Antenatal Thymosin β4: a New Tool for Accelerating Fetal Development in Preterms? Thymosin Beta-4: a Breakthrough in the "Physiological" Regenerative Medicine in Preterm Newborns

Massimo Castagnola

Primo

;Giacomo Cao;Goce Kalcev

;Germano Orrù;Vassilios Fanos;Gavino Faa;Mauro Giovanni Carta

Ultimo

2021-01-01

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Abstract

To prevent the health risks related to prematurity, multiple drugs have been introduced in clinical practice in recent years. This paper focuses on a new "physiological" regenerative approach to be started in the perinatal period, particularly on very low birth weight preterm infants. This new preventive approach underlined the necessity to start regenerative medicine very early after birth, a period in which kidney, brain, pancreas, and lung stem cells maintain their proliferative and differentiating abilities. Among the multiple factors proposed in the literature as potential growth promoters for preterm neonates, thymosin beta-4 (Tβ4) has been indicated as one of the most important candidates for regenerative medicine.