Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Risk Predicted in Premature Babies

Pediatricians have not been able to predict the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm babies because of the difficulties in obtaining lung samples. Analysis of DNA expression profiles of tissue taken premature babies' umbilical cords, can predict which babies are at risk of developing this life-threatening lung disease.

BPD occurs in 20-40% of infants born below 1000 g and before 28 weeks of gestation, and means babies still need supplemental oxygen at 36 weeks postmenstrual age. It is the second leading cause of death among infants born within this gestational age, and is characterized by inflammation and scarring in the lungs.

Dr. Isaac Kohane and his team at the Children's Hospital (Boston, MA, USA), collected umbilical cord tissue samples from 54 premature infants born at less than 28 weeks of gestation, including 20 samples from infants who later developed BPD. When DNA expression profiles were examined, the team found that infants who subsequently developed BPD had distinct gene expression signatures that differed from the ones who did not develop the disease, although the maternal characteristics (for example, the cause of delivery, ethnicity, or inflammation of the uterus) were similar. The genes that differed between the two groups involved chromatin remodeling and histone acetylation pathways.

The study was reported in the October 3, 2007, issue of journal Genome Biology. The authors wrote, "The chromatin remodeling apparatus is involved in the inflammatory pathways in adult lung disease.” They question whether the subset of infants with BPD and adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) share a common vulnerability that is exposed by different stressors and concluded that, "such commonality might have practical import for prevention and treatment.”


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