Objective To observe the effect of assisted reproductive technology (ART) on retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in preterm infants. MethodsA retrospective clinical study. From January 2016 to January 2020, 639 preterm infants who were hospitalized at Children's Hospital of Zhengzhou University and underwent fundus screening at a gestational age ≤32 weeks were included in the study. There were 366 males and 273 females. Gestational age at birth were (28.3±1.4) weeks; birth weight were (1 153.8±228.8) g. Severe ROP was detected in 60 cases (9.4%, 60/639); 120 were ART recipients, and 519 were naturally conceived, and were divided into the ART group and the control group accordingly. The incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus (χ2=21.675), pulmonary surfactant application (χ2=13.558), and twin births (yes) (χ2=145.568) in mothers of the children examined in both groups were significantly higher than that of the control group, and the difference were statistically significant in all cases (P＜0.001). Comparison of quantitative data between groups was performed by t-test, and comparison of count data was performed by χ2 test; logistic regression was used to analyze the effect of ART on the incidence of ROP. ResultsOf the 60 cases of severe ROP, 18 (15.0%, 18/120) and 42 (8.1%, 42/519) cases were in the ART group and control group, respectively. The incidence of severe ROP was significantly higher in the ART group than in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (χ2=4.680, P=0.024). Compared with the control group, the incidence of severe ROP was significantly higher in the ART group for gestational age at birth ＜28 weeks and birth weight ＜1 000 g, and the differences were statistically significant (χ2=10.116, 3.785; P=0.002, 0.037). Logistic regression analysis showed that ART was a non-independent risk factor for the occurrence of ROP (P＞0.05). ConclusionAssisted reproductive technology may have a certain influence on the occurrence of ROP, which is not an independent factor.
ObjectiveTo observe and analyze the correlation between erythrocyte count and hemoglobin level in early life and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). MethodsA clinical retrospective study. From January 2020 to December 2022, a total of 303 premature infants, who underwent fundus screening in Children's Hospital of Henan Province were included. There were 219 males and 84 females, with the average gestational age of (30.36±1.52) weeks and the average birth weight of (1 368.43±171.37) g. Early life was defined as 14 days after birth. According to the screening results, patients were divided into ROP group and no ROP group (control group). The results of red blood cell count, hematocrit and hemoglobin concentration of the two groups were compared and observed on the 3rd, 7th and 14th day after birth. The measurement data were compared by t-test, and the count data were compared by χ2 test. The risk factors of ROP were analyzed by logistic regression. The correlation between red blood cell count as well as hemoglobin concentration in early life and ROP was analyzed by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve. ResultsAmong the 303 premature infants screened, a total of 101 preterm infants were included in the ROP group, with the average gestational age of (30.39±1.48) weeks. And a total of 202 preterm infants were included in the control group, with the average gestational age of (30.35±1.55) weeks. There was no significant difference between the two groups in sex composition ratio (χ2=0.296) and gestational age (t=0.251) (P＞0.05). There were significant differences in birth weight (t=－2.024), blood transfusion times (U=－4.957), invasive mechanical ventilation duration (U=－2.215) and continuous positive airway pressure ventilation time (U=－5.224) between the two groups (P＜0.05). The incidence of periventricular leukomalacia (χ2=5.069), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (χ2=9.794) and sepsis (χ2=8.041) were significantly different (P＜0.05). The average hemoglobin level of patients in the ROP group on the 3rd, 7th and 14th day after birth were lower than those in the control group (t=－3.813, －2.753, －2.847; P＜0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that low frequency of blood transfusion [odds ratio (OR)=1.241, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.016-1.517] and short duration of continuous positive airway pressure (OR=1.128, 95%CI 1.031-1.234) were protective factors for ROP. The ROC curve analysis indicated that the abnormal threshold values of hematocrit and hemoglobin were the highest on the 14th day after birth, which were 115.5 g/L and 36.25% respectively. The sensitivities were 88.1% and 83.2%, respectively. ConclusionRed blood cell count and hemoglobin level in early life of preterm infants may have a certain correlation with the occurrence and development of ROP.
ObjectiveTo investigate the postnatal changes in urinary metabolic amino acid levels in infants with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and their effect on ROP, and to analyze the amino acid metabolic pathways that may be involved in the development of ROP. MethodsA retrospective cohort study. From January 2020 to December 2023, 65 premature infants with severe ROP (ROP group) who were hospitalized, born with gestational age ＜32 weeks in Children's Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University were included in the study. Fifty premature infants with matched sex and gestational age and no ROP were selected as the control group. Urine amino acids and their derivatives were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The two groups were compared by independent sample t test. The metabonomics of urinary amino acids was analyzed by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) model. The variable projection importance (VIP) score ＞1 suggested that the substance was two groups of differentially expressed amino acids. The predictive value of urinary amino acids for severe ROP was compared by using the receiver's operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the curve. After t test and metabolomics analysis, the two groups of amino acids with large differences were normalized and compared by Pearson correlation analysis. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database was used to analyze the metabolic pathways of differentially expressed amino acids involved in ROP. ResultsCompared with the control group, the concentrations of oxalic acid -2 and thiodiacetic acid-2 in urine metabolites of children in ROP group were significantly decreased, while the concentrations of 4-hydroxybutyric acid-2, 3-methylpentadienoic acid-2(1), 2-ketoglutarate-ox-2(2) and 3, 6-epoxy-dodecanedioic acid-2 were significantly increased, with statistical differences (t=0.036, 0.005, 0.038, 0.032, 0.022, 0.011; P＜0.05). The results of OPLS-DA analysis showed that amino acids of urinary metabolites in ROP group and control group were distributed in the left and right regions of the scatter plot, and there was a satisfactory separation trend between the two groups (R2Ycum=0.057 4, Q2cum=0.025 7, P＜0.05). As shown in the S-Plot, the amino acids biased towards two stages are glycolic acid-2, phosphoric acid-3, oxalic acid-2, thiodiacetic acid-2, 4-hydroxybutyric acid-2, 3-methylcrotonylglycine-1, 3-methylpentadienoic acid-2(1), 2-ketoglutarate-ox-2(2) and 3, 6-epoxy- dodecanedioic acid-2, respectively. Eleven differentially expressed amino acids with VIP score ＞1 were screened, among which the highest VIP score was oxalate-2, glycerate-3, phosphoric acid-3, 3-methylcrotonylglycine-1, uranoic acid -3 and thiodiacetic acid-2. The difference of amino acid concentration between the two groups was the highest in 4-hydroxybutyric acid-2 and thiodiacetic acid-2. The correlation between oxalic acid-2 and glycerate-3 was the highest (r=0.830, P＜0.001), and most amino acids were positive correlated. ROC curve fitting analysis showed that the combined prediction of 11 differenly-expressed amino groups had the largest area under the curve (0.816), the cutoff value was 0.531, and the sensitivity and specificity were 83.1% and 70.0%, respectively. The enrichment analysis of these 11 amino acids with significant differences suggested that the main pathways involved included butyrate metabolism, glyoxylic acid and dicarboxylic acid metabolism and lipoic acid metabolism. ConclusionAbnormal amino acid metabolism of 4-hydroxybutyrate-2, 3-methylpentadienoic acid-2(1), thiodiacetic acid-2, 2-ketoglutarate-ox-2(2), 3, 6-epoxy-dodecanedioic acid-2 may have a certain effect on the occurrence of ROP.
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) are common and important diseases in preterm infants. What these diseases have in common is altered blood vessel formation and pathological changes in the case of incomplete organ development. Multiple factors interact to cause abnormal angiogenesis, which increases the likelihood of a common pathway for both diseases. However, little is known about the specific mechanism of this balance in the occurrence and development of BPD or ROP, and there are still no animal models to explore the pathogenesis of these two diseases simultaneously. At present, there is no effective prevention program, and the treatment options include drug therapy, surgery, etc. In the future, more studies are needed to find common therapeutic targets for factors affecting angiogenesis, so as to provide a better choice for the treatment of BPD and ROP and improve the effectiveness of the treatment effect.