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Prenatal and perinatal striatal injury: a hypothetical cause of attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder?
1Danish Research Center of Magnetic Resonance, Hvidovre.
Insights
Perinatal adverse events in newborns can cause subtle striatal brain damage, indicated by elevated lactate levels. This biochemical change may affect behavioral development and frontostriatal circuit formation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Biochemistry
- Developmental Pediatrics
Background:
- Striatal neurons are vulnerable in the developing brain.
- The striatum plays a crucial role in context recognition and behavior.
- Perinatal adverse events may lead to subtle neurological damage.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate biochemical changes in the striatum of neonates experiencing perinatal adverse events.
- To identify potential biomarkers of striatal injury in vulnerable newborns.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of striatal metabolite composition in human neonates.
- Comparison of metabolite levels in infants with and without perinatal disorders.
Main Results:
- Elevated lactate levels were observed in the striatum of neonates with perinatal disorders.
- Conditions studied include germinal matrix hemorrhage, intrauterine growth retardation, and asphyxia.
- Increased lactate suggests tissue hypoxia in the striatum.
Conclusions:
- Altered striatal metabolite composition, specifically elevated lactate, is linked to perinatal adverse events.
- Hypoxia-induced striatal changes may impair frontostriatal circuit development.
- These findings suggest a potential role in the pathogenesis of behavioral disturbances in affected children.
Abstract:
Experimental data indicate a particular vulnerability of striatal neurons in the developing brain, and together with the idea that the striatum is important for context recognition and behavior, these data have led the author to search for subtle striatal lesions, in the form of biochemical changes, in children who have suffered perinatal adverse events. Evidence is presented to demonstrate that the composition of metabolites in the striatum is altered, primarily in the form of an elevated level of lactate, in human neonates who have suffered various perinatal disorders, such as germinal matrix hemorrhage, intrauterine growth retardation, and asphyxia. An elevated level of lactate suggests tissue hypoxia, which may interfere with the formation of frontostriatal circuits and may play a role in the pathogenesis of the behavioral disturbances observed in a proportion of children with a history of perinatal adverse events.
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