Testing Measures of Maternal and Infant Circadian Rhythm

描述（由申请人提供）：最重要的婴儿发育成就之一是适应家庭生活模式，这是由昼夜节律和昼夜（昼夜）节律驱动的。母亲在引导婴儿昼夜节律方面发挥着重要作用，使未成熟婴儿的昼夜节律与24小时同步。该应用程序扩展了由职业发展奖支持的当前研究。拟议的方法学研究的目的是测试婴儿和母亲的体动记录和婴儿尿6-硫酸酯氧化褪黑素（6-sMT）作为昼夜节律的标志物。目的包括确定婴儿中计算机评分的体动记录的灵敏度阈值设置，开发用于在家庭环境中收集婴儿尿6-硫酸氧褪黑激素的母亲和婴儿中进行体动记录的方法和方案，测试从尿布收集的婴儿尿6-硫酸氧褪黑激素的实验室测定，以及估计精确描绘母亲和婴儿休息-活动模式的昼夜节律所需的活动记录仪记录的连续天数。本研究将分两个阶段进行，每个阶段采用密集的受试者内设计，包括健康足月妊娠婴儿及其母亲。在第1阶段，将在两小时内对10对母婴进行基于实验室的体动记录，同时进行现场观察和录像。将在活动阈值范围内评估活动的实时观察与计算机评分的体动记录之间的对应性，以确定婴儿研究的适当软件灵敏度设置。在第2阶段，将在家中进行为期4天的母婴体动记录。婴儿尿布也将在24小时内收集。将提取尿液样本并测定尿液6-sMT。在家庭研究之前，将通过（1）在尿布中滴注已知浓度的测定标准品，提取样品，并根据测定标准曲线评价结果，（2）检查在有和没有尿布提取的情况下测试的尿液的6-sMT值之间的差异，来测试尿布提取程序和ELISA测定。将使用1 - 4天的数据计算昼夜节律参数（基于余弦分析的中位、振幅、峰值），以确定准确描述婴儿和母体休息-活动模式的数据收集期。在两个阶段中，将评估母亲对研究程序的可接受性。在低风险人群中改进的方法，随后将用于早产儿母亲夹带的研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): One of the most important infant developmental accomplishments is fitting into the family life pattern, which is driven by circadian and diurnal (day-night) rhythms. Mothers serve an essential role in entraining infant circadian rhythm, synchronizing the immature infant circadian rhythm with the 24-hour day. The application extends current research supported by a career development award. The purpose of the proposed methodological study is to test infant and maternal actigraphy and infant urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (6-sMT) as markers of circadian rhythm. Aims include determining the sensitivity threshold setting for computer scored actigraphy in infants, developing methods and protocols for performing actigraphy in mothers and infants collecting infant urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin in the home environment, testing the laboratory assay of infant urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin collected from diapers, and estimating the number of continuous days of actigraphy recording required to accurately portray circadian rhythm of mother and infant rest-activity pattern. The study will be conducted in two phases, each employing an intensive within subject design and including healthy term gestation infants and their mothers. In Phase 1, laboratory-based actigraphy will be conducted in ten mother-infant pairs over a two-hour period in conjunction with live observation and videotaping. Correspondence between live observation of activity and computer scored actigraphy will be assessed over a range of activity thresholds to define appropriate software sensitivity setting for the study of infants. In Phase 2, maternal-infant actigraphy will be conducted over a four-day period in the home. Infant diapers will also be collected over a 24-hour period. Urine samples will be extracted and urinary 6-sMT assayed. Prior to the home study, the diaper extraction procedures and ELISA assay will be tested by (1) instilling known concentrations of assay standard in diapers, extracting samples, and evaluating results against the assay standard curve, (2) examining differences between 6-sMT values from urine tested with and without diaper extraction. Circadian rhythm parameters (mesor, amplitude, acrophase based on cosinor analysis) will be calculated using one through four days of data to ascertain a data collection period that accurately portrays infant and maternal rest-activity pattern. Throughout both Phases mother's acceptability of study procedures will be assessed. Methods, refined in the low risk population, will subsequently be employed in the study of maternal entrainment of preterm infants.