title: Relationship between opioid therapy, tissue-damaging procedures, and brain metabolites as measured by proton MRS in asphyxiated term neonates.
abstract: To examine the effects of opioid and tissue-damaging procedures (TDPs) [i.e. procedures performed in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) known to result in pain, stress, and tissue damage] on brain metabolites, we reviewed the medical records of 28 asphyxiated term neonates (eight opioid-treated, 20 non-opioid treated) who had undergone magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) within the first month of life as well as eight newborns with no clinical findings of asphyxial injury. We found that lower creatine (Cr), myoinositol (Ins), and N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/choline (Cho) (p < or = 0.03) and higher Cho/Cr and glutamate/glutamine (Glx) Cr (p < or = 0.02) correlated with increased TDP incidence in the first 2 d of life (DOL). We also found that occipital gray matter (OGM) NAA/Cr was decreased (p = 0.03) and lactate (Lac) was present in a significantly higher amount (40%; p = 0.03) in non-opioid-treated neonates compared with opioid-treated neonates. Compared with controls, untreated neonates showed larger changes in more metabolites in basal ganglia (BG), thalami (TH), and OGM with greater significance than treated neonates. Our data suggest that TDPs affect spectral metabolites and that opioids do not cause harm in asphyxiated term neonates exposed to repetitive TDPs in the first 2-4 DOL and may provide a degree of neuroprotection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, California 92350, USA. dangeles@llu.edu
authors.forename: Danilyn M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Angeles
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ashwal
authors.forename: Nathaniel D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Wycliffe
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ebner
authors.forename: Elba
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fayard
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sowers
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Holshouser
mesh_terms: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001238:Asphyxia Neonatorum / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid