RESEARCH ARTICLE Neuromodulation of Limb Proprioceptive Afferents Decreases Apnea of Prematurity and Accompanying Intermittent Hypoxia and Bradycardia Kalpashri Kesavan1*, Paul Frank2, Daniella M. Cordero1, Peyman Benharash3, Ronald M. Harper4 1 Pediatrics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America, a11111 2 Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America, 3 Surgery, Harbor-UCLA, Los Angeles, California, United States of America, 4 Neurobiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America *
[email protected] OPEN ACCESS Abstract Citation: Kesavan K, Frank P, Cordero DM, Benharash P, Harper RM (2016) Neuromodulation of Background Limb Proprioceptive Afferents Decreases Apnea of < Prematurity and Accompanying Intermittent Hypoxia Apnea of Prematurity (AOP) is common, affecting the majority of infants born at 34 weeks and Bradycardia. PLoS ONE 11(6): e0157349. gestational age. Apnea and periodic breathing are accompanied by intermittent hypoxia doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0157349 (IH). Animal and human studies demonstrate that IH exposure contributes to multiple Editor: Jacobus van Wouwe, TNO, NETHERLANDS pathologies, including retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), injury to sympathetic ganglia regu- Received: January 6, 2016 lating cardiovascular action, impaired pancreatic islet cell and bone development, cerebel- lar injury, and neurodevelopmental disabilities. Current standard of care