Blood test could diagnose baby brain damage just hours after birth


Date:
August 4, 2020
Source:
Imperial College London
Summary:
An early blood test could detect which babies deprived of oxygen
at birth are at risk of serious neurodisabilities like cerebral
palsy and epilepsy.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
An early blood test could detect which babies deprived of oxygen at birth
are at risk of serious neurodisabilities like cerebral palsy and epilepsy.


==========================================================================
The prototype test looks for certain genes being switched on and off that
are linked to long-term neurological issues. Further investigations of
these genes may provide new targets for treating the brain damage before
it becomes permanent.

The team behind the test, led by Imperial College London researchers in collaboration with groups in India, Italy and the USA, have published
their findings today in the journal Scientific Reports.

The research was conducted in Indian hospitals, where there are
around 0.5-1.0 million cases of birth asphyxia (oxygen deprivation)
per year. Babies can suffer oxygen deprivation at birth for a number of reasons, including when the mother has too little oxygen in her blood, infection, or through complications with the umbilical cord during birth.

Following oxygen deprivation at birth, brain injury can develop over
hours to months and affect different regions of the brain, resulting
in a variety of potential neurodisabilities such as cerebral palsy,
epilepsy, deafness or blindness.

This makes it hard to determine which babies are most at risk of
complications and to design interventions that can prevent the worst
outcomes.



==========================================================================
Now, in preliminary study of 45 babies that experienced oxygen deprivation
at birth, researchers have identified changes to a raft of genes in their
blood that could identify those that go on to develop neurodisabilities.

The babies had their blood taken within six hours after birth
and were followed up after 18 months old to see which had developed neurodisabilities. The blood was examined with next-generation sequencing
to determine any difference in gene expression -- the 'switching on or
off' of genes -- between those babies that developed neurodisabilities
and those that didn't.

The team found 855 genes were expressed differently between the two
groups, with two showing the most significant difference.

Examining these two genes in particular, and what processes their
expression causes within cells, could lead to a deeper understanding
of the causes of neurodisabilities prompted by oxygen deprivation,
and potentially how to disrupt them, improving outcomes.

Lead author Dr Paolo Montaldo, from the Centre for Perinatal Neuroscience
at Imperial, said: "We know that early intervention is key to preventing
the worst outcomes in babies following oxygen deprivation, but knowing
which babies need this help, and how best to help them, remains a
challenge." Senior author Professor Sudhin Thayyil, from the Centre for Perinatal Neuroscience at Imperial, said: "The results from these blood
tests will allow us to gain more insight into disease mechanisms that
are responsible for brain injury and allow us to develop new therapeutic interventions or improve those which are already available."


==========================================================================
The babies were part of a trial called Hypothermia for Encephalopathy
in Low and middle-income countries (HELIX), which also examines the use
of hypothermia (extreme cooling) on babies to prevent brain injuries
developing following oxygen deprivation.

In higher-income countries this is known to reduce the chances of babies developing neurodisabilities, but in lower income settings cooling may
not be feasible, and even with cooling 30 percent of babies still have
adverse outcomes, so new therapies are still needed.

The team will next expand their blood testing study to a larger number
of babies and examine the genes that appear to show the most difference
between the groups.

The study was funded via a Neonatal Medicine Endowment Chair from the
Weston Garfield Foundation.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Imperial_College_London. Original
written by Hayley Dunning. Note: Content may be edited for style and
length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Paolo Montaldo, Aubrey Cunnington, Vania Oliveira, Ravi Swamy,
Prathik
Bandya, Stuti Pant, Peter J. Lally, Phoebe Ivain, Josephine
Mendoza, Gaurav Atreja, Vadakepat Padmesh, Mythili Baburaj,
Monica Sebastian, Indiramma Yasashwi, Chinnathambi Kamalarathnam,
Rema Chandramohan, Sundaram Mangalabharathi, Kumutha Kumaraswami,
Shobha Kumar, Naveen Benakappa, Swati Manerkar, Jayashree Mondhkar,
Vinayagam Prakash, Mohammed Sajjid, Arasar Seeralar, Ismat Jahan,
Sadeka Choudhury Moni, Mohammod Shahidullah, Radhika Sujatha,
Manigandan Chandrasekaran, Siddarth Ramji, Seetha Shankaran,
Myrsini Kaforou, Jethro Herberg, Sudhin Thayyil. Transcriptomic
profile of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes after neonatal
encephalopathy. Scientific Reports, 2020; 10 (1) DOI:
10.1038/s41598-020-70131-w ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200804085931.htm

--- up 2 weeks, 6 days, 1 hour, 55 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111)