Cognitive deficits in human infants at risk for gestationally acquired perinatal iron deficiency suggest involvement of the developing hippocampus. To understand the plausible biological explanations for hippocampal injury in perinatal iron deficiency, a neurochemical profile of 16 metabolites in the iron-deficient rat hippocampus was evaluated longitudinally by 1H NMR spectroscopy at 9.4 T. Metabolites were quantified from an 11-24 microL volume centered in the hippocampus in 18 iron-deficient and 16 iron-sufficient rats on postnatal day (PD) 7, PD10, PD14, PD21 and PD28. Perinatal iron deficiency was induced by feeding the pregnant dam an iron-deficient diet from gestational d 3 to PD7. The brain iron concentration of the iron-deficient group was 60% lower on PD7 and 19% lower on PD28 (P < 0.001 each). The concentration of 12 of the 16 measured metabolites changed over time between PD7 and PD28 in both groups (P < 0.001 each). Compared with the iron-sufficient group, phosphocreatine, glutamate, N-acetylaspartate, aspartate, gamma-aminobutyric acid, phosphorylethanolamine and taurine concentrations, and the phosphocreatine/creatine ratio were elevated in the iron-deficient group (P < 0.02 each). These neurochemical alterations suggest persistent changes in resting energy status, neurotransmission and myelination in perinatal iron deficiency. An altered neurochemical profile of the developing hippocampus may underlie some of the cognitive deficits observed in human infants with perinatal iron deficiency.

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These findings suggest that an aquatic aerobic exercise program was effective for this child with cerebral palsy and support the need for additional research in this area.

Objective: To examine the consequences of antenatal betamethasone (AB) exposure on postnatal stress regulation.Study design: Fourteen AB exposed infants born at 28-30 weeks' gestation were assessed in the NICU during postnatal week 1 and at 34 weeks postconception. Nine infants born at 34 weeks gestation without AB treatment were evaluated as a postconceptional age comparison group. Salivary cortisol, heart rate, and behavior were measured at baseline and in response to a heelstick blood draw.Results: Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed that both groups displayed an increase in heart rate and behavioral distress in response to the stressor. The cortisol response, however, was blunted in AB-treated infants at both assessments.Conclusion: AB treatment has consequences for hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation that persist for at least four to six weeks after birth, indicating that studies of long-term effects are warranted.

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The purpose of this investigation was to examine longitudinally gestational age and developmental differences in preterm infants' self-regulatory abilities in response to a painful stressor, as well as associations between behavioral and cardiovascular responses. Participants included 49 healthy premature infants. Behavioral and cardiovascular responses to a heel stick blood draw were compared between infants of 28-31 and 32-34 weeks gestational age at birth. Both gestational age groups displayed behavioral and cardiovascular indications of stress in response to the blood draw. However, both shortly after birth and several weeks later, infants born at younger gestational ages (28-31 weeks) were more physiologically reactive. Evidence that the behavioral stress responses of 28-31 weeks gestational age group preterm infants do not reflect their physiological responses suggests that evaluation of preterm infants' experiences and risk require assessments of both physiology and Corresponding Author: Elysia Poggi Davis, Address: Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Pediatrics, University of California, Irvine, City Tower 333 City Boulevard West, Suite 1200, Orange, CA 92628, Email: edavis@uci.edu, Fax: (714) 940-1939, Telephone: (714) 940-1924. Requests for reprints may be sent to Elysia Poggi Davis, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California Irvine, City Tower, 333 City Boulevard West, Orange, CA, 92868; edavis@uci.edu Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. behavior. The greater stress vulnerability of the 28-31 relative to the 32-34 week gestation infants and the implications of this for subsequent development are discussed. NIH Public Access KeywordsStress; Prematurity; Self-regulation; Physiological reactivity Medical and technological breakthroughs over the last few decades have increased the survival rates of infants born at the youngest viable gestational ages. Yet many of the procedures that are a necessary part of their post-natal care can be, by nature, painful and stressful. In a Canadian survey, Johnston, Collinger, Henderson, and Anand (1997) found that infants residing in a NICU had an average of two invasive procedures a day, with some infants having as many as eight. One common procedure is the heel stick blood draw (Barker & Rutter, 1995). Although at one point the prevailing belief was that preterm infants could not feel the pain of invasive medical procedures, more recent research has indicated that premature infants have the anatomic and brain structures necessary for nociception (Stevens, Johnsto...