OBJECTIVE Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is a major source of neonatal morbidity and mortality. The management of infants with NEC is currently complicated by our inability to accurately identify those at risk for progression of disease prior to the development of irreversible intestinal necrosis. We hypothesised that integrated analysis of clinical parameters in combination with urine peptide...

BACKGROUND The maternal variables that affect fetal development and correlate with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), the most common gastrointestinal emergency in premature infants, are not well defined. We hypothesized that maternal risk factors were the primary determinant of future development of NEC. METHODS Patients with NEC were identified from an established NICU database and were contr...

BACKGROUND Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) is a major source of neonatal morbidity and mortality. There is an ongoing need for a sensitive diagnostic instrument to discriminate NEC from neonatal sepsis. We hypothesized that magnetic nanopartile-based biosensor analysis of gut injury-associated biomarkers would provide such an instrument. STUDY DESIGN We designed a magnetic multiplexed biosens...

It is unclear whether the broad inflammatory response shown in neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the cause or the effect of tissue injury. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) on intestinal dendritic, mononuclear, and epithelial cells recognize bacterial ligands and damaged tissues, thus activating the inflammatory response. The present study aimed to determine whether active TLR signaling woul...

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a common and devastating disease of premature infants. Immaturity of the innate immune system of the gut is central to the pathogenesis of NEC. Recent studies suggest a key role for Paneth cells in this disease. Addressing basic questions on the development and function of immature Paneth cells may shed light on the puzzling pathophysiology of NEC. Current ani...

Primordial null energy condition (NEC) violation would imprint a blue-tilted spectrum on gravitational wave background (GWB). However, its implications the GWB might be far richer than expected. We present scenario, in which after slow-roll (NEC-preserving) inflation with Hubble parameter $H\ensuremath{\simeq}{H}_{inf1}$, Universe goes through an NEC-violating period and then enters subsequent ...

BACKGROUND Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) affects 5-10% of NICU patients where initially patients may have only nonspecific clinical findings. A noninvasive tool for detection would aid in diagnosis. Increased urinary claudins have been associated with active adult inflammatory bowel disease. METHODS Institutional Review Board approval was obtained. Neonatal intestinal tissue samples were ob...

Background: Eosinophils infiltrate intestinal tissue during necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and adult bowel diseases. We theorized that epithelial damage causes eosinophilic activation and recruitment at NEC onset. Objective: We studied the relationship between persistent blood eosinophilia and medical or surgical complications during NEC. Methods: NEC cases and controls at MU Children’s Hospit...

Introduction: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) remains a common gastrointestinal disease in preterm infants. Inappropriate bacterial colonization of the gut, together with enteral formula feeding, predispose to NEC in both preterm infants and preterm pigs. Regardless, it remains unclear how and when to manipulate the gut microbiota (e.g. by use of pre-, proor antibiotics) to improve mucosal immu...