Oxytocin: Biomarker of Affiliation and Neurodevelopment in Premature Infants

催产素：早产儿依恋和神经发育的生物标志物

• 批准号: 8834605
• 负责人: Ashley M. Weber
• 金额: $ 3.59万
• 依托单位: OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8834605
• 关键词: Affect; Age; Animal Model; Attention; Biological; Biological Markers; Brain; Brain Injuries; Buffers; Caregivers; Caring; Cerebrum; Child; Circadian Rhythms; Clinical; Clinical Research; Cognitive; Complex; Computerized Medical Record; Data; Development; Distress; Educational Activities; Effectiveness of Interventions; Emotional; Emotions; Environment; Environmental Risk Factor; Event; Family; Family health status; Feeds; Future; Gestational Age; Goals; Health; Healthcare; Healthcare Systems; Hormonal; Hormones; Infant; Infant Development; Inflammation; Injury; Interruption; Intervention; Intervention Studies; Investigation; Ischemia; Laboratories; Life; Life Experience; Link; Measurement; Measures; Mechanical ventilation; Mediator of activation protein; Methods; Monitor; Morbidity - disease rate; Neonatal; Neonatal Intensive Care Units; Neonatology; Neural Pathways; Neurobiology; Neurocognitive; Neurologic; Neurologic Deficit; Ohio; Oral; Outcome; Oxytocin; Pain; Parents; Pediatric Hospitals; Physiology; Plasma; Population; Pregnancy; Premature Birth; Premature Infant; Procedures; Process; Research; Research Personnel; Residencies; Risk; Saliva; Shapes; Source; Stimulus; Stress; Structure; System; Testing; Time; Training; Universities; Urine; Videotape; Vulnerable Populations; abstracting; biological adaptation to stress; brain shape; career; design; early experience; emotion regulation; experience; feeding; fetal; human subject; improved; innovation; meetings; mortality; multisensory; neurobehavioral; neurodevelopment; neuroprotection; novel; parental involvement; perinatal health; premature; programs; public health relevance; response; social; social cognition

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): PROBLEM: Extremely premature infants, born at 28 weeks gestation or less, are at greatest risk for poor neurodevelopmental outcomes. While survival of these infants has improved in the past decade, neurodevelopmental outcomes have not. Because early life experiences affect brain structure and function, the quality of these early life experiences is one of the most important factors affecting optimal infant development. Reliable markers of neurobiological processes underlying development are necessary so that research can accurately monitor mediators of neurodevelopmental outcomes. We propose that oxytocin has the potential to be a neurobiological marker of social processes that offer neuroprotection for the infant. Oxytocin acts as a buffer for the stress response system and provides protection to the brain during inflammation, ischemia, or injury. Oxytocin has been strongly linked to neurodevelopmental outcomes in animal models, particularly those outcomes related to social cognition and emotion regulation. No studies measuring oxytocin have been conducted in premature infants, nor has the association of oxytocin levels and neurodevelopment for these infants been investigated. The purpose of this study is to: 1) Describe the developmental trajectory of plasma oxytocin levels in premature infants through 34 weeks corrected gestational age (CGA) 2) Determine if plasma oxytocin levels vary with maternal-infant interaction and neurobehavioral organization 3) Compare oxytocin levels in plasma, urine, and saliva. METHOD: Fifty premature infants, born gestational ages 25-28 6/7 weeks, will be longitudinally followed until 36 weeks CGA. Plasma, urine, and saliva will be collected at 14 days of life, then weekly until 34 weeks CGA. Data on infant and environmental variables will be abstracted from the electronic medical record. Maternal-infant interaction will b measured by the Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment, during a videotaped feeding when the infant is at one-quarter full oral feeds. Neurobehavioral organization will be measured by the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale at 36 weeks CGA. SIGNIFICANCE: The findings from this study will provide information regarding 1) environmental factors that affect oxytocin levels in premature infants; and 2) the association of oxytocin levels with early indicators of neurodevelopmental outcomes. The long-term goal of this program of research is to develop and test interventions that increase oxytocin levels in extremely premature infants and, thus, improve neurodevelopmental outcomes. TRAINING PLAN: The applicant will engage in a variety of professional and educational activities at The Ohio State University and Nationwide Children's Hospital, including clinical research seminars, neonatology rounds, residencies on biological laboratory methods, coursework in circadian rhythms and stress physiology, and research meetings with affiliated Centers focused on neonatal outcomes. The breadth of the training plan supports the applicant's career goal of becoming an independent researcher.

描述（由申请人提供）： 问题：妊娠 28 周或更短时间出生的极早产儿神经发育结果不良的风险最大。虽然这些婴儿的生存率在过去十年中有所改善，但神经发育结果却没有改善。因为早期的生活经历会影响大脑的结构和功能，这些早期生活经历的质量 生活经历是影响婴儿最佳发育的最重要因素之一。发育过程中神经生物学过程的可靠标记是必要的，以便研究能够准确监测神经发育结果的调节因子。我们认为催产素有可能成为社会过程的神经生物学标记，为婴儿提供神经保护。催产素充当应激反应系统的缓冲器，并在炎症、缺血或损伤期间为大脑提供保护。催产素与动物模型中的神经发育结果密切相关，特别是与社会认知和情绪调节相关的结果。尚未对早产儿进行测量催产素的研究，也没有调查催产素水平与这些婴儿神经发育之间的关系。本研究的目的是： 1) 描述早产儿在 34 周校正胎龄 (CGA) 期间血浆催产素水平的发育轨迹 2) 确定血浆催产素水平是否随母婴互动和神经行为组织而变化 3) 比较血浆、尿液和唾液中的催产素水平。方法：对 50 名出生胎龄为 25-28 6/7 周的早产儿进行纵向随访，直至 CGA 36 周。将在出生后 14 天收集血浆、尿液和唾液，然后每周收集一次，直至 CGA 34 周。有关婴儿和环境变量的数据将从电子病历中提取。母婴互动将通过亲子早期关系评估进行测量，在录像喂养期间，当婴儿进行四分之一的全口喂养时。神经行为组织将在 36 周 CGA 时通过 NICU 网络神经行为量表进行测量。意义：本研究的结果将提供以下信息：1）影响早产儿催产素水平的环境因素； 2）催产素水平与神经发育结果早期指标的关联。该研究计划的长期目标是开发和测试增加极早产儿催产素水平的干预措施，从而改善神经发育结果。培训计划：申请人将在俄亥俄州立大学和全国儿童医院参加各种专业和教育活动，包括临床研究研讨会、新生儿查房、生物实验室方法住院医师培训、昼夜节律和应激生理学课程以及与附属中心关注新生儿结局的研究会议。培训计划的广度支持申请人成为独立研究员的职业目标。