Differential DNA methylation by early versus late parenteral nutrition in the PICU: a biological basis for its impact on emotional and behavioral problems documented 4 years later

Table 2 Baseline characteristics and acute outcomes of patients with DNA methylation analyzed on the last PICU-day

Characteristic	Tested post-PICU population
Characteristic	Early-PN N = 192	Late-PN N = 211	P value^f
Infant (age < 1 year) at randomization	71 (37.0%)	91 (43.1%)	0.20
STRONGkids risk level ^a			0.19
Medium	184 (95.8%)	196 (92.9%)
High	8 (4.2%)	15 (7.1%)
PeLOD score, first 24 h in PICU ^b	23.7 (10.3)	24.1 (10.4)	0.62
PIM3 score ^c	− 3.6 (1.3)	− 3.7 (1.1)	0.65
PIM3 probability of death—%^d	6.1 (10.9)	4.5 (8.0)	0.65
Diagnostic category			0.44
Surgical
Abdominal	7 (3.7%)	6 (2.8%)
Burns	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)
Cardiac	109 (56.8%)	123 (58.3%)
Neurosurgery-traumatic brain injury	17 (8.9%)	19 (9.0%)
Thoracic	9 (4.7%)	11 (5.2%)
Transplantation	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.9%)
Orthopedic surgery-trauma	10 (5.2%)	5 (2.4%)
Other	5 (2.6%)	8 (3.8%)
Medical
Cardiac	5 (3.7%)	5 (2.4%)
Gastrointestinal–hepatic	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)
Oncologic–hematologic	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)
Neurologic	13 (6.8%)	10 (4.7%)
Respiratory	8 (4.2%)	8 (3.8%)
Other	7 (3.7%)	9 (4.3%)
Malignancy	14 (7.3%)	12 (5.7%)	0.51
Diabetes	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	> 0.99
Syndrome^e	15 (7.8%)	23 (10.9%)	0.28
Known parental smoking between birth and PICU admission	31 (16.1%)	42 (19.9%)	0.41
Duration of stay in the PICU—days	5.6 (11.7)	3.6 (3.5)	0.37
Patients who acquired a new infection in PICU	23 (12.0%)	9 (4.3%)	0.003
Duration of mechanical ventilatory support—days	3.1 (5.7)	2.2 (2.6)	0.66
Number of days with hypoglycemia < 40 mg/dl—days	0.1 (0.6)	0.2 (0.5)	0.11

Data are n (%) or mean (SD)
BMI body mass index, PeLOD pediatric logistic organ dysfunction score, PICU pediatric intensive care unit, PIM3 pediatric index of mortality 3 score, PN parenteral nutrition, SD standard deviation
^aScores on the Screening Tool for Risk on Nutritional Status and Growth (STRONGkids) range from 0 to 5, with a score of 0 indicating a low risk of malnutrition, a score of 1–3 indicating medium risk, and a score of 4–5 indicating high risk [8]
^bPediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction (PeLOD) scores range from 0 to 71, with higher scores indicating more severe illness [9]
^cPediatric Index of Mortality 3 (PIM3) scores, with higher scores indicating a higher risk of mortality [10]
^dPediatric Index of Mortality 3 (PIM3) probability of death, ranging from 0 to 100%, with higher percentages indicating a higher probability of death in PICU
^eA pre-randomization syndrome or illness a priori defined as affecting or possibly affecting neurocognitive development (Additional file 2)
^fP values were calculated with Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests for continuous data, and Chi square tests for proportions

ISSN: 1868-7083