Background/Objectives: Respiratory morbidity in preterm infants has been widely studied, with evidence showing that individuals born prematurely experience more frequent respiratory symptoms, airflow obstruction, and radiological lung abnormalities throughout life. Methods: This study included 150 children aged 6 to 11 years, divided into two groups. The preterm group (n = 90) consisted of children born before 32 weeks of gestation, while the control group (n = 60) included term-born children. All participants underwent spirometry and completed a respiratory health questionnaire. Results: A significantly higher proportion of preterm children exhibited respiratory morbidity compared to term-born peers (χ² = 7.035; p = 0.030). However, no significant differences were found between preterm children with and without bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) defined at day 28 (BPD28) (χ² = 0.002; p = 0.968) or BPD defined at 36 weeks postmenstrual age (BPD36) (χ² = 0.029; p = 0.864). Lung function parameters—forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV₁), FEV₁/IVC, maximal expiratory flow at 25%, 50% and 75% of FVC (MEF₂₅, MEF₅₀, and MEF₇₅) were significantly lower in the preterm group (p = 0.004 for FVC and p < 0.001 for all other parameters). No significant differences were observed between BPD and non-BPD subgroups in any lung function parameter. BPD36 was found to be a stronger predictor of respiratory morbidity (OR = 1.214) than BPD28 (OR = 1.093), although neither BPD28 nor BPD36 were statistically significant predictors. Conclusions: This study underscores the long-term respiratory consequences of prematurity and challenges the traditional view of BPD as the primary determinant of poor respiratory outcomes. Our findings suggest that prematurity itself, rather than BPD, may play a more central role.

Introduction/Objectives. To investigate whether oral administration of lactoferrin attenuates intestinal injury induced by peripartal hypoxia and hypothermia. Methods. New- born Wistar pups were exposed to perinatal asphyxia, followed by global hypothermia. The pups were distributed into two groups: lactoferrin group (LG) - pups that received lactoferrin orally for seven days (20 mg/day), control group (CG) - pups that received normal saline orally during first seven days of life. After seven days macroscopic examination of the bowels and pathohistological analyses of tissue samples have been performed. Results. The incidence of macroscopic injuries was significantly lower in LG group compared to CG. The incidence of pathological findings, as well as the values of injury scores used to assess the intensity and extent of intestinal injury at microscopic level were significantly lower in LG group. Conclusions. Lactoferrin attenuates peripartal hypoxia/hypothermia induced intestinal injury in newborn rats.

Background/Objectives: The main objective of this study was to describe the prevalence and prescribing patterns of off-label and unlicensed medication use in a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit in Serbia and to evaluate differences according to gestational age. Methods: This retrospective single-center cohort study included 257 neonates hospitalized in a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit between January and December 2023. Medication prescriptions were classified as off-label or unlicensed according to the approved Summary of Product Characteristics in Serbia. Clinical and prescribing data were analyzed descriptively, with predefined patient-level outcomes compared across gestational-age groups using non-parametric analyses. Results: A total of 1919 distinct medication prescription records were identified, of which 1642/1919 (85.6%) were classified as off-label and 27/1919 (1.4%) as unlicensed. At the patient level, 252/257 neonates (98.1%) were exposed to at least one off-label medication, whereas 26/257 (10.1%) were exposed to at least one unlicensed medication. Anti-infectives for systemic use accounted for the largest therapeutic-class prescription count. Off-label prescribing was primarily related to age and dosing recommendations. Medication utilization varied across gestational age groups; however, extremely preterm neonates also had substantially longer hospitalizations, and the observed differences should therefore be interpreted as unadjusted prescribing patterns rather than an independent effect of gestational age. Conclusions: Off-label prescribing was highly prevalent in this Serbian tertiary neonatal intensive care unit, whereas patient exposure to unlicensed medications was relatively uncommon. The observed differences across gestational age groups should be interpreted in the context of differences in hospitalization duration and clinical complexity. These findings characterize prescribing patterns and regulatory gaps in neonatal pharmacotherapy and identify areas requiring further neonatal-specific clinical research.