TY  - JOUR
A1  - Pagel, Julia
A1  - Twisselmann, Nele
A1  - Rausch, Tanja K.
A1  - Waschina, Silvio
A1  - Hartz, Annika
A1  - Steinbeis, Magdalena
A1  - Olbertz, Jonathan
A1  - Nagel, Kathrin
A1  - Steinmetz, Alena
A1  - Faust, Kirstin
A1  - Demmert, Martin
A1  - Göpel, Wolfgang
A1  - Herting, Egbert
A1  - Rupp, Jan
A1  - Härtel, Christoph
T1  - Increased Regulatory T Cells Precede the Development of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Preterm Infants
JF  - Frontiers in Immunology
N2  - Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are important for the ontogenetic control of immune activation and tissue damage in preterm infants. However, the role of Tregs for the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is yet unclear. The aim of our study was to characterize CD4+ CD25+ forkhead box protein 3 (FoxP3)+ Tregs in peripheral blood of well-phenotyped preterm infants (n = 382; 23 + 0 – 36 + 6 weeks of gestational age) with a focus on the first 28 days of life and the clinical endpoint BPD (supplemental oxygen for longer than 28 days of age). In a subgroup of preterm infants, we characterized the immunological phenotype of Tregs (n = 23). The suppressive function of Tregs on CD4+CD25- T cells was compared in preterm, term and adult blood. We observed that extreme prematurity was associated with increased Treg frequencies which peaked in the second week of life. Independent of gestational age, increased Treg frequencies were noted to precede the development of BPD. The phenotype of preterm infant Tregs largely differed from adult Tregs and displayed an overall naïve Treg population (CD45RA+/HLA-DR-/Helios+), especially in the first days of life. On day 7 of life, a more activated Treg phenotype pattern (CCR6+, HLA-DR+, and Ki-67+) was observed. Tregs of preterm neonates had a higher immunosuppressive capacity against CD4+CD25- T cells compared to the Treg compartment of term neonates and adults. In conclusion, our data suggest increased frequencies and functions of Tregs in preterm neonates which display a distinct phenotype with dynamic changes in the first weeks of life. Hence, the continued abundance of Tregs may contribute to sustained inflammation preceding the development of BPD. Functional analyses are needed in order to elucidate whether Tregs have potential as future target for diagnostics and therapeutics.
KW  - regulatory T cells
KW  - Tregs
KW  - bronchopulmonary dysplasia
KW  - BPD
KW  - preterm infant
KW  - neonate
KW  - Foxp3
Y1  - 2020
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-212409
SN  - 1664-3224
VL  - 11
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hanke, Kathrin
A1  - Rausch, Tanja K.
A1  - Sosnowski, Runa
A1  - Paul, Pia
A1  - Spiegler, Juliane
A1  - Müller, Mirja
A1  - König, Inke R.
A1  - Göpel, Wolfgang
A1  - Herting, Egbert
A1  - Härtel, Christoph
T1  - Early skin-to-skin contact does not affect cerebral tissue oxygenation in preterm infants <32 weeks of gestation
JF  - Children
N2  - Aim: It was the aim of our study to determine the regional cerebral tissue oxygenation saturation (rcSO\(_2\)) as an additional monitoring parameter during early skin-to-skin contact (SSC) in preterm infants with a gestational age of <32 gestational weeks. Methods: We conducted two observational convenience sample studies using additional monitoring with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in the first 120 h of life: (a) NIRS 1 (gestational age of 26 0/7 to 31 6/7 weeks) and (b) NIRS 2 (gestational age of 24 0/7 to 28 6/7 weeks). The rcSO\(_2\) values were compared between resting time in the incubator (period I), SSC (period II) and handling nursing care (period III). For the comparison, we separated the sequential effects by including a “wash-out phase” of 1 h between each period. Results: During the first 120 h of life 38/53 infants in NIRS 1 and 15/23 infants in NIRS 2 received SSC, respectively. We found no remarkable differences for rcSO\(_2\) values of NIRS 1 patients between SSC time and period I (95% confidence interval (CI) for the difference in %: SSC vs. period I [1; 3]). In NIRS 2, rcSO\(_2\) values during SSC were only 2% lower compared with period I [median [1. quartile; 3. quartile] in %; 78 [73; 82] vs. 80 [74; 85]] but were similar to period III [78 [72; 83]]. In a combined analysis, a small difference in rcSO\(_2\) values between SSC and resting times was found using a generalized linear mixed model that included gender and gestational age (OR 95% CI; 1.178 [1.103; 1.253], p < 0.0001). Episodes below the cut-off for “hypoxia”; e.g., <55%, were comparable during SSC and periods I and III (0.3–2.1%). No FiO\(_2\) adjustment was required in the vast majority of SSC episodes. Conclusions: Our observational data indicate that rcSO\(_2\) values of infants during SSC were comparable to rcSO\(_2\) values during incubator care and resting time. This additional monitoring supports a safe implementation of early SSC in extremely preterm infants in NICUs.
KW  - regional cerebral oxygenation saturation
KW  - near infrared spectroscopy
KW  - skin-to-skin contact
KW  - preterm infants
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-262290
SN  - 2227-9067
VL  - 9
IS  - 2
ER  -