title: Postnatal changes in plasma burst-promoting activity (BPA) levels in preterm infants.
abstract: Two-stage cell culture assays were used to determine burst-promoting activity (BPA) levels in the plasma of untransfused premature infants during the early anaemic period. The plasma BPA levels decreased during the early phase of the postnatal fall in haemoglobin and the mean plasma BPA levels at 2 and 4 weeks of age were significantly lower (24 +/- 9% and 20 +/- 14%) than those of normal adults (53 +/- 17%). After 8 weeks of age, plasma BPA levels increased markedly in correlation with the recovery of erythropoiesis. Inhibitors of erythroid colony growth were not significantly elevated in the plasma of premature infants. These results suggest that BPA may act as a regulator of erythropoiesis in preterm infants along with erythropoietin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Kyoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwai
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakato
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mayumi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mikawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000740:Anemia / Q000097:blood; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000097:blood*; D007377:Interleukin-3 / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D007377:Interleukin-3