Small protein provides target to help prevent potentially lethal condition . Each year, a serious intestinal disease—necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)—affects about 9,000 premature infants in the United States, and 20 percent to 40 percent of those infected die. [i] [ii]   Preemies develop NEC when their immature intestines cannot process nutrients, and intestinal cells start to die. Currently, no treatment effectively prevents this disease, and surgery is often the only hope. NICHD researchers, in a study using rat pups, showed that a small protein called epidermal growth factor (EGF) helps the intestines to grow, mature, and heal. Coincidentally, premature babies with NEC have very low EGF levels. By identifying EGF as a potential target for treating or preventing NEC, new hope exists for eliminating it as the most common gastrointestinal disease afflicting premature infants. This discovery could save the lives of 1,800 to 3,600 children in the United States annually. And in less-developed countries, where supportive care is less available and surgery is rarely an option, the number of lives saved could be even greater.

Early infections are linked to developmental problems in the tiniest infants. The tiniest surviving newborns, those weighing less than 2.2 pounds, are much more likely to develop problems with their immature brain and central nervous system, such as cerebral palsy, delayed mental development, or impaired vision or hearing. NICHD researchers confirmed this likelihood in an analysis of more than 6,000 medical records of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants. Just as importantly, the researchers found that these fragile preemies are highly susceptible to infections: The majority of the ELBW infants (65 percent) had at least one infection during their hospital stay, and nearly half of these infected infants suffered developmental impairments. This study is the first to document the extent of mental injury in ELBW babies and to link the occurrence of infection in these newborns with the increased risk for developmental impairments. The findings should stimulate research on how infections injure the brain tissue and nervous systems of fragile infants, improving ways to prevent lifelong developmental disabilities in the almost 30,000 ELBW babies born each year. [iii]