Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of caffeine citrate in the treat-ment of primary apnea in premature infants. Methods A non-randomized controlled trial had been designed in which 96 premature infants would be enrolled form Oct 2013 to Sep 2014 in our hospital. According to the therapeutic strategy,the patients were divided into treatment group(n=51) and control group(n=45). The treatment group was treated with caffeine citrate,and the control group was treated with placebo. The overall response rates and the complication rates in the two groups were compared. Results The effective rate of the treatment group was 80. 4%(41/51),while the control group was 51. 1%(23/45). There was a significant difference between the two groups(χ2 =9. 224,P =0. 002). The incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (7 cases vs. 14 cases),patent ductus arteriosus(7 cases vs. 15 cases),retinopathy of prematurity(4 cases vs. 10 cases),intraventricular hemorrhage(9 cases vs. 20 cases),showed significant differences between the two groups( P<0. 05 ) . Conclusion Caffeine citrate is significantly more effective than placebo in reducing apnea episodes and reduces the rate of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, patent ductus arteriosus, retinopathy of prematurity and intraventricular hemorrhage in premature infants.

OBJECTIVE Disturbance of K+ ion balance in inner ear is associated in age-related hearing loss. Our study is to investigate the role of NKCC1 and Na-K-ATPase in cochlea and auditory function regulated by with different expression of NKCC1 and Na-K-ATPase. METHODS Auditory threshold of young or old C57BL/6J mice was measured by auditory brainstem response(ABR). The expression of NKCC1 and Na-K-ATPase in mice cochlea were evaluated by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) and western blotting. Furosemide and Ouabain were applied in vivo to inhibit NKCC1 and Na-K-ATPase in C57BL/6J mice. RESULTS C57BL/6J mice developed hearing loss at 12M by ABR threshold shifting to (75±10), (78±26) and (81±14)dB SPL at frequencies of 8, 16 and 32 kHz; PCR showed that the relative expression of NKCC1 and Na-K-ATPase mRNA in the aged group decreased, which were 0.52±0.06 and 0.35±0.04 times higher than those in the young control group, the difference was statistically significant(t =7.466 and 16.11, all P＜0.05). WB showed that relative expression of NKCC1 and Na-K-ATPase protein level in the aged group decreased by 0.79±0.02 and 0.68±0.05 times as much as that of the young control group, the difference was statistically significant(t =8.857 and 6.771, P all＜0.05). After applied with Furosemide and Ouabain to suppress the two ion transporters, the ABR threshold increased to (50±17), (53±21), (55±17)dB SPL and (56±6), (70±17), (73±6)dB SPL at frequencies of 8, 16 and 32 kHz. CONCLUSION In vivo experiment of C57BL/6J suggested that NKCC1 and Na-K-ATPase might be related to age related hearing loss.