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Biomedical subjects

Neena Modi

Publications and source records attributed to Neena Modi.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

A controlled trial of skin-to-skin contact in extremely preterm infants.

BACKGROUND: Extremely preterm birth, even in the absence of significant neurological impairment, is associated with altered pain responses and impaired memory and behaviour. Preterm birth increases the risk of maternal depression and may impede the development of the mother-infant relationship, factors that in turn are also associated with impaired infant outcome. Mother-infant skin-to-skin contact has been recommended as a simple means of ameliorating these effects. METHODS: We conducted a pragmatic, prospective, controlled, intention-to-treat trial in two neonatal intensive care units. Infants born below 32 weeks gestation were recruited within the first week after birth and assigned to a control group receiving standard care, or an intervention group in which mothers were encouraged to provide a session of skin-to-skin contact once daily for 4 weeks. We assessed infant behaviour at time of discharge from hospital, responses to immunisation at 4 and 12 months of age, and memory, behaviour and development at 1 year corrected (postmenstrual) age. Indices of maternal depression, stress, anxiety, lactation performance and infant interaction were assessed at time of infant discharge, 4 months and 1 year. RESULTS: No significant difference was identified in any infant or maternal measure at any time point. CONCLUSIONS: Mother-infant skin-to-skin contact after extremely preterm birth results in neither benefit nor adverse consequences. Although there is no reason to dissuade mothers who wish to provide STS contact, we are unable to recommend resource allocation for the implementation of STS programmes for extremely preterm infants in a neonatal intensive care unit setting.

Adult↗

Risk management in neonatal research.

Good clinical research should be encouraged and supported. However, although it is essential for medicine to advance, clinical research involves risks for patients, researchers and organisations. Risk management acknowledges that risks exist. It involves adherence to good standards of practice, the means to demonstrate good practice and ensuring that mechanisms are in place to deal with problems that might arise.

Biomedical Research↗

Glucocorticoid exposure in preterm babies predicts saliva cortisol response to immunization at 4 months.

Preterm babies are exposed to multiple stressors and this may have long-term effects. In particular, high levels of endogenous cortisol might have a programming effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis as may administered glucocorticoids. In this study, we aimed to test the hypothesis that the level of endogenous and exogenous glucocorticoid exposure during the neonatal period predicts the saliva cortisol response to immunization at 4 mo of age. We followed 45 babies born below 32 wk gestation. We showed that their concentration of plasma cortisol during the first 4 wk was 358, 314, 231, and 195 nmol/L cortisol, respectively (geometric mean). This is four to seven times higher than fetal levels at the same gestational age range. We used routine immunization at 4 mo and 12 mo as a stressor and measured the change in saliva cortisol as the stress response. Mean circulating cortisol in the first 4 wk predicted the cortisol response at 4 but not at 12 mo. Path analysis showed that birthweight for gestational age, therapeutic antenatal steroids, and therapeutic postnatal steroids also contributed to the magnitude of the saliva cortisol response at 4 mo. This provides evidence that the magnitude of glucocorticoid exposure, both endogenous and exogenous, may have an effect on later stress responses.

Female↗

Altered adiposity after extremely preterm birth.

The quantity and distribution of adipose tissue are markers of morbidity risk. The third trimester of human development is a period of rapid adipose tissue deposition. Preterm infants may be at risk of altered adiposity. We measured anthropometric indices and quantified total, subcutaneous, and intraabdominal adipose tissue volumes using whole-body magnetic resonance adipose tissue imaging in 38 infants born at <32 wk gestational age, when they reached term, and 29 term-born infants. The preterm infants at term were significantly lighter and shorter than the term-born infants, but there was no significant difference in head circumference SD score or total adiposity. The preterm infants had a highly significant decrease in subcutaneous adipose tissue and significantly increased intraabdominal adipose tissue. Accelerated postnatal weight gain was accompanied by increased total and subcutaneous adiposity. Illness severity was the principal determinant of increased intraabdominal adiposity. Our data provide evidence of causal pathways linking accelerated postnatal growth with increased total and subcutaneous adiposity, and illness severity with altered adipose tissue partitioning. We suggest that these observations may in part explain the associations between small size at birth and later disease. Preterm infants may be at risk in later life of metabolic complications through increased and aberrant adiposity.

Adipose Tissue↗

Adipose tissue magnetic resonance imaging in the newborn.

Infancy is a period of rapid adipose tissue accumulation, and influences during early development are plausible determinants of altered adiposity. The distribution, as well as the quantity of adipose tissue, is a marker of health and disease. Previous methods for the assessment of body composition in infants have been indirect and thus unable to determine adipose quantity reliably, nor assess adipose tissue distribution. Adipose tissue magnetic resonance imaging is direct, non-invasive, radiation free and suitable for serial examinations in infancy. Adipose tissue depots are quantified individually and summated to provide an accurate measure of depot-specific and total adiposity. We have adapted this technique for application to newborns and, to date, have imaged over 100 term and preterm infants.

Adipose Tissue↗

Distribution of adipose tissue in the newborn.

Regional differences in adipose tissue distribution are associated with differences in adipocyte metabolism and obesity-related morbidities. Intrauterine growth restriction appears to place individuals at greater risk of obesity associated morbidities in later life. Despite this, little is known regarding the quantity and distribution of adipose tissue in infants during early development. The aim of this study was to compare total and regional adipose tissue content in appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) and growth-restricted (GR) newborn infants born at or near term. Whole body adipose tissue magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed as soon as possible after birth. Total and regional adipose tissue depots were quantified. A total of 35 infants (10 GR; 25 AGA) were studied. Mean (SD) total percentage adipose tissue was lower in GR infants than AGA infants [GR: 17.70% (2.17); AGA: 23.40% (3.85); p = 0.003]. This difference arose from differences in subcutaneous adipose tissue mass [mean (SD) percentage subcutaneous adipose tissue mass, GR: 16.13% (2.20); AGA: 21.44% (3.81); p = 0.004], but not intra-abdominal adipose tissue mass [mean (SD) percentage intra-abdominal adipose tissue, GR: 0.42% (0.22); AGA: 0.61% (0.31); p = 0.45]. In contrast to subcutaneous adipose tissue, intra-abdominal adipose tissue is not reduced in infants with intrauterine growth restriction. This suggests that subcutaneous and intra-abdominal adipose tissue compartments may be under different regulatory control during intrauterine life.

Adipose Tissue↗

Clinical implications of postnatal alterations in body water distribution.

Substantial alterations take place in the quantity and distribution of body water compartments after birth. Clinical management must be tailored to the pace of postnatal adaptation, and the neonatal physician must be aware of these alterations in order to promote both normal physiological change and growth.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

RBC T activation and hemolysis in a neonatal intensive care population: implications for transfusion practice.

BACKGROUND: Reports of transfusion-associated hemolysis in infants with T-activated RBCs have led to the suggestion that infants should be screened and provided with low-titer anti-T blood components. T-activated RBCs react with the lectins Arachis hypogea and Glycine soja; variants of T (Th and Tx) and Tk also react with A. hypogea, but not G. soja. Although Tk is not a true variant of T, for the purposes of this study, all RBCs that are reactive with A. hypogea but are not reactive with G. soja are called "T variants." STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A prospective study was carried out to examine T and T variant activation and transfusion-associated hemolysis in a neonatal intensive care population and to determine if antibodies to T and T variant are detectable in donor plasma. A total of 2041 samples from 375 infants were tested for T and T variant activation utilizing a lectin panel. Three hundred donor plasma samples were tested for antibodies to T and T variant. RESULTS: Forty-eight of 375 infants (12.8%) had T- and T-variant-activated RBCs. Of these, 13 of 48 (27%) developed at least one episode of sepsis and 9 of 48 (19%) developed necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) at some point during their inpatient stay. T activation was not always temporally associated with the onset of NEC or sepsis. The remaining 26 of 48 (54%) were healthy infants receiving convalescent care in the neonatal intensive care units and showed no evidence of either NEC or sepsis. Twelve (of 375) additional infants (3.2%) who developed NEC and 100 (27%) who developed sepsis showed no RBC T activation. Twenty-three of 48 (48%) infants with T-activated RBCs received standard blood components, but no transfusion-associated hemolysis occurred. Donor plasma samples contained T but not T variant antibodies. CONCLUSION: T variant activation of RBCs occurs in healthy neonates as well as in infants with NEC and sepsis, but T activation appears rare. Transfusion- associated hemolysis was not seen. The provision of specially prepared blood components for infants with NEC is unnecessary.

Antibodies↗