Anti-inflammatory effect of a curcumin-aspirin derivative on Ureaplasma-induced cytokine expressions in neonatal monocytes.

One of the major contributors to death in infants is infant respiratory distress syndrome (IRDS). The transition from early acute inflammation to fibrotic hyperplasia is important in the development of IRDS. However, there are no available and effective remedies for suppression of the early inflammation. In this study, the effect of a curcumin-aspirin (C-A) derivative on the expressions of interleukin (IL)-10, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-1ß, toll-like receptor (TLR)4 and TLR2 was investigated in neonatal monocytes exposed to Ureaplasma parvum. The techniques used were qPCR and flow cytometry. The results revealed that C-A exerted anti-inflammatory effects on stimulated monocytes and significantly suppressed Ureaplasma-stimulated changes in IL-8, TNF-α and IL-1ß levels. It did not produce any inflammation or apoptosis in the neonatal cells. Moreover, C-A enhanced IL-10 expression and suppressed the expressions of TLR2 and TLR4, indicating that curcumin-aspirin derivative might hold therapeutic potential for early IRDS.

Death of hospitalized neonates of different gestational age in Shaanxi Province: a multi-center survey / 中华围产医学杂志

Objective:To investigate the current status of hospitalized neonatal death of different gestational ages in Shaanxi Province.Methods:All neonatal deaths in six hospitals in Shaanxi Province from 2016 to 2020 were retrospectively analyzed, and the differences in perinatal complications, the causes of death, and the age at death were compared using Chi-square (or Fisher's exact ) test. Results:(1) Totally, 220 488 neonates were delivered in the obstetric department of the six hospitals during the study period; 71 782 out of them were admitted to the neonatal department. While 424 neonatal death was reported, giving the total hospitalized neonates mortality rate of 5.5‰ (394/71 782), which included 152 deaths of transferred patients ( n=9 103, 16.7‰), 226 premature (53.3%), 196 term (46.2%), and two post-term infants (0.5%). (2) Among mothers of dead neonates, 73.6% were found to have at least one perinatal complication. The most common one was fetal distress (146 cases, 34.4%), followed by gestational diabetes mellitus (113 cases, 26.7%), amniotic fluid abnormalities ( n=73, 17.2%), maternal infectious diseases ( n=71, 16.8%), and hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP) ( n=52, 12.3%). The lower the gestational age, the higher the proportion of multiple pregnancies and assisted reproduction technology applied (Fisher exact test, P<0.05). On the contrary, the higher the gestational age, the higher the cesarean section rate ( χ 2=26.69, P<0.001). HDP was more likely to occur in the gestational age of 28-31 +6 and 32-34 +6 weeks ( χ 2=37.16, P<0.001), and amniotic fluid abnormalities were more likely to occur in those over 37 weeks ( χ 2=27.47, P<0.001). (3) The five leading causes of neonatal death were neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS, n=100, 23.6%), neonatal asphyxia ( n=88, 20.8%), maternal infectious diseases ( n=80, 18.9%), and birth defects ( n=54, 12.7%), and pulmonary hemorrhage ( n=22, 5.2%). The first three causes of death in term and post-term infants were neonatal asphyxia ( n=65, 32.8%), birth defects ( n=42, 21.2%), and infectious diseases ( n=26, 13.1%). NRDS ( n=83, 36.7%), infectious diseases ( n=54, 23.9%), and neonatal asphyxia ( n=23, 10.2%) were the three leading causes of death of premature babies. (4) Out of the 326 (76.9%) neonatal deaths within seven days after birth, 162 (38.2%) died within 24 h after birth and 164 cases (38.7%) between one to seven days after birth. Conclusions:Most neonatal deaths occurred among preterm ones and within seven days after birth, whose mothers suffered perinatal complications. The causes of neonatal death vary among different gestational age groups.