Grant: Project Grant

At birth, some babies experienced a condition called asphyxia, which means that their brain and other organs did not receive enough blood and/or oxygen. This life-threatening condition accounts for 23% of all babies' deaths around the world, and often leads to cerebral palsy and trouble with learning and functioning in everyday life. At this time, no treatment is available to repair the brain damage in these babies. Sildenafil (Viagra®) already is given safely to babies suffering from increased blood pressure in their lungs for other reasons than asphyxia at birth. Our recent studies in an animal model of asphyxia at birth suggested that sildenafil may improve the damage to the brain. Also, our recent pilot study with human babies showed that it is feasible to give sildenafil to babies who suffer from asphyxia at birth. We hypothesize that (1) sildenafil can repair the damage to a baby's brain by stimulating the growth of new nerve cells and decreasing brain swelling; and that (2) sildenafil can be safely increased up to 6 mg/kg/day in these babies and may improve how their brain and heart/lungs work. We will use a rat model of asphyxia at birth to study the mechanisms involved in repairing the brain after it is damaged. We also will determine the optimal dose of sildenafil that can be given to human babies who suffered from asphyxia at birth to improve their brain, heart, and lungs. This project will enable us to understand the repair mechanisms involved in the damaged baby's brain after asphyxia at birth and to determine whether sildenafil is a promising treatment for repairing this damage. This project may provide new solutions for these babies to reduce the consequences of asphyxia at birth and improve their future life. Thus, it may help many families around the world who are dealing with this devastating condition.