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The content discusses recent breakthrough research that has identified fibrin as a key factor in preterm brain bleeds in premature infants. This condition affects up to 20 percent of infants born before 28 weeks of gestation and can lead to developmental delays and autism. The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), shows that fibrin blocks a biological process essential for brain development in early life, shedding light on why brain bleeding in premature babies can result in long-term neurological issues. This new understanding could potentially lead to the development of treatments to counteract the harmful effects of brain bleeds in premature infants.
Mark Petersen, MD, has seen firsthand the devastating effects of brain bleeds in premature babies. It’s an exceedingly common condition that affects up to 20 percent of infants born before 28 weeks of gestation, bringing an increased risk for developmental delays and autism.
As a neonatologist and neuroscientist, it’s frustrating that we don’t have any treatments to counteract the harmful effects of bleeding in the developing brain, even though we know it often leads to lasting problems. Adding to this frustration, we’ve had very little understanding-;until now-;of why and how this bleeding is so closely tied to the long-term neurological issues these babies often face.”
Mark Petersen, director of the Neuro-Intensive Care Nursery at UC San Francisco (UCSF), associate professor of pediatrics at UCSF, and a visiting scientist at Gladstone Institutes
In a study that appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Petersen and an interdisciplinary team of physicians and scientists from Gladstone and UCSF shed light on this vexing medical condition, showing for the first time that a blood protein called fibrin blocks an essential biological process that drives brain development in early life.
When babies are born extremely prematurely, the tiny and fragile blood vessels in their brain can break, causing a hemorrhage; the younger the baby, the higher the risk. Why this happens is not fully known, but poor neurological outcomes from brain bleeding are well established, explains Petersen, who leads his research laboratory at the UCSF Newborn Brain Research Institute.