Publications by authors named "Lizhong Du"

Article Synopsis
  • Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) can impact fetal development and are linked to preterm delivery; however, their relationship with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in very preterm infants (VPIs) remains debated.
  • A multicenter retrospective cohort study analyzed data from the Chinese Neonatal Network on preterm infants born between January 2019 and December 2021, comparing outcomes between mothers with and without HDP.
  • The study found no significant association between maternal HDP and the incidence of severe NEC, but it suggested that HDP may actually lower the risk of NEC that requires surgical intervention.
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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigated the occurrence of meningitis in very preterm infants (VPIs) in China, analyzing data from 2019 to 2021 from 79 neonatal intensive care units, focusing on the incidence, pathogen distribution, and treatment outcomes.
  • - Among 31,915 VPIs admitted, only 122 were diagnosed with culture-confirmed meningitis, with a notable in-hospital mortality rate of 18%, and the majority of cases were caused by Gram-negative bacteria.
  • - The research highlighted the use of antibiotics, particularly meropenem and vancomycin, in treating bacterial meningitis, revealing that many infants received prolonged antibiotic treatment despite the high rate of mortality linked to meningitis.
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Background: The interplay between intrauterine and early postnatal environments has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases in adulthood, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). While emerging evidence highlights the crucial role of mitochondrial pathology in PAH, the specific mechanisms driving fetal-originated PAH remain elusive.

Methods And Results: To elucidate the role of mitochondrial dynamics in the pathogenesis of fetal-originated PAH, we established a rat model of postnatal catch-up growth following intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) to induce pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

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Background: The burden and characteristics of respiratory viral infections in children hospitalized for acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) during the post-COVID-19 pandemic era are unclear. We analyzed the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of pediatric patients hospitalized with common respiratory virus infections before and after relaxation of non-pharmaceutical interventions in Hangzhou, China and evaluated the diagnostic value of the six-panel respiratory pathogen detection system.

Methods: Six types of respiratory viruses were detected in respiratory samples from children with suspected ARTIs by multiplex real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the impact of early antibiotic exposure on the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in very preterm infants (VPIs) at low risk for early-onset sepsis (EOS).
  • It uses data from a national cohort in China, focusing on VPIs born between January 2019 and December 2021, and categorizes them based on the duration of antibiotic exposure during their first week of life.
  • The results reveal that among the 6510 VPIs at low risk for EOS, the majority received antibiotics for 5 to 7 days, highlighting a need to explore the relationship between such exposure and the incidence of BPD or mortality as they age.
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Background: The occurrence of severe intraventricular hemorrhage (sIVH) was high in the very preterm infants (VPIs) in China. The management strategies significantly contributed to the occurrence of sIVH in VPIs. However, the status of the perinatal strategies associated with sIVH for VPIs was rarely described across the multiple neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in China.

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Background: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a major complication affecting the survival rate and long-term outcomes of preterm infants. A large, prospective, multicenter cohort study was conducted to evaluate early nutritional support during the first week of life for preterm infants with a gestational age < 32 weeks and to verify nutritional risk factors related to BPD development.

Methods: A prospective multicenter cohort study of very preterm infants was conducted in 40 tertiary neonatal intensive care units across mainland China between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021.

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Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) with rapid postnatal catch-up growth is strongly associated with pulmonary vascular dysfunction in adulthood, whereas IUGR with delayed growth in early postnatal life results in long-term brain deficits. In the present study, it was hypothesized that IUGR with early moderate catch-up growth may alleviate pulmonary vascular remodeling in adulthood without affecting memory function. An IUGR model was established by restricting maternal nutrition during pregnancy.

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Newborns with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) have a higher likelihood of developing pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in adulthood. Although there is increasing evidence suggesting that pericytes play a role in regulating myofibroblast transdifferentiation and angiogenesis in malignant and cardiovascular diseases, their involvement in the pathogenesis of IUGR-related pulmonary hypertension and the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. To address this issue, a study was conducted using a Sprague-Dawley rat model of IUGR-related pulmonary hypertension.

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Unlabelled: To investigate the effect of perinatal interventions on the risk of severe BPD (sBPD) and death in extremely preterm infants (EPIs) and their synergistic effects. This was a secondary analysis of the prospective cohort Chinese Neonatal Network (CHNN). Infants with a birth weight of 500 to 1250 g or 24-28 weeks completed gestational age were recruited.

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Background: Biliary atresia (BA) is a rare fatal liver disease in children, and the aim of this study was to develop a method to diagnose BA early.

Methods: We determined serum levels of matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7), the results of 13 liver tests, and the levels of 20 bile acids, and integrated computational models were constructed to diagnose BA.

Results: Our findings demonstrated that MMP-7 expression levels, as well as the results of four liver tests and levels of ten bile acids, were significantly different between 86 BA and 59 non-BA patients (P < 0.

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Background: The optimal treatment strategy for patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in extremely preterm infants is currently highly controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the association between PDA treatment and short-term outcomes among extremely preterm infants.

Methods: This cohort study included all extremely preterm infants (≤27 and 6/7 weeks) who were admitted to hospitals participating in the Chinese Neonatal Network from January 2019 to December 2021, and were diagnosed to have PDA by echocardiogram.

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Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is the most common complication of prematurity involving both pre- and post-natal factors. A large, prospective, longitudinal cohort study was conducted to determine whether inflammation-related factors are associated with an increased risk of BPD in preterm infants who were born at a gestational age < 32 weeks, < 72 h after birth and respiratory score > 4. The study included infants from 25 participating hospitals in China between March 1, 2020 and March 31, 2022.

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Background: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is the most challenging chronic lung disease for prematurity, with difficulties in early identification. Given lncRNA emerging as a novel biomarker and the regulator of ferroptosis, this study aims to develop a BPD predictive model based on ferroptosis-related lncRNAs (FRLs).

Methods: Using a rat model, we firstly explored mRNA levels of ferroptosis-related genes and ferrous iron accumulation in BPD rat lungs.

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Objective: Our study aimed to determine the relationship between maternal diabetes mellitus (MDM) and mortality and major morbidities for very preterm infants, as well as the effects of insulin-treated MDM, in the Chinese population.

Study Design: This retrospective cohort study included all preterm infants born at 24 to 31 weeks of gestation and admitted to 57 tertiary neonatal intensive care units participating in the Chinese Neonatal Network in 2019. All infants were followed up until discharging from the hospitals.

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Background: The aim of this study was to review current delivery room (DR) resuscitation intensity in Chinese tertiary neonatal intensive care units and to investigate the association between DR resuscitation intensity and short-term outcomes in preterm infants born at 24-31 weeks' gestation age (GA).

Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study. The source population was infants born at 24-31 weeks' GA who were enrolled in the Chinese Neonatal Network 2019 cohort.

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Background: Eczema is the most common form of dermatitis and also the starting point of atopic march. Although many eczema-associated allergic and immunologic disorders have been studied, there remains a gap in the systematic quantitative knowledge regarding the relationships between all childhood disorders and eczema. This study aimed to systematically explore eczema-associated childhood diseases using a real-world, long-term clinical dataset generated from millions of children in China.

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Purpose: To investigate the dynamic changes in the intestinal microbiota in preterm infants with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) before and after treatment a prospective case-control study.

Methods: Preterm infants with NEC and preterm infants with similar age and weight (control group) were enrolled in this study. They were divided into NEC_Onset (diagnosis time), NEC_Refeed (refeed time), NEC_FullEn (full enteral nutrition time), Control_Onset, and Control_FullEn groups according to the time of the fecal material collected.

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Background: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is strongly correlated with an increased risk of asthma later in life. Farm dust protects mice from developing house dust mite-induced asthma, and loss of ubiquitin modifying enzyme A20 in lung epithelium would abolish this protective effect. However, the mechanisms of A20 in the development of asthma following IUGR remains unknown.

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Background Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is closely related to systemic or pulmonary hypertension (PH) in adulthood. Aberrant crosstalk between pulmonary vascular endothelial cells (PVECs) and pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) that is mediated by exosomes plays an essential role in the progression of PH. FoxM1 (Forkhead box M1) is a key transcription factor that governs many important biological processes.

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Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare but progressive and lethal vascular disease of diverse etiologies, mainly caused by proliferation of endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells in the pulmonary artery, and fibroblasts, which ultimately leads to right-heart hypertrophy and cardiac failure. Recent genetic studies of childhood-onset PAH report that there is a greater genetic burden in children than in adults. Since the first-identified pathogenic gene of PAH, , which encodes bone morphogenetic protein receptor 2, a receptor in the transforming growth factor-β superfamily, was discovered, novel causal genes have been identified and substantially sharpened our insights into the molecular genetics of childhood-onset PAH.

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Objective: This study aims to compare the clinical characteristics and 1-year outcomes of preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) who were discharged on supplemental oxygen or room air.

Materials And Methods: The preterm infants (born <32 weeks' gestation, birth weight ≤1,250 g) diagnosed with BPD and admitted between January 2020 and December 2020 were enrolled. The clinical data during hospitalization were collected through the hospital's electronic record system.

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Background: Omphalocele is a common congenital defect of the abdominal wall, management of giant omphalocele (GO) is particularly for pediatric surgeons and neonatologists worldwide. The current study aimed to review and summarize the clinical features and prognosis in neonates with GO complicated with pulmonary hypertension (PH), which is associated with increased mortality, while in hospital.

Materials And Methods: Medical records of infants with GO between July 2015 and June 2020 were retrospectively analyzed.

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