Mental health of outpatient pediatric patients.

The purpose of this study is to estimate the percentage of mental health problems in a pediatric outpatient Norwegian clinic. We used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to screen for mental health problems. Families of children aged 4-11 took part in the study, and 380 out of 982 possible families consented to take part, and 349 families contributed with questionnaire data. The main referral reasons for the patients were asthma, eneuresis and stomach pain. Mothers reported that 17.4% of boys and 17.8% of girls displayed mental clinical problems. The prevalence of problems did not differ significantly between somatic diagnostic groups. Although the study has low participation, it underlines the necessity of screening all pediatric patients for mental health problems. Future research in pediatric clinics should include factors of psychology because pediatric problems are not caused by somatics alone.

Patient comfort during treatment with heated humidified high flow nasal cannulae versus nasal continuous positive airway pressure: a randomised cross-over trial.

OBJECTIVE: To compare patient comfort in preterm infants treated with heated humidified high flow nasal cannulae (HHHFNC) versus nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP). DESIGN: Randomised cross-over trial (2×24 h). SETTING: Single tertiary neonatal unit. PATIENTS: 20 infants less than 34 weeks postmenstrual age treated with NCPAP due to mild respiratory illness. INTERVENTIONS: After parental consent, infants were randomised to 24 h of treatment with NCPAP or HHHFNC followed by 24 h of the alternate therapy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome was patient comfort assessed by the EDIN (neonatal pain and discomfort) scale. Secondary outcomes were respiratory parameters (respiratory rate, FiO2, SpO2, TcPCO2), ambient noise, salivary cortisol and parental assessments of their child. RESULTS: We found no differences between HHHFNC and NCPAP in mean cumulative EDIN score (10.7 vs 11.1, p=0.25) or ambient noise (70 vs 74 dBa, p=0.18). Parents assessed HHHFNC treatment as significantly better in the three domains, 1) child satisfied, 2) parental contact and interaction and 3) possibility to take part in care. Mean respiratory rate over 24 h was lower during HHHFNC than CPAP (41 vs 46, p=0.001). Other respiratory parameters were similar. CONCLUSIONS: Using EDIN scale, we found no difference in patient comfort with HHHFNC versus NCPAP. However, parents preferred HHHFNC, and during HHHFNC respiratory rate was lower than during NCPAP. CLINICALTRIALSGOV, NUMBER: NCT01526226.

The antimicrobial peptide, lactoferricin B, is cytotoxic to neuroblastoma cells in vitro and inhibits xenograft growth in vivo.

Antimicrobial peptides have been shown to exert cytotoxic activity towards cancer cells through their ability to interact with negatively charged cell membranes. In this study the cytotoxic effect of the antimicrobial peptide, LfcinB was tested in a panel of human neuroblastoma cell lines. LfcinB displayed a selective cytotoxic activity against both MYCN-amplified and non-MYCN-amplified cell lines. Non-transformed fibroblasts were not substantially affected by LfcinB. Treatment of neuroblastoma cells with LfcinB induced rapid destabilization of the cytoplasmic membrane and formation of membrane blebs. Depolarization of the mitochondria membranes and irreversible changes in the mitochondria morphology was also evident. Immuno- and fluorescence-labeled LfcinB revealed that the peptide co-localized with mitochondria. Furthermore, treatment of neuroblastoma cells with LfcinB induced cleavage of caspase-6, -7 and -9 followed by cell death. However, neither addition of the pan-caspase inhibitor, zVAD-fmk, or specific caspase inhibitors could reverse the cytotoxic effect induced by LfcinB. Treatment of established SH-SY-5Y neuroblastoma xenografts with repeated injections of LfcinB resulted in significant tumor growth inhibition. These results revealed a selective destabilizing effect of LfcinB on two important targets in the neuroblastoma cells, the cytoplasmic- and the mitochondria membrane.