Aim

Increased end-tidal carbon monoxide (ETCOc) and cytokines in preterm infants are related to bronchopulmonary dysplasia and intraventricular haemorrhages. The aim was to study the predictive value of ETCOc and cytokine levels for long-term outcome.

Methods

This study comprised 105 very preterm infants (57 males, 48 females; gestational age range 25wk 5d–31wk 4d; birthweight 610–2100g) who were admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit between 1 February and 31 December 2002. ETCOc, plasma tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukins (IL) 6 and 8, and malondialdehyde (MDA, a marker of lipid peroxidation), were measured at days 1, 3, and 5 of life and related to outcome at 3 years 6 months of age (Griffiths Mental Developmental Scales).

Results

Of the 105 infants, 69 were eligible for follow-up (37 male; 32 female; bronchopulmonary dysplasia, n=12). ETCOc at 0 to 24 hours was higher in infants with adverse outcome (Griffiths developmental quotient <85, n=15) compared with favourable outcome (2.7 SD 0.7 vs 2.0 SD 0.5; p<0.05). MDA and cytokines did not differ between groups. Regression analysis with bootstrapping of independent variables (gestational age, birthweight, ETCOc, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia) showed that ETCOc was the only parameter that correlated with outcome. The sensitivity and negative predictive value of ETCOc for adverse outcome were 93% and 85% respectively.

Interpretation

Adverse neurodevelopmental outcome is associated with increased endogenous carbon monoxide. ETCOc less than 2.0ppm during the first day indicates a favourable outcome.

Infants with hemolytic diseases frequently develop hyperbilirubinemia, but standard phototherapy only eliminates bilirubin after its production. A better strategy might be to directly inhibit heme oxygenase (HO), the rate-limiting enzyme in bilirubin production. Metalloporphyrins (Mps) are heme analogs that competitively inhibit HO activity in vitro and in vivo and suppress plasma bilirubin levels in vivo. A promising Mp, zinc deuteroporphyrin bis glycol (ZnBG), is orally absorbed and effectively inhibits HO activity at relatively low doses. We determined the I50 (the dose needed to inhibit HO activity by 50%) of orally administered ZnBG in vivo and then evaluated ZnBG’s effects on in vivo bilirubin production, HO activity, HO protein levels, and HO-1 gene expression in newborn mice following heme-loading, a model analogous to a hemolytic infant. The I50 of ZnBG was found to be 4.0 μmol/kg body weight (BW). At a dose of 15-μmol/kg BW, ZnBG reduced in vivo bilirubin production, inhibited heme-induced liver HO activity and spleen HO activity to and below baseline, respectively, transiently induced liver and spleen HO-1 gene transcription, and induced liver and spleen HO-1 protein levels. We conclude that ZnBG may be an attractive compound for treating severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia caused by hemolytic disease.

Metalloporphyrins are structural analogs of heme and their potential use in the management of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia has been the subject of considerable research for more than three decades. The pharmacological basis for using this class of compounds to control bilirubin levels is the targeted blockade of bilirubin production through the competitive inhibition of heme oxygenase (HO), the rate-limiting enzyme in the bilirubin production pathway. Ongoing research continues in the pursuit of identifying ideal metalloporphyrins, which are safe and effective, by defining therapeutic windows and targeted interventions for the treatment of excessive neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.

Objective

We quantified hemolysis and determined the incidence of hyperbilirubinemia in direct antiglobulin titer (DAT) positive, ABO heterospecific neonates and compared variables among O-A and O-B subgroups. Study design Plasma total bilirubin (PTB) was determined predischarge and more frequently if clinically warranted, in DAT positive, blood group A or B neonates of group O mothers. Heme catabolism (and therefore bilirubin production) was indexed by blood carboxyhemoglobin corrected for inspired carbon monoxide (COHbc). Hyperbilirubinemia was defined as any PTB concentration >95th percentile on the hour-of-life-specific bilirubin nomogram.

Results

Of 164 neonates, 111 were O-A and 53 O-B. Overall, 85 (51.8%) developed hyperbilirubinemia, which tended to be more prevalent in the O-B than O-A neonates (62.3% vs. 46.8% respectively, p=0.053). Importantly, more O-B than O-A newborns developed hyperbilirubinemia at <24 hours (93.9% vs. 48.1%, p<0.0001). COHbc values were globally higher than our previously published newborn values. Babies who developed hyperbilirubinemia had higher COHbc values than the already high values of those non-hyperbilirubinemic, and O-B newborns tended to have higher values than O-A counterparts.

Conclusions

DAT positive, ABO heterospecificity is associated with increased hemolysis and a high incidence of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. O-B heterospecificity tends to confer even higher risk than O-A counterparts.

Objectives

To assess the influence of clinical status on the association between total plasma bilirubin and unbound bilirubin on death or adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18–22 months corrected age in extremely low birth weight infants.

Method

Total plasma biirubin and unbound biirubin were measured in 1,101 extremely low birth weight infants at 5±1 day of age. Clinical criteria were used to classify infants as clinically stable or unstable. Survivors were examined at 18–22 months corrected age by certified examiners. Outcome variables were death or neurodevelopmental impairment, death or cerebral palsy, death or hearing loss, and death prior to follow-up. For all outcomes, the interaction between bilirubin variables and clinical status was assessed in logistic regression analyses adjusted for multiple risk factors.

Results

Regardless of clinical status, an increasing level of unbound bilirubin was associated with higher rates of death or neurodevelopmental impairment, death or cerebral palsy, death or hearing loss and death before follow-up. Total plasma bilirubin values were directly associated with death or neurodevelopmental impairment, death or cerebral palsy, death or hearing loss, and death before follow-up in unstable infants, but not in stable infants. An inverse association between total plasma bilirubin and death or cerebral palsy was found in stable infants.

Conclusions

In extremely low birth weight infants, clinical status at 5 days of age affects the association between total plasma and unbound bilirubin and death or adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18–22 months of corrected age. An increasing level of UB is associated a higher risk of death or adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes regardless of clinical status. Increasing levels of total plasma bilirubin are directly associated with increasing risk of death or adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in unstable, but not in stable infants.

This study was designed to determine the sequence of events leading to cardiopulmonary effects following acute inhalation of diesel engine exhaust in rats. Rats were exposed for 2 h to diesel engine exhaust (1.9 mg/m3), and biological parameters related to antioxidant defense, inflammation, and procoagulation were examined after 4, 18, 24, 48, and 72 h. This in vivo inhalation study showed a pulmonary anti-oxidant response (an increased activity of the anti-oxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase and an increase in heme oxygenase-1 protein, heme oxygenase activity, and uric acid) which precedes the inflammatory response (an increase in IL-6 and TNF-α). In addition, increased plasma thrombogenicity and immediate anti-oxidant defense gene expression in aorta tissue shortly after the exposure might suggest direct translocation of diesel engine exhaust components to the vasculature but mediation by other pathways cannot be ruled out. This study therefore shows that different stages in oxidative stress are not only affected by dose increments but are also time dependent.

Total body, head, and trunk carbon monoxide (CO) excretion rates were measured separately by gas chromatography in 1–7 day-old Wistar rat pups exposed to the dark and to mixed blue (1 Special Blue – F20T12/BB) and white (2 Cool White – F20T12/CW) fluorescent light or blue light-emitting diode (LED) sources. During 48-min cycled exposures to the dark and to either light source, total body CO excretion rapidly increased 1.9- and 1.4-fold, respectively, over dark control levels. When CO excretion rates from the head and trunk were measured separately during exposure to either light source, CO excretion from the head did not change significantly; however, a large mean 4.4-fold increase in CO excretion from the trunk was observed. When light intensity delivered by the blue LED source was varied, we found that trunk CO excretion increased with increasing light intensities. In the presence of riboflavin (10 µmol/kg), total body CO excretion increased 2.8- and 2.1-fold during exposure to the mixed fluorescent light and blue LED sources, respectively. We conclude that light-induced elevations in total body CO excretion may be caused by transdermally-excreted CO, which is most likely produced through endogenous photosensitizer-mediated photo-oxidation of dermal biomolecules.

Objectives

To assess the effects of sample dilution, peroxidase concentration, and chloride ion (Cl-) on plasma unbound bilirubin (Bf) measurements made using a commercial peroxidase methodology (UB Analyzer) in a study population of ill, premature newborns.

Design and Methods

Bf was measured with a UB Analyzer in 74 samples at the standard 42-fold sample dilution and compared with Bf measured at a 2-fold sample dilution using a FloPro Analyzer. Bf was measured at two peroxidase concentrations to determine whether the peroxidase steady state Bf (Bfss) measurements were significantly less than the equilibrium Bf (Bfeq), in which case it was necessary to calculate Bfeq from the two Bfss measurements. Bf was also measured before and after adding 100 mmol/L Cl- to the UB Analyzer assay buffer.

Results

Bfeq at the 42-fold dilution was nearly 10-fold less than but correlated significantly with Bfeq at the 2-fold dilution (mean 8.2±5.2 nmol/L versus 73.5 ±70 nmol/L, respectively, p<0.0001; correlation r=0.6). The two UB Analyzer Bfss measurements were significantly less than Bfeq in 42 of 74 (57%) samples, and Cl- increased Bfeq in 66 of 74 (89%) samples by a mean of 82±67%.

Conclusions

Bfss measured by the UB Analyzer at the standard 42-fold sample dilution using assay buffer without Cl- and a single peroxidase concentration is significantly less than the Bfeq in undiluted plasma. Accurate Bf measurements can be made only in minimally diluted serum or plasma.