@article{4c6eb415d2ef4c239720ca11efcdf64a,
title = "Foetal Ureaplasma parvum bacteraemia as a function of gestation-dependent complement insufficiency: Evidence from a sheep model of pregnancy",
abstract = "Problem: Complement is a central defence against sepsis, and increasing complement insufficiency in neonates of greater prematurity may predispose to increased sepsis. Ureaplasma spp. are the most frequently cultured bacteria from preterm blood samples. Method of study: A sheep model of intrauterine Ureaplasma parvum infection was used to examine in vivo Ureaplasma bacteraemia at early and late gestational ages. Complement function and Ureaplasma killing assays were used to determine the correlation between complement potency and bactericidal activity of sera ex vivo. Results: Ureaplasma was cultured from 50% of 95-day gestation lamb cord blood samples compared to 10% of 125-day gestation lambs. Bactericidal activity increased with increased gestational age, and a direct correlation between functional complement activity and bactericidal activity (R2=.86; P<.001) was found for 95-day gestational lambs. Conclusions: Ureaplasma bacteraemia in vivo was confined to early preterm lambs with low complement function, but Ureaplasma infection itself did not diminish complement levels.",
keywords = "complement, neonatal, preterm, sepsis, Ureaplasma",
author = "Kemp, {Matthew W.} and Shatha Ahmed and Beeton, {Michael L.} and Payne, {Matthew S.} and Masatoshi Saito and Yuichiro Miura and Haruo Usuda and Kallapur, {Suhas G.} and Kramer, {Boris W.} and Stock, {Sarah J.} and Jobe, {Alan H.} and Newnham, {John P.} and Spiller, {Owen B.}",
note = "Funding Information: The authors wish to express their gratitude to Siemens Australia for the donation of RAPIDPoint{\textregistered} 500 reagents used in this study. MWK is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Project Grant (GNT1049148) and the Women and Infants Research Foundation. MSP is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Project Grant (GNT1010315). OBS is supported by the Microbiology and Infection Translational Research Group (MITReG) and the Children and Young People's Research Network (CYPRN) as part of the Welsh Government initiative to support research. Bilateral travel between Australian and UK laboratories was funded by an international exchange Royal Society Grant (IE130066). SA was supported by a PhD studentship funded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Iraq Embassy. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd",
year = "2017",
month = jan,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1111/aji.12599",
language = "English",
volume = "77",
journal = "American Journal of Reproductive Immunology",
issn = "1046-7408",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd",
number = "1",
}