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A prescription drug used to treat conditions as varied as acetaminophen overdose and cystic fibrosis, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), has shown promise in protecting infants from the worst consequences of these infections or inflammation when affected women take it during their pregnancy, according to an initial trial by researchers at Yale and the University of Illinois.
Between 23 and 33 weeks, 68 pregnant women with diagnosed intraamniotic infections or inflammation were separated into either NAC infusion or placebo groups. The researchers found that the women who had taken NAC for those 10 weeks prior to preterm delivery had babies with fewer negative outcomes than the women who had not received the drug by nearly a factor of three, 12% versus 32% respectively.
Additionally, taking NAC during pregnancy is feasible, safe, and does not increase the risk of sepsis in infants, said the team. NAC infusion could significantly decrease mortality and severe short-term neonatal morbidity in pregnancies complicated with intraamniotic infection or inflammation. Study findings could have significant impact on clinical practice.”