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Reduced levels of antimicrobial proteins and peptides in human cord blood plasma
  1. T Strunk1,2,
  2. D Doherty3,
  3. P Richmond2,
  4. K Simmer1,2,3,
  5. A Charles3,
  6. O Levy4,5,
  7. K Liyanage2,
  8. T Smith2,
  9. A Currie2,
  10. D Burgner2
  1. 1
    Department of Neonatal Paediatrics, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
  2. 2
    School of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
  3. 3
    School of Women’s and Infants’ Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
  4. 4
    Division of Infectious Diseases, Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  5. 5
    Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  1. Dr Tobias Strunk, School of Paediatrics and Child Health, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Roberts Road, Subiaco, Western Australia 6008, Australia; tobiasstrunk{at}yahoo.de

https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.2008.143438

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    Neonates, particularly those born prematurely, are uniquely susceptible to invasive bacterial infections. Neonatal immunity relies predominantly on innate responses, including antimicrobial proteins and peptides (APP),1 but cord blood plasma concentrations of APP have not been investigated. This study was approved by the King Edward Memorial Hospital ethics committee.

    Cord blood samples obtained by venepuncture of placental surface vessels and maternal samples obtained by peripheral venepuncture at delivery, following written informed consent, were collected into heparinised tubes and processed within 2 h; plasma was snap-frozen and stored at −80°C. APP concentrations were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in accordance with the manufacturers’ recommendations (Hycult Biotechnology, Uden, The Netherlands and Cayman Chemical, Ann Arbor, MI, USA). Comparisons between groups were by Mann–Whitney U test (two groups) or Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn’s post-test (>2 groups). Significance was set at p<0.05.

    ELISA was successfully performed for each APP …

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    Footnotes

    • Funding: Dr Strunk is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and by an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship of the University of Western Australia.

    • Competing interests: None.

    • Ethics approval: The study was approved by the King Edward Memorial Hospital ethics committee.