Related Experiment Videos
Bone mineralization in preterm infants
1Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust, Alder Hey Hospital, UK.
Insights
Preterm infants experience skeletal deficits but achieve catch-up bone mineralization by age one. Early nutrition may influence long-term skeletal health, warranting further investigation into neonatal dietary strategies.
Area of Science:
- Neonatology
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Bone Biology
Background:
- Preterm neonates develop significant skeletal mineral deficits by 40 weeks postconception.
- Catch-up growth between 40-60 weeks postconception leads to similar skeletal mineral content by age 1 year in preterm and term infants.
- Long-term skeletal mineralization in former preterm individuals requires further investigation due to abnormal growth experiences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine bone mineralization in early adulthood for individuals born preterm.
- To assess the long-term effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving perinatal bone mineralization.
- To investigate a potential counterintuitive association between poor neonatal mineral diet and later skeletal mineralization advantage.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing follow-up studies on skeletal mineralization in preterm infants.
- Analysis of long-term effectiveness of perinatal bone mineralization interventions.
- Exploration of nutritional strategies during the neonatal period.
Main Results:
- Skeletal mineralization catch-up observed in preterm infants by age 1 year, persisting into later childhood.
- Limited studies available on the long-term effectiveness of perinatal bone mineralization interventions.
- A preliminary finding suggests a poor neonatal mineral diet may paradoxically benefit later skeletal mineralization.
Conclusions:
- While catch-up skeletal mineralization occurs in preterm infants, early adulthood bone health warrants continued monitoring.
- The long-term impact of perinatal nutritional interventions on bone health needs more extensive research.
- A potential link between neonatal diet and later skeletal mineralization could revolutionize neonatal nutrition strategies.
Abstract:
In preterm neonates a large skeletal mineral deficit builds up between birth and 40 wk postconception. During the phase of catch-up growth between 40 and 60 wk postconception there is a catch-up in peripheral skeletal mineralization, so that by the age of 1 y the skeletal mineral content is similar in preterm and term infants, despite the former being smaller, a finding that has been replicated for lumbar spinal mineralization. Later follow-up studies suggest that this catch-up persists and mineralization remains appropriate for body size. However, given the continuing abnormal growth experience of former preterm individuals, it would still be important to examine their bone mineralization in early adulthood. A number of interventions can improve perinatal bone mineralization, but few studies examine their long-term effectiveness. One such study has suggested that a relatively poor mineral diet in this period is, counterintuitively, associated with a later advantage in skeletal mineralization. If this finding is repeatable, then it could result in a major change in nutrition strategy in the neonatal period.