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Race, hypoxaemia and oxidative stress in prematurely-born infants

Ourania Kaltsogianni1, Sara Zaidi2, Ravindra Bhat3

  • 1Women and Children's Health, School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, UK.

Early Human Development
|May 1, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Black preterm infants did not experience more hypoxemia than White infants. Lower oxygen saturation was linked to higher carboxyhaemoglobin levels, indicating increased oxidative stress risk for all infants, regardless of race.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal Medicine
  • Respiratory Physiology
  • Perinatal Research

Background:

  • Racial disparities exist in neonatal respiratory outcomes for premature infants.
  • Hypoxia and oxidative stress may contribute to these disparities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if Black preterm infants face higher exposure to hypoxemia.
  • To assess if Black preterm infants exhibit greater oxidative damage compared to White infants.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective cohort study at King's College Hospital, London (2018-2021).
  • Analyzed blood gas data from 87 infants born before 32 weeks gestational age.
  • Measured median arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) and maximum carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb) levels as an oxidative stress marker.

Main Results:

  • No significant difference in median SaO2 between Black and White preterm infants.
  • No significant difference in median COHb levels between racial groups.
  • Higher COHb levels were significantly correlated with lower SaO2 in all infants, irrespective of race.

Conclusions:

  • Black preterm infants were not found to have higher hypoxemia exposure than White infants.
  • Lower oxygen saturation is associated with increased oxidative stress, indicated by carboxyhaemoglobin levels, across all racial groups.
Abstract

Keywords:
Black infantsCarboxyhaemoglobin levelsHypoxiaOxidative stressPrematurely born infants

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