Prenatal tetrandrine treatment can reverse the abnormal conditions in the lung of newborn with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Pulmonary hypoplasia and persistent pulmonary hypertension are the most important reasons for the high morbidity and mortality of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Despite surgical advances and advances in neonatal intensive care, the mortality still remains high. Then the research on how to improve prenatal fetal lung growth has become a focus. Some researches involved in fetal surgery, tracheal occlusion, prenatal use of corticosteroids etc., have been carried out in CDH animal models and humans. But the results either showed no benefit for the outcome of CDH or were unproved. Tetrandrine is a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid isolated from the root of Stephania tetrandra. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for several decades to treat patients with silicosis, asthma and pulmonary hypertension etc. Some researches showed that prenatal tetrandrine administration can improve the lung development in CDH rat models. We hypothesize that prenatal treatment with tetrandrine can reverse the abnormal condition in the lung of newborn with CDH, and thus decrease the mortality.