Cow's Milk-related Symptom Score for cow's milk allergy assessment: a meta-analysis for test accuracy.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to assess the ability of Cow's Milk-related Symptom Score (CoMiss) in screening cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) and assess validation of its sensitivity and specificity. METHODS: We searched the PubMed, WOS, Embase, and Ovid databases using broad terms and keywords for the concepts of the symptom-based score (CoMiss) and cow's milk allergy. We performed the meta-analyses using a meta-package of R software and Meta-DiSc software. RESULTS: Fourteen studies were included with a total of 1238 children. At cut-off value 12, CoMiss had a pooled sensitivity of 0.64 and a pooled specificity of 0.75. The PLR and NLR were 3.05 and 0.5, respectively. The AUC value of the sROC curve was 0.7866. CoMiss showed a significant difference in CMPA patients at baseline and after milk elimination for 2-4 weeks (MD, 7.18), as well as between the CMPA-positive group compared with the CMPA-negative group, however, the statistical significancy was obtained after leave study of Selbuz et al. out of the analysis (MD, 4.61). CONCLUSIONS: CoMiss may be a promising symptom score in the Awareness of the symptoms related to cow's milk allergy and a useful tool in monitoring the response to a cow's milk-free diet. IMPACT: Cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) is the most frequent food allergy in children under the age of 3 years. Cow's Milk-related Symptom Score (CoMiss) is a clinical scoring system to assist primary healthcare providers in early detection of CMPA We performed a meta-analysis of CoMiss test accuracy. Our findings reflect that CoMiss may be a promising symptom score in CMPA awareness and a useful tool in monitoring the response to a cow's milk-free diet.

Visfatin level in children and adolescents with autoimmune thyroiditis.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to assess the levels of visfatin in children and adolescents with autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) and its relationship with disease-related variables. METHODS: The study included 84 children and adolescents with AIT and 84 healthy subjects. Measurements of fasting glucose, insulin, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxin (FT4), antithyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) and antithyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) were completed, with assessment of visfatin levels. RESULTS: Overt hypothyroidism was diagnosed in 58 cases, while subclinical hypothyroidism was diagnosed in 26 of the studied patients. Total studied cases, overt and subclinical subgroups had significantly higher levels of TSH, HOMA-IR, TPOAb, TgAb and visfatin and significantly lower FT4 level compared with the control. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that visfatin was correlated positively with BMI, homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR), TSH and TPOAb, while inversely correlation with FT4. In logistic regression analysis, visfatin was correlated only with TPOAb. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary study provides evidence of significantly higher level of visfatin in children and adolescents with AIT. Visfatin might have a potential role in the pathogenesis of AIT, which needs to be validated by measuring immunological responses in children and adolescents with AIT.