Publications by authors named "A Parra-Llorca"

Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is a selective pulmonary vasodilator that is used as a treatment for persistent pulmonary hypertension in neonates (PPHN) with hypoxic respiratory failure. The generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species might induce oxidative/nitrosative damage to multiple organs. There is an increasing scientific and clinical interest in the determination of specific biomarkers to measure the degree of oxidative/nitrosative stress in non-invasively collected biofluids.

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Steroid hormones are biologically active factors in human milk (HM) that influence the physical and mental development of infants. Critically, maternal psychosocial stress has been associated with changes in HM steroid composition. This work aimed to characterize the steroid hormone profile of HM and pasteurized donor human milk (DHM) and assess the interplay between maternal physical and psychosocial status, the HM steroid profile, and infant outcomes.

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The composition and maturation of the early-life microbiota are modulated by a number of perinatal factors, whose interplay in relation to microbial vertical transmission remains inadequately elucidated. Using recent strain-tracking methodologies, we analyzed mother-to-infant microbiota transmission in two different birth environments: hospital-born (vaginal/cesarean) and home-born (vaginal) infants and their mothers. While delivery mode primarily explains initial compositional differences, place of birth impacts transmission timing-being early in homebirths and delayed in cesarean deliveries.

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Fetal hemoglobin (HbF) has a higher affinity to oxygen than adult hemoglobin, allowing for a slower oxygen transfer to peripheral tissue, creating a microenvironment conducive to adequate fetal development . However, most preterm infants receive packed red blood cell transfusions from adult donors leading to a drastic nonphysiological descent of circulating HbF. We hypothesized that this drop could enhance oxygen delivery to peripheral tissues generating a hyperoxic pro-oxidant environment.

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