at 12 months.ParticipantsEighty one infants born between 2008 and 2014 at the University Hospitals of Geneva and Lausanne, taking part in longitudinal and functional imaging studies, who had undergone a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan at TEA enabling manual amygdala delineation.OutcomesAmygdala volumes assessed by manual segmentation of MRI scans; volumes of cortical and subcortical gray matter, white matter and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) automatically segmented in 66 infants; scores for the Lab-TAB fear episode for 42 premature infants at 12 months.ResultsAmygdala volumes were smaller in preterm infants at TEA than term infants (mean difference 138.03 mm(3), p < 0.001), and overall right amygdala volumes were larger than left amygdala volumes (mean difference 36.88 mm(3), p < 0.001). White matter volumes were significantly smaller (p < 0.001) and CSF volumes significantly larger (p < 0.001) in preterm than in term born infants, while cortical and subcortical gray matter volumes were not significantly different between groups. Amygdala volumes showed significant correlation with the intensity of the escape response to a fearsome toy (rs = 0.38, p = 0.013), and were larger in infants showing an escape response compared to the infants showing no escape response (mean difference 120.97 mm(3), p = 0.005). Amygdala volumes were not significantly correlated with the intensity of facial fear, distress vocalizations, bodily fear and positive motor activity in the fear episode.ConclusionOur results indicate that premature birth is associated with a reduction in amygdala volumes and white matter volumes at TEA, suggesting that altered amygdala development might be linked to alterations in white matter connectivity reported in premature infants. Moreover, our data suggests that such alterations might affect infants' fear-processing capabilities.
| S-EPMC4870280 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Premature birth is associated with high rates of motor and cognitive disability. Investigations have described resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) correlates of prematurity in older children, but comparable data in the neonatal period remain scarce. We studied 25 term-born control infants within the first week of life and 25 very preterm infants (born at gestational ages ranging from 23 to 29 weeks) without evident structural injury at term equivalent postmenstrual age. Conventional resting-state network (RSN) mapping revealed only modest differences between the term and prematurely born infants, in accordance with previous work. However, clear group differences were observed in quantitative analyses based on correlation and covariance matrices representing the functional MRI time series extracted from 31 regions of interest in 7 RSNs. In addition, the maximum likelihood dimensionality estimates of the group-averaged covariance matrices in the term and preterm infants were 5 and 3, respectively, indicating that prematurity leads to a reduction in the complexity of rs-fMRI covariance structure. These findings highlight the importance of quantitative analyses of rs-fMRI data and suggest a more sensitive method for delineating the effects of preterm birth in infants without evident structural injury.
| S-EPMC4677980 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The objective of this study was to correlate neurodevelopmental outcome of preterm-born children and their perinatal clinical and imaging characteristics with diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of the three cerebellar peduncles at age 7. Included in this prospective longitudinal study were 140 preterm-born children (<30 weeks gestation) who underwent neurodevelopmental assessment (IQ, motor, language, working memory) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) at age 7 years. White matter tracts in the superior, middle, and inferior cerebellar peduncles were delineated using regions of interest drawn on T2-weighted images and fractional anisotropy (FA) maps. Diffusion measures (mean diffusivity (MD) and FA) and tract volumes were calculated. Linear regression was used to assess relationships with outcome. The severity of white matter injury in the neonatal period was associated with lower FA in the right superior cerebellar peduncle (SCP) and lower tract volumes of both SCPs and middle cerebellar peduncles (MCPs). In the MCP, higher IQ was associated with lower MD in the whole group and higher FA in right-handed children. In the SCP, lower motor scores were associated with higher MD and higher language scores were associated with higher FA. These associations remained significant in multivariable models. This study adds to the body of literature detailing the importance of cerebellar involvement in cognitive function related to reciprocal connections with supratentorial structures.
| S-EPMC5136350 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The cerebral white matter is vulnerable to injury in very preterm infants (born prior to 30 weeks gestation), resulting in a spectrum of lesions. These range from severe forms, including cystic periventricular leukomalacia and periventricular hemorrhagic infarction, to minor focal punctate lesions. Moderate to severe white matter injury in preterm infants has been shown to predict later neurodevelopmental disability, although outcomes can vary widely in infants with qualitatively comparable lesions. Resting state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging has been increasingly utilized in neurodevelopmental investigations and may provide complementary information regarding the impact of white matter injury on the developing brain. We performed resting state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging at term equivalent postmenstrual age in fourteen preterm infants with moderate to severe white matter injury secondary to periventricular hemorrhagic infarction. In these subjects, resting state networks were identifiable throughout the brain. Patterns of aberrant functional connectivity were observed and depended upon injury severity. Comparisons were performed against data obtained from prematurely-born infants with mild white matter injury and healthy, term-born infants and demonstrated group differences. These results reveal structural-functional correlates of preterm white matter injury and carry implications for future investigations of neurodevelopmental disability.
| S-EPMC3706620 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundClostridium perfringens forms part of the human gut microbiota and has been associated with life-threatening necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) in premature infants. Whether specific toxigenic strains are responsible is unknown, as is the extent of diversity of strains in healthy premature babies. We investigated the C. perfringens carrier status of premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit, factors influence this status, and the toxic potential of the strains.MethodsC. perfringens was isolated by culture from faecal samples from 333 infants and their toxin gene profiles analysed by PCR. A survival analysis was used to identify factors affecting probability of carriage. Competitive growth experiments were used to explore the results of the survival analysis.Results29.4% of infants were colonized with C. perfringens before they left hospital. Three factors were inversely associated with probability of carriage: increased duration of maternal milk feeds, CPAP oxygen treatment and antibiotic treatment. C. perfringens grew poorly in breast milk and was significantly outperformed by Bifidobacterium infantis, whether grown together or separately. Toxin gene screening revealed that infants carried isolates positive for collagenase, perfringolysin O, beta 2, beta, becA/B, netB and enterotoxin toxin genes, yet none were observed to be associated with the development of NEC.ConclusionsApproximately a third of preterm infants are colonised 3 weeks after birth with toxin gene-carrying C. perfringens. We speculate that increased maternal breast milk, oxygen and antibiotic treatment creates an environment in the gut hostile to growth of C. perfringens. Whilst potentially toxigenic C. perfringens isolates were frequent, no toxin type was associated with NEC.Trial registrationclinicaltrials.gov NCT01102738, registered 13th April 2010.
| S-EPMC7027286 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Cortical resting state networks have been consistently identified in infants using resting state-functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Comparable studies in adults have demonstrated cerebellar components of well-established cerebral networks. However, there has been limited investigation of early cerebellar functional connectivity. We acquired non-sedated rs-fMRI data in the first week of life in 57 healthy, term-born infants and at term-equivalent postmenstrual age in 20 very preterm infants (mean birth gestational age 27 ± 2 weeks) without significant cerebral or cerebellar injury. Seed correlation analyses were performed using regions of interests spanning the cortical and subcortical gray matter and cerebellum. Parallel analyses were performed using rs-fMRI data acquired in 100 healthy adults. Our results demonstrate that cortico-cerebellar functional connectivity is well-established by term. Intra- and cortico-cerebellar functional connectivity were largely similar in infants and adults. However, infants showed more functional connectivity structure within the cerebellum, including stronger homotopic correlations and more robust anterior-posterior anticorrelations. Prematurity was associated with reduced correlation magnitudes, but no alterations in intra- and cortico-cerebellar functional connectivity topography. These results add to the growing evidence that the cerebellum plays an important role in shaping early brain development during infancy.
| S-EPMC6373668 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceSurvivors of preterm birth often present with medical morbidities; however, variation in their long-term educational performance has not been well described.ObjectiveTo estimate the association between gestational age and 4 outcomes in school-aged children: readiness to enter kindergarten, scores on standardized tests in elementary and middle school, gifted status, and low performance.Design, setting, and participantsIn a retrospective cohort study, children born in Florida between 1992 and 2002 at 23 to 41 weeks' gestation who entered Florida's public schools between 1995 and 2012 were assessed for kindergarten readiness and tested in mathematics and reading in grades 3 through 8. Data analysis was performed from January 12, 2016, to March 1, 2017.ExposuresGestational age at birth.Main outcomes and measuresKindergarten readiness, scores on the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT), classified as gifted, and classified as low performance.ResultsA total of 1?527?113 singleton infants with gestational ages of 23 to 41 weeks born between 1992 and 2002 were matched to Florida public school records. Of these, 1?301?497 children were included in the analysis; 641?479 (49.3%) were girls. A total of 301 (65.0%) Florida children born at 23 to 24 weeks' gestation were designated as ready to start kindergarten. When the FCAT test scores were adjusted for potentially confounding maternal and infant variables, children born at 23 to 24 weeks' gestation performed 0.66 SD (95% CI, -0.73 to -0.59) lower compared with those born at full term. A total of 123?554 (9.5%) of all Florida-born public school students were considered gifted, including 17 (1.8%) of those born at 23 to 24 weeks' gestation. In comparison, 75?458 (5.8%) of all Florida-born public school students were low performing; 310 (33.5%) of these children had been born at 23 to 24 weeks' gestation. Kindergarten readiness, FCAT scores, and gifted status were positively related to gestational age, whereas low performance was inversely related to gestational age.Conclusions and relevanceAlthough gestational age has long been associated with poor educational performance, a sufficient proportion of children born near the limits of viability performed within expected school norms, warranting further investigation into how and why certain children are able to overcome the educational burdens that may follow preterm birth.
| S-EPMC5710633 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Adolescents born preterm (PT) with no evidence of neonatal brain injury are at risk of deficits in visual memory and fine motor skills that diminish academic performance. The association between these deficits and white matter microstructure is relatively unexplored. We studied 190 PTs with no brain injury and 92 term controls at age 16 years. The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCF), the Beery visual-motor integration (VMI), and the Grooved Pegboard Test (GPT) were collected for all participants, while a subset (40 PTs and 40 terms) underwent diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. PTs performed more poorly than terms on ROCF, VMI, and GPT (all P < 0.01). Mediation analysis showed fine motor skill (GPT score) significantly mediates group difference in ROCF and VMI (all P < 0.001). PTs showed a negative correlation (P < 0.05, corrected) between fractional anisotropy (FA) in the bilateral middle cerebellar peduncles and GPT score, with higher FA correlating to lower (faster task completion) GPT scores, and between FA in the right superior cerebellar peduncle and ROCF scores. PTs also had a positive correlation (P < 0.05, corrected) between VMI and left middle cerebellar peduncle FA. Novel strategies to target fine motor skills and the cerebellum may help PTs reach their full academic potential.
| S-EPMC5939198 | biostudies-other
Project description:Preterm (PT) birth results in long-term alterations in functional and structural connectivity, but the related changes in anatomical covariance are just beginning to be explored. To test the hypothesis that PT birth alters patterns of anatomical covariance, we investigated brain volumes of 25 PTs and 22 terms at young adulthood using magnetic resonance imaging. Using regional volumetrics, seed-based analyses, and whole brain graphs, we show that PT birth is associated with reduced volume in bilateral temporal and inferior frontal lobes, left caudate, left fusiform, and posterior cingulate for prematurely born subjects at young adulthood. Seed-based analyses demonstrate altered patterns of anatomical covariance for PTs compared with terms. PTs exhibit reduced covariance with R Brodmann area (BA) 47, Broca's area, and L BA 21, Wernicke's area, and white matter volume in the left prefrontal lobe, but increased covariance with R BA 47 and left cerebellum. Graph theory analyses demonstrate that measures of network complexity are significantly less robust in PTs compared with term controls. Volumes in regions showing group differences are significantly correlated with phonological awareness, the fundamental basis for reading acquisition, for the PTs. These data suggest both long-lasting and clinically significant alterations in the covariance in the PTs at young adulthood.
| S-EPMC5939217 | biostudies-other
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC7347762 | biostudies-literature