Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) has been the only effective treatment for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) for nearly two decades, yet roughly half of cooled infants still die or develop major neurological impairment. 1 This unmet need has driven a robust preclinical pipeline aimed at identifying adjunct therapies that can be layered onto hypothermia. 2 , 3 The challenge, as Ibrahim and colleagues articulate in their study, 4 is that the preclinical “control arm” against which these candidates are benchmarked is itself a moving target. Hypothermia protocols in rodent models of HIE vary widely in duration, depth, and timing, complicating cross-study comparisons and clouding the interpretation of potential additive benefit. By systematically comparing commonly used cooling durations — 2, 3, and 5 hours — within a single controlled Rice-Vannucci framework, the authors provide the field with a much-needed reference protocol grounded in direct comparison rather than convention.
Source: Pediatric Research
Author: Mark A. Petersen
Institution: University of California, San Francisco
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,390
Funder: National Institutes of Health
OpenAlex ID: W7204112352