Insight into preemies' blindness.About 5 percent of premature babies suffer vision losses, including blindness, due to a condition known as retinopathy of prematurity retinopathy of prematurity n. Abnormal replacement of the sensory retina by fibrous tissue and blood vessels, occurring mainly in premature infants who are placed in a high-oxygen environment. . The damage occurs when excessive growth of blood vessels Blood vessels Tubular channels for blood transport, of which there are three principal types: arteries, capillaries, and veins. Only the larger arteries and veins in the body bear distinct names. and other tissue pulls the newborn's retinas away from the walls of their eyes. Now, researchers have linked the condition to low concentrations of a substance called insulin-like growth factor insulin-like growth factor one of the twenty or so substances, additional to the classic bone-regulating hormones, which exert an effect on bone cell metabolism. See also somatomedin C. 1 (IGF-1). Previous research established that IGF-1 concentrations are higher in full-term babies than in preemies, says Lois E. H. Smith of Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. It is a prestigious American medical school located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. in Boston. She and her colleagues also knew that IGF-1 is crucial for the survival of cells that make up blood vessels. So, they looked at the effect of various concentration of IGF-1 and found that the concentrations associated with premature birth premature birth Birth less than 37 weeks after conception. Infants born as early as 23–24 weeks may survive but many face lifelong disabilities (e.g., cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness). aren't high enough to ensure survival of blood vessel cells in laboratory cultures. To see if these lab results reflect a link between IGF-1 and retinopathy retinopathy /ret·i·nop·a·thy/ (ret?i-nop´ah-the) any noninflammatory disease of the retina. circinate retinopathy , Smith and her colleagues at the Queen Silvia Children's Hospital in G6teborg, Sweden, measured IGF-1 concentrations in the blood of 41 infants born 5 to 12 weeks premature. In babies of the same gestational age, those with the lower IGF-1 concentrations were more likely to develop retinopathy. "Measurement of this growth factor might help researchers predict which premature infants are most at risk of developing the disease," Smith says. "Ultimately, replacing IGF-1 might allow doctors to prevent this tragic complication." "This is potentially a good way to treat a serious problem of thousands and thousands of infants," said Ross Clark of the University of Auckland Not to be confused with Auckland University of Technology. The University of Auckland (Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau) is New Zealand's largest university. in New Zealand. He noted that IGF-1 might have beneficial side effects since it's involved in the normal growth of the lungs and gut, which often remain underdeveloped in preemies. Enticing as IGF-1 treatment sounds, Clark cautions that preemies are so small that it may be hard to monitor the growth factor's concentration in blood. Says Clark: "Treating premature infants with drugs raises serious concerns." |
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