Prevention of Perinatal Inflammation-Induced Brain Injury in Preterm Newborns by Targeting Inflammatory Mediators

Chorioamnionitis and fetal inflammation affect up to 70% of all babies born preterm. Fetal exposure to inflammation increases the risk of neurodevelopmental impairments including learning and memory complications, visual and auditory impairments, and motor disabilities including cerebral palsy (CP). Advancements in neonatal care have increased the survival rate of preterm newborns born as early as 22 weeks of gestation, however this comes with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental impairments. Pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-6, have been highlighted in both human and animal studies in this thesis as dominant inflammatory mediators which contribute to the pathophysiology of preterm inflammation-induced brain injury.