Project description

The severe chronic lung disease bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) causes considerable suffering for premature infants and their families and contributes substantially to health care costs. Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is a disease of the premature gut that is poorly understood and carries a high mortality. No effective therapy is known for either devastating disease. In view of the importance of inflammation for BPD and NEC, we will assess how effectively two innovative anti-inflammatory mediators, interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) and IL-37, protect against BPD and NEC. In newborn mice with a BPD-like lung disease, we will quantify whether increased levels of IL-1Ra or IL-37 protect against the development of lung pathology as reflected in biochemical and cellular markers of inflammation and loss of alveolarisation and vascularisation on day 3 and 28 of life. In a newborn mouse model of NEC, involving formula feeding for 3 days and brief exposure to cold and hypoxia, we will assess the protective properties of IL-1Ra and IL-37 by histology and flow cytometry and by analysis of selected biochemical markers.