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Effect of maternal antibiotic treatment on fetal periventricular white matter cell death in a rabbit intrauterine infection model
Author(s) -
Debillon T,
GrasLeguen C,
Vérielle V,
Caillon J,
Roze JC,
Gressens P
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2003.tb00474.x
Subject(s) - ceftriaxone , medicine , white matter , fetus , antibiotics , caesarean section , andrology , pregnancy , pathology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , magnetic resonance imaging , radiology
Aim : To evaluate the effects of maternal antibiotic treatment on fetal brain cell death in a rabbit intrauterine infection model. Methods : After Escherichia coli uterine‐horn inoculation in 22 pregnant rabbits, followed at various times by ceftriaxone and caesarean section, cell death in white matter (histology and fragmented DNA staining) from fetuses killed at extraction was compared across groups using the Mantel‐Haenszel test and Fisher's exact test for small numbers. Results : White matter cell death was consistently present at 48 h, with ceftriaxone initiation at 24 h (group 1), detectable at 84 but not 60 h, with ceftriaxone initiation at 12 h, and significantly reduced at 84 h with ceftriaxone initiation at 6 h (60% vs 100% in group 1, p < 0.001, Fisher's exact test). Conclusion : Early maternal antibiotic therapy delays white matter cell death in rabbit fetuses exposed to intrauterine infection. This may provide a window for preventing white matter damage.