Effect of gestational age and intrauterine nutrition on plasma transferrin and iron in the newborn.

Abstract

(1975

Gestational Age-Dependent Reference Values for Iron and Selected Proteins of Iron Metabolism in Serum of Premature Human Neonates

“…This corresponds to the necessities of the growing organism with a higher demand for iron, increasing transplacental iron transfer, and a rising need for specific transport capacity [8,11,12]. Previous studies established similar results [7,10], with exception of the investigations of Polberger et al [1]. Regardless of these contradictory findings, the results of serum transferrin measurements were quantitatively equal in all previous reports [1,6,7,10].…”

“…Although the efficacy of iron uptake and transfer by the placenta is constantly increasing during pregnancy, the amount of iron present in the fetus on a body weight basis remains relatively constant (70-80 mg/kg) [12]. In contrast, neither transferrin [7], ferritin [8,11] nor ceruloplasmin [9,10] are assumed to be transplacentally transferred from mother to fetus, so that measurements of these laboratory values in premature neonates reflect the actual, age-dependent status of protein synthesis at the time of birth [1,2].…”

“…To identify a premature newborn possibly at risk for the development of such a disorder, gestational age-dependent reference ranges of these laboratory values are needed. Unfortunately, previous studies either did not take into account the expected changes with gestational age [1,6], or they confined their investigations to only one or two of these iron metabolismassociated laboratory values, so that any comparative statement seems questionable [1,[5][6][7][8][9][10]. Therefore, it was the aim of the present study to establish reference values for serum iron, transferrin, ferritin and ceruloplasmin concentrations in premature human neonates, thereby paying attention to the possible changes with gestational age.…”

The Total Free Radical Trapping Ability of Cord Blood Plasma in Preterm and Term Babies

“…cation binding of urate (27) or increased prooxidant activity may explain these findings (8). Prooxidant activity due to iron (3) may be particularly important in the newborn plasma as transfenin is highly saturated with iron (28). The unidentified antioxidants showed the strongest correlation with the TRAPmeas in both the newborn and adults emphasizing the need to identify its components.…”

Effects of Blood Transfusion on Retinopathy of Prematurity

“…The reduced iron-binding capacity of preterm infants due to their low transferring levels (Scott et al, 1975) makes preterm infants who are repeatedly transfused extremely susceptible to an accumulation of increased amounts of free iron. This problem catalyze Fenton reactions which produce free hydroxyl radicals capable of damaging the retina (Wardle et al, 2002).Despite a strong and independent association between ROP and blood transfusions, parameter suggestive of increased free iron, such as low transfusion or high ferritin levels, there not found to be independently associated with ROP in the one of related studies (Hesse et al 1997).…”