Caffeine increases cerebral cortical activity in preterm infants.

Caffeine improves the rate of survival without neurodevelopmental disability in preterm infants. The mechanisms underlying neuroprotection are incompletely understood. In 51 preterm infants studied by amplitude-integrated electroencephalography from 2 hours before to 2 hours after intravenous caffeine administration, we found that caffeine increases amplitudes and periods of continuity.

Nitric oxide and fetal organ blood flow during normoxia and hypoxemia in endotoxin-treated fetal sheep.

Objective: To investigate the role of nitric oxide in the process of circulatory decentralization during fetal hypoxemia.

Methods: Fifteen sheep with singleton pregnancies were chronically instrumented at 107 days of gestation (term is 147 days). Three days later, 8 of the fetuses received nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthesis.