This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The effects of neonatal pain may result in physiological, hormonal and behavioral reactions that persist into adulthood and may cause functional disorders that are refractory to conventional medicine. Treatments to decrease the effects of neonatal pain have not been adequately researched and existing ones are used capriciously. Therefore, effective pain management and pre-emptive interventions with low side effect profiles are needed. These pre-emptive techniques include skin-to-skin contact with the neonate (kangaroo care), facilitated tucking and suckling sugar-coated pacifiers. In this application, we propose to evaluate the effectiveness and mechanism of action of pre-emptive care to prevent long-term consequences of neonatal pain. The hypothesis is that pre-emptive neonatal interventions that will decrease stress responses associated with painful neonatal procedures will also decrease adverse consequences later in life. To test this hypothesis, we first propose to examine whether neonatal cuddling (NC) around the time of injury can prevent the long-term effect of neonatal colon inflammation/pain in the adult rat. Second, we will show that neonatal cuddling (kangaroo care) will positively impact the health care outcomes of babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The ability of these pre-emptive measures to reduce the long-term consequences in adults who were exposed to painful/stressful neonatal procedures has not been studied in either humans or animal models. To test the central hypothesis, three specific aims were designed.
In specific aim 1, behavioral studies will be conducted to show that NC prevents the development of long-term visceral hypersensitivity in the adult rat with neonatal colon irritation, by reducing the stress associated with neonatal injury.
In specific aim 2, stress-reduction techniques such as kangaroo care will be tested in the NICU to evaluate their benefits to premature infants who are in stable condition. The long-term consequences of neonatal trauma have been shown repeatedly to be detrimental to the individual in a number of clinical and basic studies. These studies have emphasized the immediate need to develop new preemptive care approaches in the clinical setting to lessen the impact of neonatal trauma. This proposal brings together a team of basic and clinical scientists, both established and in training, to evaluate the impact of stress-reduction techniques on the consequences of neonatal trauma. The studies proposed focus on one central hypothesis that will be tested in the laboratory and the clinic and highlight the high level of synergy among the investigators. If successful, these studies will enable us to generate additional data sufficient to broaden the scope of this proposal and to develop a multi-investigator R01 application. Furthermore, the results should have a positive impact on neonatal care and decrease long-term consequences in adults who were exposed to neonatal pain and stress.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)
Type
Exploratory Grants (P20)
Project #
5P20RR020146-07
Application #
8168241
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRR1-RI-B (01))
Project Start
2010-05-01
Project End
2011-04-30
Budget Start
2010-05-01
Budget End
2011-04-30
Support Year
7
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$145,441
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Department
Anatomy/Cell Biology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
122452563
City
Little Rock
State
AR
Country
United States
Zip Code
72205
Odle, Angela; Allensworth-James, Melody; Childs, Gwen V (2018) The War on the Placenta: The Differing Battles of High-Fat Diet and Obesity. Endocrinology 159:1642-1643
MacNicol, Melanie C; Cragle, Chad E; McDaniel, F Kennedy et al. (2017) Evasion of regulatory phosphorylation by an alternatively spliced isoform of Musashi2. Sci Rep 7:11503
Odle, Angela K; Allensworth-James, Melody L; Akhter, Noor et al. (2016) A Sex-Dependent, Tropic Role for Leptin in the Somatotrope as a Regulator of POU1F1 and POU1F1-Dependent Hormones. Endocrinology 157:3958-3971
Rhee, Christopher J; Kaiser, Jeffrey R; Rios, Danielle R et al. (2016) Elevated Diastolic Closing Margin Is Associated with Intraventricular Hemorrhage in Premature Infants. J Pediatr 174:52-6
Odle, Angela Katherine; Allensworth-James, Melody; Haney, Anessa et al. (2016) Adipocyte Versus Somatotrope Leptin: Regulation of Metabolic Functions in the Mouse. Endocrinology 157:1443-56
Gannon, Brenda M; Williamson, Adrian; Suzuki, Masaki et al. (2016) Stereoselective Effects of Abused ""Bath Salt"" Constituent 3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone in Mice: Drug Discrimination, Locomotor Activity, and Thermoregulation. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 356:615-23
Rhee, Christopher J; Kibler, Kathleen K; Easley, R Blaine et al. (2016) The Diastolic Closing Margin Is Associated with Intraventricular Hemorrhage in Premature Infants. Acta Neurochir Suppl 122:147-50
MacNicol, Melanie C; Cragle, Chad E; Arumugam, Karthik et al. (2015) Functional Integration of mRNA Translational Control Programs. Biomolecules 5:1580-99
Rhee, Christopher J; Fraser 3rd, Charles D; Kibler, Kathleen et al. (2015) Ontogeny of cerebrovascular critical closing pressure. Pediatr Res 78:71-5
Odle, Angela K; Drew, Paul D; Childs, Gwen V (2015) Giant mice reveal new roles for GH in regulating the adipose immune microenvironment. Endocrinology 156:1613-5

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