Reduced levels of growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-I and binding protein-3 in patients with shunted hydrocephalus

OBJECTIVE: Children with hydrocephalus are characterised by slow linear growth in prepuberty, accelerated physical maturation during puberty, and reduced final height. We aimed to study the possible roles of growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), and IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) in this growth pattern. STUDY DESIGN: One hundred and fourteen patients with shunted hydrocephalus (62 males) aged 5 to 20 years, of whom 17 had spina bifida (six males), and 73 healthy controls (38 males) were studied. Anthropometric measures, body mass index, and body fat mass were assessed and the stage of puberty was determined. Serum growth hormone and plasma IGF-I and IGFBP-3 concentrations were measured. RESULTS: The patients comprised 44 (26 males) who were prepubertal and 70 (36 males) pubertal or postpubertal, while 32 of the controls (19 males) were prepubertal and 41 (19 males) pubertal or postpubertal. The prepubertal children with hydrocephalus had lower IGF-I (p = 0.002) and IGFBP-3 concentrations (p < 0.001) than the controls, and the pubertal children had four times lower basal growth hormone concentrations (p < 0.001). There was a correlation between height SD score and IGF-I levels in the total patient population (r = 0.23; p = 0.01). Peripheral IGF-I concentrations peaked at pubertal stages 2-3 in the female patients and at stage 4 in the controls. The prepubertal patients on antiepileptic treatment, carbamazepine in most cases (73%), had higher IGF-I (p = 0.01) and IGFBP-3 concentrations (p = 0.03) than those who had never been treated with antiepileptic drugs, but still lower IGFBP-3 levels than the controls (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, it can be concluded that reduced growth hormone secretion may contribute to the pattern of slow linear growth and reduced final height observed in these patients.     

Increasing breastfeeding rates to reduce infant illness at the community level

OBJECTIVE: Although breastfeeding is associated with lower rates of a variety of infant illnesses, skeptics have suggested that much of the association is attributable to confounding, even after appropriate statistical adjustment. This article utilizes a novel design to investigate changes in infant illness at the community level after a successful breastfeeding promotion program. METHODS: In this population-based cohort study, the medical records of all infants born in one Navajo community the year before a breastfeeding promotion program (n = 977) and the year during the intervention (n = 858) were reviewed. Outcomes assessed include changes after the intervention in: proportion breastfeeding and/or breastfeeding exclusively; incidence of common infant illnesses in the first year of life; and feeding-group specific incidence of illness. RESULTS: The proportion of women breastfeeding exclusively for any period of time increased from 16.4% to 54.6% after the intervention. The percent of children having pneumonia and gastroenteritis declined 32. 2% and 14.6%, respectively, after the intervention. Feeding-group specific rates of these illnesses were unchanged, indicating that the decline observed was attributable to the increased proportion of infants breastfeeding. In contrast, rates of croup and bronchiolitis increased after the intervention among those fed formula from birth, suggesting a viral epidemic which was limited to those never exclusively breastfed. Finally, sepsis declined in both formula-fed and breastfed infants after the intervention, suggesting that other factors affected this illness outcome after the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing the proportion of exclusively breastfed infants seems to be an effective means of reducing infant illness at the community level. The experimental design suggests that the increased incidence of illness among minimally breastfed infants is causally related to lack of breast milk, rather than being attributable to confounding.     

PCR-SSCP快速检测耐多药结核分枝杆菌

目的:了解本地区结核病耐药基因突变情况,探讨PCR-SSCP作为新的分子药敏试验方法在临床的应用价值。方法:通过提取耐INH、RFP、SM的肺结核患者痰中结核分枝杆菌DNA,进行PCR-SSCP分析,检测结核分枝杆菌rpoB、katG、rpsL基因是否存在突变,并与传统L-J药敏实验对照。结果:30株耐多药株中,耐RPF、INH、SM基因突变阳性率为90%(27/30)、63%(19/30)、53%(16/30)。3个基因联合突变共8株(26.7%),2个基因联合突变共18株(60%),即26株(86.7%)。单基因突变共2株,2株无基因突变。结论:通过PCR-SSCP方法可检测出绝大部分耐多药结核病的耐药基因,rpoB、katG、rpsL基因突变与本地区结核杆菌对RFP、INH、SM耐药性有关。与传统L-J药敏实验对比,PCR-SSCP是一种敏感、快速的指导临床用药的先进检测方法。     

Female circumcision (female genital mutilation): a problem for brachytherapy in cervical cancer

Female circumcision is a traditional practice common in African countries. It involves partial or total removal of external female genitalia. It has led to many complications, in particular, the scarring of the external genitalia. The consequence is a very narrow introitus making the intracavitary brachytherapy treatment component difficult when these women develop cancer of cervix. We present two such cases from our institution. Our aim is to make the radiation and gynecological oncologists, both in developed and developing countries, aware of this practice and the problems they can encounter in the management of such cases. Intracavitary brachytherapy is an important component in the potentially curative role of radiation therapy for cervical cancer. Every effort should be made to ensure that the sequelae of genital mutilation does not deprive these women of the same standard of care as the general population.     

Pseudogranulomatous Spitz nevus: a variant of Spitz nevus with heavy inflammatory infiltrate mimicking a granulomatous dermatitis

Spitz nevus is a benign melanocytic proliferation that shows relatively characteristic clinicopathologic features. Despite this, Spitz nevus is clinically confused with many other lesions, and histopathologically it is sometimes difficult to distinguish it from melanoma. However, Spitz nevus rarely causes differential diagnostic problems with granulomatous dermatitis. This article describes an 8‐year‐old girl who presented with a nodule on her right arm, a clinical appearance of a pyogenic granuloma. Histopathologically, there was a dermal lesion composed of aggregates of large epithelioid cells surrounded by a heavy inflammatory infiltrate, mimicking a sarcoid‐like granulomatous dermatitis. Immunohistochemistry showed epithelioid cells with strong nuclear and cytoplasmic staining with S‐100 protein, thus establishing the diagnosis of a melanocytic tumor. The heavy T‐cell lymphocytic infiltrate that accompanies the large epithelioid cells caused its granulomatous appearance. Molecular assessment showed H27H mutation in the HRAS gene. We suggest the term ‘pseudogranulomatous’ for this variant of Spitz nevus because it indicates that the lesion is not authentically granulomatous and simply mimics a granulomatous dermatitis.     

Prevalence and Correlates of Smoking among Low-Income Adults Residing in New York City Public Housing Developments—2015

To guide targeted cessation and prevention programming, this study assessed smoking prevalence and described sociodemographic, health, and healthcare use characteristics of adult smokers in public housing. Self-reported data were analyzed from a random sample of 1664 residents aged 35 and older in ten New York City public housing developments in East/Central Harlem. Smoking prevalence was 20.8%. Weighted log-binomial models identified to be having Medicaid, not having a personal doctor, and using health clinics for routine care were positively associated with smoking. Smokers without a personal doctor were less likely to receive provider quit advice. While most smokers in these public housing developments had health insurance, a personal doctor, and received provider cessation advice in the last year (72.4%), persistently high smoking rates suggest that such cessation advice may be insufficient. Efforts to eliminate differences in tobacco use should consider place-based smoking cessation interventions that extend cessation support beyond clinical settings.     

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in non‐institutionalized people aged 65 or over from Spain: the elderly EXERNET multi‐centre study

Coupled with the growth of the older population, an increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in this age group has occurred in the last decades. The main aims of the present study were (i) to provide an updated prevalence of overweight and obesity in a representative sample of the Spanish elderly population; (ii) to calculate the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity (SO) and (iii) to analyse the relationships between adiposity measurements and lifestyle. A cross‐sectional study was carried out in a sample of 3136 persons representative of the non‐institutionalized population ≥65 years of age. Anthropometric measurements were obtained using standardized techniques and equipment. Overall, 84% of the population can be categorized as overweight and/or obese. The present study indicates that 67% of the Spanish elderly population has an increased percentage of fat mass and more than 56% suffer from central obesity. Moreover, SO is present in 15% of the Spanish elderly population. Finally, a strong relationship between both physically active and sedentary lifestyles and the level of adiposity was found. Prevalence of overweight and obesity among elderly people in Spain is very high and is still increasing. Lifestyle seems to be a determinant factor in the development of obesity among elderly people.     

Análisis del polimorfismo rs20541 (R130Q) del gen de la IL-13 en pacientes con enfermedades inflamatorias crónicas asociadas al envejecimiento

ObjectiveTo investigate whether there is association between the rs20541 (R130Q) polymorphism in the IL-13 gene with disease susceptibility and clinical subsets in patients with elderly-associated inflammatory chronic diseases.Material and methods78 patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA), 174 with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), 90 elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis (EORA), and 465 healthy controls from the same geographic area were studied. The rs20541 (R130Q) polymorphism in the IL-13 gene was evaluated by PCR-RFLP. Circulating levels of IL-13 were measured by ELISA.ResultsA higher frequency of the AA genotype [2.349 (0.994-5.554)], as well as the allele A [1.589 (1.085-2.328] and the A carriers [1.656 (1.021-2.686)] (p < 0.05) was observed in the GCA patients. No significant differences were observed in the PMR and EORA patients as compared with the healthy controls. Neither difference was observed among the different disease groups studied. In GCA patients, differences in the genotype were associated with a worse prognosis. In PMR patients, the AA genotype was associated with higher levels of serum IL-13 than the GA one. However, such an association was not detected for controls and the other disease groups.ConclusionsGCA is more frequent in carriers of the rs20541 (R130Q) polymorphism in the IL-13 gene. The utility of this polymorphism to predict the GCA prognosis must be confirmed in studies with a higher number of patients.