Postnatal Growth at 64 Weeks Postmenstrual Age in Preterm Infants Delivered at ≤ 34 Weeks' Gestation: A Single Center Study.

Objective: To study the postnatal growth at 64 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA) in preterm neonates born at ≤ 34 weeks gestational age.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between August, 2019 and November, 2021, wherein, we took anthropometric measurements of neonates (delivered at ≤ 34 weeks' gestation) at 64 (± 2) weeks PMA. The rapidity of postnatal growth was categorized according to change in the z-score of anthropometric measures, viz, weight-for-age, length-for-age and head circumference-for-age, between birth and 64 weeks PMA.

Anthropometric measurements and body composition of preterm infants born ≤34 weeks at 12-13 months corrected age as compared to term infants.

Background: Growth in the first year of life depends primarily on nutrition. Currently, the infant feeding practices of term babies are being extrapolated for preterms. While extrapolating, it is not clear if corrected age (CA) or chronological age should be used.

Umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells consist of a unique population of progenitors co-expressing mesenchymal stem cell and neuronal markers capable of instantaneous neuronal differentiation.

Introduction: Umbilical cord blood (UCB)-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are self-renewing multipotent progenitors with the potential to differentiate into multiple lineages of mesoderm, in addition to generating ectodermal and endodermal lineages by crossing the germline barrier. In the present study we have investigated the ability of UCB-MSCs to generate neurons, since we were able to observe varying degrees of neuronal differentiation from a few batches of UCB-MSCs with very simple neuronal induction protocols whereas other batches required extensive exposure to combination of growth factors in a stepwise protocol. Our hypothesis was therefore that the human UCB-MSCs would contain multiple types of progenitors with varying neurogenic potential and that the ratio of the progenitors with high and low neurogenic potentials varies in different batches of UCB.