MaGNUM Study

The MagNUM Study was a nested cohort study of 160 preterm babies who took part in the MAGENTA Trial. Babies in the MagNUM Study had an MRI scan and a developmental assessment when they reached full term after birth (the equivalent of 40 weeks’ gestation). These two assessments gave us helpful information about the effects of magnesium sulphate on the brain health of preterm babies born between 30 and 34 weeks’) and how these relate to health outcomes for them at two years of age.

Bettering our understanding of how magnesium sulphate protects the preterm baby’s brain before birth could help us to improve the health of babies born at this gestation. Specifically, we are trying to find out the following:

1. Does antenatal magnesium sulphate protect neonatal white matter microstructure?
2. Are neuroprotective effects observed in neural systems that underpin the development of cognition and in developing motor tracts?
3. Is neonatal white matter microstructure a biomarker for neurodevelopmental outcomes at 2 years of age?

Participants in the MagNUM study underwent a head MRI scan and a neurological assessment. As part of the MAGENTA Trial they were seen for assessment of their health and development at two years’ of age.

Babies in MagNUM had additional screening and contact with health professionals. Most parents were glad to take up this opportunity.

The MagNUM Study completed recruitment in April 2018 and the results have been published.

In babies born preterm after 30 weeks’ gestation, antenatal magnesium sulphate exposure did not promote development of white matter microstructure in pathways affecting motor or cognitive function. This suggests that if the neuroprotective effect of magnesium sulphate treatment prior to preterm birth is confirmed at this gestation, the mechanisms are not related to accelerated white matter maturation inferred from fractional anisotropy.

Tanya Poppe, Benjamin Thompson, James P. Boardman, Mark E. Bastin, Jane Alsweiler, Gerard Deib, Jane E. Harding, Caroline A. Crowther, Effect of antenatal magnesium sulphate on MRI biomarkers of white matter development at term equivalent age: The MagNUM Study, eBioMedicine, Volume 78, 2022, 103923, ISSN 2352-3964, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2022.103923.

Steven Ufkes, Eleanor Kennedy, Tanya Poppe, Steven P. Miller, Benjamin Thompson, Jessie Guo, Jane E. Harding, Caroline A. Crowther. Prenatal Magnesium Sulfate and Functional Connectivity in Offspring at Term-Equivalent Age. JAMA Network Open. 2024;7(5):e2413508. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.13508.