title: Impact of bronchopulmonary dysplasia on brain and retina.
abstract: Many premature newborns develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a chronic lung disease resulting from prolonged mechanical ventilation and hyperoxia. BPD survivors typically suffer long-term injuries not only to the lungs, but also to the brain and retina. However, currently it is not clear whether the brain and retinal injuries in these newborns are related only to their prematurity, or also to BPD. We investigated whether the hyperoxia known to cause histologic changes in the lungs similar to BPD in an animal model also causes brain and retinal injuries. Sprague Dawley rat pups were exposed to hyperoxia (95% O2, 'BPD' group) or room air (21% O2, 'control' group) from postnatal day 4-14 (P4-14); the rat pups were housed in room air between P14 and P28. At P28, they were sacrificed, and their lungs, brain, and eyes were extracted. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was performed on lung and brain sections; retinas were stained with Toluidine Blue. Hyperoxia exposure resulted in an increased mean linear intercept in the lungs (P<0.0001). This increase was associated with a decrease in some brain structures [especially the whole-brain surface (P=0.02)], as well as a decrease in the thickness of the retinal layers [especially the total retina (P=0.0008)], compared to the room air control group. In addition, a significant negative relationship was observed between the lung structures and the brain (r=-0.49,P=0.02) and retina (r=-0.70,P=0.0008) structures. In conclusion, hyperoxia exposure impaired lung, brain, and retina structures. More severe lung injuries correlated with more severe brain and retinal injuries. This result suggests that the same animal model of chronic neonatal hyperoxia can be used to simultaneously study lung, brain and retinal injuries related to hyperoxia.
authors.affiliation: Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H4A 3J1, Canada.
authors.forename: Annie Wing Hoi
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Poon
authors.affiliation: Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H4A 3J1, Canada.
authors.forename: Emilie Xiao Hang
authors.initials: EX
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Regenerative Medicine Program, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L6, Canada.
authors.forename: Arul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vadivel
authors.affiliation: Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H4A 3J1, Canada.
authors.forename: Suna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H4A 3J1, Canada.
authors.forename: Zehra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Khoja
authors.affiliation: Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H4A 3J1, Canada.
authors.forename: Laurel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stephens
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Regenerative Medicine Program, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L6, Canada.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thébaud
authors.affiliation: Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H4A 3J1, Canada pia.wintermark@bluemail.ch.
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wintermark
keywords: Brain; Bronchopulmonary dysplasia; Chronic lung disease; Encephalopathy of prematurity; Hyperoxia; Lung; Newborn; Retina; Retinopathy of prematurity