Pj. Duggan et al., Intrauterine T-cell activation and increased proinflammatory cytokine concentrations in preterm infants with cerebral lesions, LANCET, 358(9294), 2001, pp. 1699-1700
Citations number
5
Categorie Soggetti
General & Internal Medicine","Medical Research General Topics
Brain injury is common in very preterm infants, and intrauterine infection
is a frequent antecedent of preterm birth. We examined the relation of cere
bral damage to intrauterine antigen exposure and inflammation in 50 infants
who were born at 23-29 weeks' gestation. Higher concentrations of cytokine
s (tumour necrosis factor alpha [TNF-alpha], and interleukins [IL], 1 beta,
6, and 10) and CD45RO(+) T lymphocytes in umbilical blood predicted cerebr
al lesions detected by magnetic resonance imaging very soon after delivery.
Our results suggest that infants who mount an immune response in utero are
at higher risk of cerebral lesions.