REDUCED IRON-ASSOCIATED ANTIOXIDANTS IN PREMATURE NEWBORNS SUFFERING INTRACEREBRAL HEMORRHAGE

Oxygen radical injury may be a common pathogenic mechanism in several neonatal diseases. The term ''oxygen radical disease of prematurity'' has been proposed in the face of the greater incidence of intracerebra l hemorrhage, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and retinopathy in premature neonates. To test the hypothesis that overload with ionic iron due to decreased concentrations of iron-oxidizing and iron-binding proteins induces free radical damage in premature asphyxiated newborns sufferin g periventricular-intraventricular hemorrhage (PIVH), blood plasma of newborns with PIVH (n = 7) was compared with that of controls (n = 10) within the first 12 h of life. We found reduced transferrin (2.05 vs. 2.24 g/l; p < 0.05) and ceruloplasmin (89.9 vs. 126.3 mg/l; p < 0.01) levels and an increased transferrin saturation (54.2 vs. 38.4%; p < 0 .05) in those newborns who later developed PIVH. These findings suppor t the theory that iron-catalyzed lipid peroxidation of the brain durin g reoxygenation after perinatal asphyxia may be involved in the pathog enesis of pIVH.