Project description:To investigate early blood biomarkers of BPD development, RNA from cord blood cells or peripheral blood cells of premature infants was subjected to RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and data were analyzed with 9 covariates including gestational age (GA), sex, birth weight (BW), estimated CD4+T cell%, CD8+T cell%, B cell%, monocyte%, granulocyte%, and nucleated red blood cell (NRBC)%. The effect of prolonged oxygen (>14 days O2) treatment in newborn intensive care unit on blood cell transcriptome was determined among nonBPD preterm infants.
Project description:Preterm infants are highly susceptible to sustained lung inflammation, which may be triggered by exposure to multiple environmental cues such as supplemental oxygen (O2) and infections. The underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. The hypothesis of this study is that dysregulated macrophage activation is a key feature leading to inflammation-mediated development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm infants.
Cord blood samples of preterm infants (n=14) and term infants (n=19) as well as peripheral blood from healthy adults (n=17) were collected. Age-dependent differences in immune responses of monocyte-derived Mä from preterm infants were characterized and compared to term infants and adults after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure.
Project description:Periventricular white matter damage (PWMD) is the principal pathological type of brain damage in premature. It causes irreversible damage to the overall function of the central nervous system resulting in cerebral palsy, convulsions, epilepsy, cognitive, motor dysfunction and other late effects. CircRNAs are participate in the biological processes underlying many nervous system diseases. However, the circRNA expression profile of peripheral venous blood of premature infants with PWMD is not completely understood. Three premature with white matter damage (PWMD group) and three infants without brain injury (Normal group) were enrolled. Peripheral venous blood was collected from both groups for extraction of RNA and circRNA sequencing was performed. The RNA-seq technique was used to screen the differentially expressed circRNA in peripheral blood of infants with PWMD. The accuracy of sequencing results was verified by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) to the differentially express partial circRNA in the sequencing results. Bioinformatics analysis of Host genes was performed with differential circRNA. TargetScan and Miranda were used to predict circRNA-binding miRNAs and mapped into a circRNA-miRNA co-expression network. There were 119 significantly different circRNAs as compared with premature without brain injury, along with 1 circRNA was up-regulated and 4 circRNAs were down-regulated expression in the PWMD group. Combined with the existing research results and bioinformatics analysis results after sequencing, it is suggested that circRNA may regulate the occurrence and development of white matter damage in premature infants by interacting with miRNA. This first study of its kind further identified the expression profile of circRNA in peripheral blood of premature with WMD, and provide a novel targets for further investigation about the molecular mechanisms underlying PWMD and potential therapeutic intervention.
Project description:This study measured the cytokine, cellular and transcriptomic response to RSV and compared these between preterm and term infants CBMC responses
Project description:<p class='ql-align-justify'>The gut microbiome has been associated with pathological neurophysiological evolvement in extremely premature infants suffering from brain injury. The exact underlying mechanism and its associated metabolic signatures in infants are not fully understood. To decipher metabolite profiles linked to neonatal brain injury, we investigated the longitudinal fecal and plasma metabolome of 51 extremely premature infants using LC-HRMS-based untargeted metabolomics. This was expanded by an investigation of bile acids and amidated bile acid conjugates in feces and plasma by LC-MS/MS-based targeted metabolomics. The resulting data was integrated with 16S rRNA gene amplicon gut microbiome profiles as well as patient cytokine, growth factor and T-cell profiles. We identified an early onset of differentiation in neuroactive metabolites and bile acids between infants with and without brain injury. We detected several bacterially-derived bile acid amino acid conjugates and secondary bile acids in the plasma already 3 days after delivery, indicating the early establishment of a metabolically active gut microbiome. These results give new insights into the early life metabolome of extremely premature infants.</p>
Project description:Intraventricular hemorrhage is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in premature infants. The rupture of the germinal zone into the ventricles entails loss of neural stem cells and disturbs the normal cytoarchitecture of the region, compromising late neurogliogenesis. Here we demonstrate that neural stem cells can be easily and robustly isolated from the hemorrhagic cerebrospinal fluid obtained during therapeutic neuroendoscopic lavage in preterm infants with severe intraventricular hemorrhage. Our analyses demonstrate that these neural stem cells, although similar to human fetal cell lines, display distinctive hallmarks related to their regional and developmental origin in the germinal zone of the ventral forebrain, the ganglionic eminences that give rise to interneurons and oligodendrocytes. These cells can be expanded, cryopreserved, and differentiated in vitro and in vivo in the brain of nude mice and show no sign of tumoral transformation 6 months after transplantation. This novel class of neural stem cells poses no ethical concerns, as the fluid is usually discarded, and could be useful for the development of an autologous therapy for preterm infants, aiming to restore late neurogliogenesis and attenuate neurocognitive deficits. Furthermore, these cells represent a valuable tool for the study of the final stages of human brain development and germinal zone biology.
Project description:Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a lung disease in premature infants characterized by impaired pulmonary development which persists into later life. While advances in neonatal care have improved survival rates of premature infants, cases of BPD haves been increased. Therapeutic options are limited for prevention and treatment. This study was designed to explore the relationship between gestational age (GA), birth weight and estímate blood cell-type composition in premature infants and to elucidate early epigenetic biomarkers associated with BPD. Cord blood DNA from preterm neonates that went on to develop BPD (n = 14) or not (nonBPD, n = 93) was applied to Illumina 450K methylation arrays. Using DNA methylation analysis of cord blood DNA, we investigated association of GA and birth weight with the estimated distribution of cord blood cell types, particularly the nucleated red blood cell (NRBC) in a pilot-size cohort of preterm infants with or without BPD. We describe changes in methylation-based estimates of blood cell-type composition in relation to GA and birth weight. After adjusting for covariates (GA, birth weight, cell type proportions, etc.) we identify differentially methylated CpGs and genes associated with BPD.