ABSTRACT
Objectives: Perinatal asphyxia [PA] is very significant in perinatal medicine due to the involvement of the central nervous system. This study was conducted to investigate the biochemical, clinical, and paraclinical changes associated with Phenobarbital administration in neonates with PA
Methods: In this prospective, case-control study, 30 neonates with PA in two groups of 15 each [case and control] were investigated. The case group received 20 mg/kg intravenous phenobarbital within six hours of birth, and the control group did not receive phenobarbital. Serum concentrations of nitric oxide [NO] were measured at enrollment and one week after birth in the two groups. Clinical, electroencephalography, and magnetic resonance imaging findings of the two groups were compared
Results: At enrollment, the two groups did not differ in clinical severity, seizure incidence, or NO concentration. After one week, NO concentration was significantly lower in the case group [p < 0.050], but there was no significant difference in other variables between the two groups
Conclusions: Early administration of phenobarbital in term neonates with PA could protect them against encephalopathy
ABSTRACT
Understanding the possible role of visfatin in the pathogenesis of beta-thalassemia major [BTM] and its relationship with markers of endothelial function could help us to provide more effective therapeutic approaches for treatment of patients with BTM and its related complications. The aim of current study was to compare serum level of visfatin between patients with BTM and control group and determine its correlation with markers of endothelial function, intracellular adhesion molecule [ICAM] and vascular adhesion molecule [VCAM]. In this case-control study, patients with BTM receiving regular blood transfusion aged 10-20 years and a group of healthy subjects were enrolled. Selected subjects examined clinically and venous blood samples obtained for visfatin, ICAM, VCAM, cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and ferritin measurements. Mean [standard deviation] of studied laboratory measurements compared in two studied groups and the relation between visfatin and ICAM, VCAM, ferrittin, body mass index determined. In this study 31 patients with BTM and 30 healthy controls studied. Mean of visfatin was significantly higher in patients with BTM than control group [133.9 +/- 60.1 vs. 43.3 +/- 27.9, P < 0.001]. The higher level of visfatin among patients with BTM indicated the possible inflammatory role of this adipocytokine in BTM. It seems that for understanding the underlying mechanisms and its relation with vascular inflammatory markers and endothelial function further studies with larger sample size is needed