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BackgroundThe impact of intrauterine and extrauterine growth on later insulin resistance and fat mass (FM) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants is not well established. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of intrauterine and early/late extrauterine growth on later insulin resistance and body composition in VLBW infants from 6 months’ corrected age (CA) to 36 months.MethodsProspective measurements of body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and insulin resistance by homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) along with other fasting plasma biochemistries were made in 95 VLBW infants at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months’ CA and 36 months’ postnatal age. Mixed-effect models were used to evaluate the effects of age, sex, maturation status, and Δweight SD score on percentage FM (PFM), FM index (FMI), fat-free mass index (FFMI), and HOMA-IR.ResultsPFM and FMI were negatively associated with a decrease in weight–SD scores from birth to 36 weeks’ postmenstrual age (PMA; P=0.001) and from 36 weeks’ PMA to 6 months’ CA (P=0.003). PFM and FMI were higher in AGA than in small for gestational age (SGA) infants. HOMA-IR was not associated with the Δweight–SD scores in either period.ConclusionsCatch-down growth in terms of weight is associated with persistently lower adiposity but not insulin resistance up to 36 months of age.

This paper describes an investigation of the alkane oxidation with hydrogen peroxide in acetonitrile catalyzed by iron(III) perchlorate (1), iron(III) chloride (2), iron(III) acetate (3) and a binuclear iron(III) complex with 1,4,7-triazacyclononane (4). The corresponding alkyl hydroperoxides are the main products. Nevertheless in the kinetic study of cyclohexane oxidation, the concentrations of oxygenates (cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol) were measured after reduction of the reaction solution with triphenylphosphine (which converts the cyclohexyl hydroperoxide to the cyclohexanol). Methane and ethane can be also oxidized with TONs up to 30 and 70, respectively. Chloride anions added to the oxidation solution with 1 activate the perchlorate iron derivative in acetonitrile, whereas the water as additive inactivates 2 in the H2O2 decomposition process. Pyrazine-2-carboxylic acid (PCA) added to the reaction mixture decreases the oxidation rate if 1 or 2 are used as catalysts, whereas compounds 3 and 4 are active as catalysts only in the presence of small amount of PCA. The investigation of kinetics and selectivities of the oxidations demonstrated that the mechanisms of the reactions are different. Thus, in the oxidations catalyzed by the 1, 3+PCA and 4+PCA systems the main oxidizing species is hydroxyl radical, and the oxidation in the presence of 2 as a catalyst has been assumed to proceed (partially) with the formation of ferryl ion, (Fe^IV&dbond;O)²⁺. In the oxidation catalyzed by the 4+PCA system (TONs attain 240) hydroxyl radicals were generated in the rate-determining step of monomolecular decomposition of the iron diperoxo adduct containing one PCA molecule. A kinetic model of the process which satisfactorily describes the whole set of experimental data was suggested. The constants of supposed equilibriums and the rate constant for the decomposition of the iron diperoxo adduct with PCA were estimated.

The synthesis and characterisation of 4-(3',4',5'-trialkoxybenzoyloxy)pyridines (1a–e), and of their corresponding palladium(ii), (2a–e), and platinum(ii), (3a–e), complexes are described. The pyridine-based ligands are not mesomorphic, but upon complexation to PdCl₂ or PtCl₂, new hexacatenar mesogens are formed which show exclusively the hexagonal columnar mesophase. The mesomorphic behaviour of the complexes was characterised by polarised optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction. The metal seems to influence the crystal phase and mesophase stability as well as the mesomorphic temperature range.