Abstract
Biomarkers of inflammation are found in the circulation of adults who have had a stroke.
Although these biomarkers may, in part, be indicators of damage, some appear to contribute
to damage. Similar biomarkers are found in newborns with cerebral white matter damage
or at risk of cerebral palsy. Can we learn about the pathogenesis of neonatal white
matter damage from what has been learned about the inflammatory correlates of adult
stroke? We discuss relevant findings about systemic inflammatory markers in adult
stroke and relate this information to our current understanding of cerebral white
matter damage in newborns, especially those born at an extremely low gestational age.
We also describe desirable characteristics of future studies of perinatal brain damage
that involve measurements of systemic biomarkers.
Key words
Infant - Newborn - Brain - Inflammation - Stroke
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M. D. Olaf Dammann
Department of Obstetrics, Prenatal Medicine and General Gynecology · Department of
Pediatrics, Pediatric Pulmonology, and Neonatology, Perinatal Infectiology Unit, OE
6415 · Hannover Medical School
Carl-Neuberg Str. 1
30623 Hannover
Germany
Email: dammann.olaf@mh-hannover.de