Interbirth interval is associated with childhood type 1 diabetes risk.

Short interbirth interval has been associated with maternal complications and childhood autism and leukemia, possibly due to deficiencies in maternal micronutrients at conception or increased exposure to sibling infections. A possible association between interbirth interval and subsequent risk of childhood type 1 diabetes has not been investigated. A secondary analysis of 14 published observational studies of perinatal risk factors for type 1 diabetes was conducted. Risk estimates of diabetes by category of interbirth interval were calculated for each study. Random effects models were used to calculate pooled odds ratios (ORs) and investigate heterogeneity between studies. Overall, 2,787 children with type 1 diabetes were included. There was a reduction in the risk of childhood type 1 diabetes in children born to mothers after interbirth intervals <3 years compared with longer interbirth intervals (OR 0.82 [95% CI 0.72-0.93]). Adjustments for various potential confounders little altered this estimate. In conclusion, there was evidence of a 20% reduction in the risk of childhood diabetes in children born to mothers after interbirth intervals <3 years.

[Autoimmune comorbidity and microvascular complications in childhood-onset type 1 diabetes after 20 years of diabetes duration: a questionnaire study]. / Autoimmun komorbiditás és microvascularis szövodmények gyermekkorban diagnosztizált 1-es típusú diabeteses fiatal felnottekben 20 éves betegségtartam után: Kérdoíves vizsgálat.

UNLABELLED: There are no population-based data on the autoimmune morbidity and vascular complications of young adults with childhood-onset type 1 diabetes in Hungary. AIMS: To assess the prevalence of these morbidities after 20 years of diabetes duration. METHOD: Postal questionnaire. RESULTS: 6.2% of the patients had celiac disease. Diabetes was diagnosed at a significantly earlier age in patients with diabetes and celiac disease as compared to those without celiac diasease. Thyroid autoimmunity was reported in 7.6% of cases. They were significantly older with longer duration of diabetes. Every fifth patients reported retinopathy, one sixth of patients was treated for hypertension. Neuropathy was found in 3.4% and kidney disease in 4.8% of the cases. CONCLUSIONS: Apart from retinopathy and hypertension, the prevalence of microvascular complications was relatively low. Considering the limitations of questionnaire studies, laboratory screening is warranted to assess the true prevalence of comorbidities and complications.

Urinary cytokine response to asymptomatic bacteriuria in type 1 diabetic children and young adults.

It has been reported that urinary interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-8 levels are decreased in adult diabetic women with asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) when compared with non-diabetic women with ASB. Such impaired cytokine excretion might play a role in the higher prevalence of ASB among diabetic subjects. The aim of this study was to examine the urinary IL profile in children and young adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) with and without ASB. Midstream clean voiding urine samples were collected and cultured from 133 patients with T1DM (age: 15.6 +/- 5.7 yr) and 178 controls (14.1 +/- 4.7 yr) for two consecutive days. ASB was diagnosed in the case of >or=10(5) bacteria/mL. The urinary IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations were determined, and the presence of leukocyturia was also recorded. The prevalence of ASB was 16.5% in diabetic subjects and 2.8% in controls (p = 0.001). There was no difference between the diabetic and the control groups in the prevalence of 'IL-6-uria' (21.9 vs. 18.0%; p = 0.41), but IL-8 was more frequently detectable in the diabetic group (47.4 vs. 27.5%; p = 0.001). In individuals with ASB, the IL-8 level was similar in the diabetic (median: 70.0 pg/mg creatinine) and control group (42.3 pg/mg creatinine; p = 0.8). Indeed, the IL-8 levels were higher in diabetic subjects with ASB as compared with those without it (70.0 vs. <3.1 pg/mg creatinine; p = 0.001), and there was a significant association between the urinary IL-8 concentration and the bacterial count (p = 0.001). Diabetic patients with leukocyturia had higher IL-8 concentration than those without it (20.9 vs. <3.1 pg/mg creatinine; p = 0.003). Weak significant correlation was found between urinary IL-8 and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) (r = 0.4; p = 0.002). The sensitivity and specificity of leukocyturia were 50 and 89.9% in the whole population and those of IL-8 were 74.1 and 67.5%, respectively. In diabetic patients, 36.4% of the bacteriuria were gram-negative and 63.6% gram-positive. Our results suggest that diabetic children with ASB mount an IL-8 response to pathogens, which is comparable to non-diabetic children with bacteriuria. Thus, early in the natural history of diabetes, there are no significant changes in the IL response of children with ASB, as previously reported in adults.

Risk of celiac disease in children with type 1 diabetes is modified by positivity for HLA-DQB1*02-DQA1*05 and TNF -308A.

OBJECTIVE: The overlap between genetic susceptibility to celiac disease (CD) and to type 1 diabetes is incomplete; therefore, some genetic polymorphisms may significantly modify the risk of CD in subjects with type 1 diabetes. This study aimed to investigate whether the susceptibility to CD in diabetic children is modified by positivity for HLA-DQB1*02-DQA1*05 and DQB1*0302-DQA1*03 and by alleles of single nucleotide polymorphisms within the genes encoding CTLA4, transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interferon (IFN)-gamma, interleukin (IL)-1, IL-2, IL-6, and IL-10. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Genotypic data were compared between 130 case subjects (children with type 1 diabetes and CD diagnosed using endomysium antibodies) and 245 control subjects (children with type 1 diabetes only, optimally two per case, matched for center, age at type 1 diabetes onset, and type 1 diabetes duration). The subjects were recruited from 10 major European pediatric diabetes centers performing regular screening for CD. The polymorphisms were determined using PCR with sequence-specific primers, and the risk was assessed by building a step-up conditional logistic regression model using variables that were significantly associated with CD in the univariate analysis. RESULTS: The best-fitted model showed that risk of CD is increased by presence of HLA-DQB1*02-DQA1*05 (odds ratio 4.5 [95% CI 1.8-11], for homozygosity, and 2.0 [1.1-3.7], for a single dose) and also independently by TNF -308A (1.9 [1.1-3.2], for phenotypic positivity), whereas IL1-alpha -889T showed a weak negative association (0.6 [0.4-0.9]). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that the risk of CD in children with type 1 diabetes is significantly modified both by the presence of HLA-DQB1*02-DQA1*05 and by a variant of another gene within the major histocompatibility complex, the TNF -308A.

Screening detected celiac disease in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus: effect on the clinical course (a case control study).

OBJECTIVE: To investigate clinical and metabolic characteristics of diabetic children with screening detected celiac disease in a multicenter case-control study. CASES: 98 diabetic patients were diagnosed as having silent celiac disease by screening with endomysial antibodies and subsequent biopsy. CONTROLS: two controls in the same center were chosen, (stratified by age and age-at-diabetes onset) who were negative for endomysial antibodies (n = 195). Height, weight, HbA1c, insulin dosage and acute complications were documented for at least 1 year of follow up. RESULTS: Mean age of diabetes manifestation was 6.5 +/- 4.1 years and diagnosis of celiac disease was made at 10.0 +/- 5.4 years. Biopsy showed total or subtotal mucosal atrophy in 74 patients. The mean observation period after the diagnosis of celiac disease was 3.3 +/- 1.9 years. Mean HbA1c levels were similar between cases and controls (8.63% +/- 1.45% versus 8.50% +/- 1.39%; P = 0.35). There was also no difference in the frequency of severe hypoglycemia, ketoacidosis and the applied insulin dosage (P = 0.45). Body mass index-standard deviation score at celiac disease diagnosis (0.57 +/- 1.24 versus 0.52 +/- 1.07) and height-standard deviation score (0.14 +/- 1.13 versus 0.30 +/- 0.95) did not differ between cases and controls. After diagnosis of celiac disease, weight gain was diminished in boys with celiac disease compared with their controls (P < 0.05). Female cases also had a lower body mass index than female controls (P = 0.067). CONCLUSION: In a cohort of diabetic children, silent celiac disease had no obvious effect on metabolic control but negatively influenced weight gain.

Relationship between the incidence of type 1 diabetes and enterovirus infections in different European populations: results from the EPIVIR project.

The incidence of type 1 diabetes varies markedly between countries. As enterovirus infections have been linked to type 1 diabetes, we determined whether this variation correlates with the frequency of enterovirus infections in different Caucasian populations in Europe. Enterovirus antibodies were examined in the background population (1-year-old and 10-14-year-old children) in seven countries with either exceptionally high (Finland and Sweden) or low/intermediate incidence of diabetes (Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Russia) using EIA and neutralisation assays. Enterovirus antibodies were less frequent in countries with high diabetes incidence compared to countries with low diabetes incidence (P<0.001). This suggests that enterovirus infections are not particularly common in countries with high diabetes incidence. In contrast, there seems to be an inverse correlation between the incidence of type 1 diabetes and enterovirus infections in the background population, which is in line with the previously proposed polio hypothesis according to which the complications of enterovirus infections become more common in an environment with a decreased rate of infections.

[Early recognition and successful treatment of an infant with severe combined immune deficiency]. / Súlyos kombinált immundeficiencia korai felismerése és eredményes kezelése.

A male infant of three month presented with recurrent mucosal and fungal infections, diarrhoea and failure to thrive from the age of three weeks. Laboratory test revealed T-B-NK + severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). Family history and immunolaboratory findings suggested autosomal recessive form of the disease. Haploidentical maternal bone marrow transplantation (BMT) was carried out at five and half months of age. Over the two years after BMT, the patient's somatomotoric and mental development is normal. Cellular immune responses and the substantial immunoglobulin production suggest immunoreconstruction in the child born with complete lack of adaptive immunity. According to the author's knowledge, this is the first T-B-NK + patient in Hungary, whose disease was diagnosed and adequately treated in infancy.

[Clinical heterogeneity of childhood diabetes in Baranya county]. / A gyermekkori diabetes mellitus klinikai heterogenitása Baranya megyében.

INTRODUCTION: Immune mediated type 1 diabetes is the most frequent form of childhood diabetes while type 2 and other forms are more rare in childhood in the Caucasian population. Differentiation of various diabetes subtypes has importance in the choice of treatment and prognosis. AIMS: The aim of the study was to describe clinical heterogeneity of childhood diabetes and to evaluate possibilities of phenotypical classification. METHODS: Two hundred twenty eight children (128 girls and 100 boys) with diabetes diagnosed at the Department of Pediatrics, University of Pécs, in the period of 1978-2000 were examined. Glycated hemoglobin levels, insulin requirement, body weight at diagnosis and association of type 1 diabetes with other disorders were analysed. RESULTS: Thirty one patients (13.6%) had permanently low (< 8%) glycated hemoglobin levels. Low glycated hemoglobin level associated with low insulin requirement (< 0.5 U/kg/day) was observed in three patients (1.4%) with 4 years of disease duration and in 2 patients (0.9%) during the whole disease course. These patients can be classified as non-classical type 1 diabetes cases. Obesity associated with less than 0.5 U/kg/day insulin requirement observed at least for two years from diagnosis was found in 2 cases (0.9%). These cases may be diagnosed as having childhood type 2 diabetes. The authors identified two diabetes patients with Down syndrome while MODY and transient neonatal diabetes were observed in one cases each. Diabetes associated conditions diagnosed in single cases each were as follows: thymus tumor, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 2, and T-cell lymphoma. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood diabetes cases can be classified into several subgroups on clinical grounds, insulin requirement, and glycemic control. The data suggest that the prevalence of type 2 and non-classical type 1 diabetes is probably only a few percent among children with diabetes in Hungary. Due to phenotypic overlap between different forms of diabetes, measurement of beta-cell specific autoantibodies and C peptide levels can be recommended for etiologic classification.