Abstract P241: Antenatal Betamethasone Exposure Increases Oxidative Stress in African-American Adolescents Born Prematurely

Antenatal glucocorticoids administered to expectant mothers in jeopardy of pre-term delivery are reported to have detrimental effects on kidney development and function in the offspring. Indeed, African-Americans experience a disproportionately higher incidence of pre-term birth, hypertension and chronic kidney disease compared to their Caucasian counterparts. As oxidative stress has been linked to the development of renal disease, the current study determined levels of the oxidative stress marker 8-isoprostane in the urine of African American (AA) adolescents who were born prematurely ( in utero to betamethasone (BMX; N = 22), born prematurely but not exposed (PRE; N = 32) or born at term (>37 weeks; N = 19). Urinary 8-Isoprostane was determined by ELISA and normalized to urinary creatinine levels. In comparison to term AA, urinary 8-Isoprostane tended to be higher in PRE [1.5 + 0.3 vs. 2.0 + 0.2 pg/g creatinine; P = 0.07], but was significantly greater in the BMX cohort [2.4 + 0.4 pg/g creatinine; P = 0.03]. Oscillometric blood pressure percentiles (BPpct) were determined according to age and height. Systolic BPpct was significantly higher in PRE [51 + 4; P