Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 21, 2026
08:02
Isolation of Pulmonary Artery Smooth Muscle Cells from Neonatal Mice
Published on: October 19, 2013
Oxygen extremes, inflammation, and neonatal breathing.
Ying-Jie Peng1, Estelle Gauda2, Nanduri R Prabhakar1
1Institute for Integrative Physiology and Center for Systems Biology of O(2) Sensing, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology
|June 19, 2026
Summary
Neonatal exposure to abnormal oxygen levels, like intermittent hypoxia in premature infants, can permanently alter cardiorespiratory control and increase disease risk. Sustained hypoxia and hyperoxia also impact infant respiratory development.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal physiology
- Cardiorespiratory control
- Environmental medicine
Background:
- Premature infants often experience apnea of prematurity (AOP) with intermittent hypoxia (IH).
- Infants at high altitudes face sustained hypoxia; neonates can experience hyperoxia.
- Disrupted neonatal oxygen homeostasis has lasting cardiorespiratory effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review how neonatal extreme oxygen environments and inflammation affect respiratory control.
- To emphasize the underlying mechanisms of these effects.
Main Methods:
- Summary of clinical and experimental studies.
- Focus on carotid body chemoreflex sensitization and epigenetic disruption.
Main Results:
- Intermittent hypoxia (IH) enhances hypoxic ventilatory response and breathing instability, persisting into adulthood.
- Neonatal sustained hypoxia transiently impairs but typically resolves with maturation.
- Neonatal hyperoxia causes persistent carotid body impairment.
Conclusions:
- Neonatal oxygen disruption can lead to long-term cardiorespiratory issues, potentially via epigenetic changes.
- Further research is needed on shared epigenetic mechanisms and central respiratory network alterations.
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