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Saliva measurements serve as a noninvasive tool for clinically monitoring newborns (NB) and children, a vulnerable population with promising potential for both research and clinical practice. Saliva acts as a repository for various inflammatory biomarkers involved in diverse biological functions. Particularly for children, it offers numerous advantages when compared to plasma and urine sampling. Nevertheless, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding detectable levels of cytokines in the saliva of newborns and children, as well as studies aiming to assess the relationship of this content with physiological and pathological processes., Objectives: To characterize the levels of 11 inflammatory mediators (IFNg, IL1b, IL2, IL4, IL6, IL8, IL10, IL12, IL17, TNF, and VEGF) in saliva samples from NB on the first and second day of hospitalization in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)., Method: Exploratory study, descriptive, nested within a primary clinical, observational, and prospective study, conducted in the NICU of a public hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. Demographic data and vital signs were recorded in the clinical records of 90 NB, and five saliva samples from 5 NB were collected between the first and second day of life (D1-D2) at approximately 8-hr intervals (8-9 am, 4-5 pm, and 11-12 pm). Saliva samples were used for the measurement of 11 cytokines (IFNg, IL1b, IL2, IL4, IL6, IL8, IL10, IL12, IL17, TNF, and VEGF)., Results: Five NBs participated in this exploratory study, and the vital signs showed variability from the first (D1) to the second day (D2) of hospitalization, variability similar to that of the total population of the primary study. The presence and levels of the 11 cytokines were detected in the saliva samples, as well as a statistical correlation between 10 cytokines (IFNg, IL1b, IL2, IL4, IL6, IL10, IL12, IL17, TNF, and VEGF) and vital signs., Conclusions: The novelty of measuring inflammatory mediators in saliva samples from hospitalized NBs in the NICU is highlighted, providing support and new perspectives for the development of clinical and experimental research and an opportunity for developing and implementing new salivary biomarkers in different population segments., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Objectives: to identify immersion use in hot water to relieve pain in newborns., Methods: an integrative literature review, carried out in the PubMed, VHL, EMBASE, Scopus, CINAHL, Cochrane and SciELO databases, with investigations in English, Spanish, French or Portuguese, published between 2002 and 2022. The Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS) and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) were used to answer the following question: what are the uses of hot water immersion in relieving pain in newborns?, Results: nine studies were included, mainly Brazilian, experimental, with a predominance of strong and moderate levels of evidence. Hydrotherapy and bath use (immersion and bandaging) was observed, promising interventions in reducing pain scores, assessed using scales, physiological and endocrine parameters., Conclusions: hot water proved to be a promising non-pharmacological intervention in relieving pain in infants in different contexts.