Testing Measures of Maternal and Infant Circadian Rhythm

描述(由申请人提供)：最重要的婴儿发展成就之一是适应由昼夜节律和昼夜节律驱动的家庭生活模式。母亲在调节婴儿的昼夜节律方面起着至关重要的作用，使未成熟的婴儿的昼夜节律与24小时的一天保持同步。该应用程序扩展了由职业发展奖支持的当前研究。所提出的方法学研究的目的是测试婴儿和母亲的活动记录和婴儿尿液6-硫氧基黑素(6-SMT)作为昼夜节律的标志物。目的包括确定计算机评分婴儿活动描记的灵敏度阈值设置，开发在家庭环境中收集婴儿尿液6-硫氧基肌松素的母婴活动描记的方法和方案，测试从尿布中收集的婴儿尿样6-硫氧基角蛋白的实验室分析，以及估计准确描绘母婴静息活动模式所需的活动记录连续天数。这项研究将分两个阶段进行，每个阶段都采用密集的受试者设计，并包括健康的足月妊娠婴儿及其母亲。在第一阶段，将在两个小时的时间内对十对母婴进行基于实验室的动作记录，同时进行现场观察和录像。将在一系列活动阈值上评估活动的实时观察和计算机评分活动记录之间的一致性，以确定用于婴儿研究的适当的软件灵敏度设置。在第二阶段，将在家中进行为期四天的母婴活动记录。婴儿尿布也将在24小时内收集。将提取尿样并检测尿液6-SMT。在家庭研究之前，将通过(1)在尿布中滴入已知浓度的检测标准，提取样品，并对照检测标准曲线对结果进行评估，(2)检测尿液中6-SMT值在使用和不使用尿布提取的情况下的差异，来测试尿布提取程序和ELISA检测方法。将使用一到四天的数据来计算昼夜节律参数(基于协方差分析的中值、幅度、峰位相)，以确定准确描述婴儿和母亲休息-活动模式的数据收集期。在这两个阶段，都将评估母亲对学习程序的接受程度。在低风险人群中改进的方法随后将被用于研究早产儿的母体夹带。

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.