Daily Physical Activity in Children and Adolescents with Low Lumbar and Sacral Level Myelomeningocele.

PURPOSE: Children with low lumbar and sacral level myelomeningocele are expected to be community ambulators. However, they do not always meet the expected ambulation level by the time they reach adulthood. The purpose of this study is to investigate daily activity energy expenditure and physical activity levels of these patients in daily routine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 20 patients and 20 healthy peers were included in this case-control study. Omnidirectional accelerometer monitor was used for assessing activity energy expenditure, and daily durations spent in sedentary, light activity, and moderate to vigorous physical activity levels (NCT04186338). RESULTS: Mean activity energy expenditure and moderate to vigorous physical activity duration were significantly lower in the patient group, while age was positively correlated with sedentary time and negatively correlated with light activity time. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with myelomeningocele, increasing daily activity energy expenditure and moderate to vigorous physical activity and, especially as age progresses, decreasing the sedentary behavior may assist in providing the expected ambulation level. These patients should be encouraged to partake in regular exercise programs.

Investigation of VEGF and IL-8 Gene Polymorphisms in Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTC) account for most of the thyroid cancers. The emergence of DTC may be affected by various predisposing genetic alterations and environmental factors The aim of this study was to investigate the role of VEGF C936T and IL-8 A251T gene polymorphisms in the pathogenesis and metastasis of differentiated thyroid cancer. METHODS: The study consisted of 101 patients DTC patients and 109 healthy controls. The parameters of the stage of cancer of the DTC patients at the time of diagnosis (TNM) were recorded. DNA was isolated from blood using a DNA isolation kit. VEGF C936T and IL-8 A251T gene polymorphisms were determined using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) methods. Distributions of gene polymorphisms were evaluated according to the Hardy-Weinberg principle. RESULTS: The TT genotype from the VEGF C936T genotype distributions was higher in the control group than in the DTC group (p < 0.05). In contrast, the IL-8 A-251T genotype distributions were similar in both groups. No relationship was found between either cytokine gene polymorphism or the DTC stages. The frequency of IL-8 TT was higher in the DTC group with lymph gland metastasis (TT 92%) than in the group without lymph gland metastasis (TT 45.9%) (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: We consider that the VEGF 936 TT genotype may play a protective role in the development of DTC and that the IL-8 A-251 TT genotype may contribute to the DTC lymph node metastasis. Therefore, these genotypes may hold a key to the evaluation of thyroid nodules and the metastasis of DTC.