Unbound free fatty acids from preterm infants treated with intralipid decouples unbound from total bilirubin potentially making phototherapy ineffective.

Extremely low birth weight (ELBW; <1,000 g) infants have poor outcomes, often compromised by bilirubin neurotoxicity. We measured unbound bilirubin (Bf) and unbound free fatty acid (FFAu) levels in 5 ELBW infants in a trial examining the effects of pharmacologic ductal closure on infants treated with Intralipid infusion (3 g/kg/day). The levels for all infants (mean ± SD) were: total serum bilirubin (TSB) 4.

Sirtuin1 in tracheal aspirate leukocytes: possible role in the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in premature infants.

Objective: To study the association between Sirtuin1 (Sirt1), a class III histone deacetylator, in tracheal aspirate (TA) leukocytes and the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in premature infants and modulation of Sirt1 with dexamethasone (Dex) use.

Design/methods: Serial TA samples were collected on days 1, 3, 5 and 7 from ventilated premature neonates. Sirt1 was localized by immunocytochemistry and quantified on a scale of 0-4 by blinded observers.

Effect of antenatal corticosteroids on survival for neonates born at 23 weeks of gestation.

Objective: To estimate if exposure to antenatal corticosteroids was associated with decreased rate of death in neonates born at 23 weeks of gestation.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study performed at three tertiary centers of neonates born at 23 weeks of gestation between 1998 and 2007. Stillbirths, voluntary terminations, or parental elected nonresuscitations were excluded.

Azithromycin suppresses activation of nuclear factor-kappa B and synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines in tracheal aspirate cells from premature infants.

Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) plays a central role in regulating key proinflammatory mediators. The activation of NF-kappaB is increased in tracheal aspirate (TA) cells from premature infants developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). We studied the effect of azithromycin (AZM) on the suppression of NF-kappaB activation and the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 by TA cells obtained from premature infants.