PROGRAMME SCIENTIFIQUE - Oxygen Club of California

P8
Oxidant-antioxidant balance in neonates
Barbara Finckh
Neonatal Screening Center, Diagnostic Center, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf; Martinistrasse
52, 20246 Hamburg; Germany
Oxygen radical injury may be a pathogenic mechanism in diseases of the premature like retinopathy and
bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Deficient antioxidant defense and/or increased free radical production may
contribute to complications of prematurity. The measurement of the interplay between oxidantantioxidant
im/balance and inflammation, infection and unknown factors in the pathophysiology of these
diseases of the premature is hampered by the small amount of blood available.
Experience and methodology in the handling of dried blood microsamples is available in neonatal
screening laboratories. This knowledge was used to measure some parameters of the oxidant-antioxidant
balance in small dried blood spots. An overview of the handling and methodology to measure these
parameters in blood microsamples and urine will be presented.
The determination of the oxidant-antioxidant im/balance requires the measurement of different groups of
parameters like the levels of antioxidant defense, antioxidant consumption and radical-induced damage.
As a result it will be possible to decide whether a (non)physiological flow of radical is fighted by an
(in)sufficient antioxidant defense. The presented methodology will be the basis for collaborative studies
to learn more about the role of oxidative stress in "oxygen radical disease of prematurity".