Antenatal glucocorticoids supplementation and central nervous system development.

Diego Gazzolo, Laura D Serpero, Alessandro Frigiola, Raul Abella, Alessan Dro Giamberti, Giovanni Li Volti, Fabrizio Michetti

Department of Maternal, Fetal and Neonatal Health, C. Arrigo Children's Hospital, Spalto Marengo 46, I- 15100 Alessandria, Italy. dgazzolo@hotmail.com

Current drug metabolism 2013 Feb

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Maternal antenatal therapy with glucocorticoids (GC) is routinely used to prevent lung immaturity. The potential harmful effects on other organs, including in particular the central nervous system (CNS), are still controversial. In the present review we aimed to investigate: i) the beneficial and detrimental effects of antenatal GC treatment in both human and animal models; ii) the potential usefulness of biochemical markers such as calcium binding proteins (S100B, synaptophysin) and cytoskeletal protein of neurons and dendrites (MAP2) in the perinatal period, and iii) whether the assessment of brain markers in different biological fluids could constitute a promising tool for the monitoring of CNS function and/or developmental in fetuses and newborns whose mothers assumed GC antenatally.

Citation

Diego Gazzolo, Laura D Serpero, Alessandro Frigiola, Raul Abella, Alessan Dro Giamberti, Giovanni Li Volti, Fabrizio Michetti. Antenatal glucocorticoids supplementation and central nervous system development. Current drug metabolism. 2013 Feb;14(2):160-6