Basic anthropometry, micronutrients status and growth velocity of patients with early-onset inflammatory bowel disease: A prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIM: Failure of optimal growth and lack of appropriate weight gain are major nutritional problems in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Therefore, this study was designed to assess the nutritional and growth status of patients with very-early-onset IBD (VEO-IBD) before and after individual-based nutritional interventions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This prospective cohort study assessed the nutritional status of 30 pediatric patients with VEO-IBD by performing comprehensive clinical examinations and evaluating anthropometric and biochemical parameters. The latter included the initial evaluation of serum albumin, prealbumin, minerals, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D. A 24-month nutritional strategy was designed for each patient. Patients who completed the study were reassessed after 6 months and their growth rate was calculated 2 years later. RESULTS: The initial assessment of malnutrition severity using the World Health Organization's z-score revealed that 36.7%, 43.3%, and 26.7% of the study group were underweight, stunted, and wasted, respectively. Among the study population, Crohn's disease has the highest prevalence. Almost all patients had micronutrient deficiencies (i.e., iron, calcium, zinc, magnesium, and vitamin D) and subnormal serum levels of nutritional markers (i.e., prealbumin and albumin). Six months after the intervention, a significant improvement in anthropometric and biochemical parameters was detected (p < 0.05); nevertheless, the calculated growth rate revealed a considerable decrease after 2 years. CONCLUSION: The early detection of nutritional impairment in patients with VEO-IBD remains a major challenge. Therefore, nutritional support and constant monitoring of these patients are necessary to ensure the improvement in their nutritional status and achieve an acceptable growth rate. Furthermore, we found that prealbumin could be a good discriminative tool for screening malnutrition in such patients.

Effect of interleukin-10 gene promoter polymorphisms -1082 G/A and -592 C/A on response to therapy in children and adolescents with chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Studying predictors of response to therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in children may help avoid the inappropriate use of currently available costly therapy associated with numerous adverse effects. We tested the hypothesis that inheritance of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the interleukin-10 (IL-10) promoter gene might influence response to HCV treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The impact of SNPs, -1082 G/A and -592 C/A, in the promoter region of IL-10 gene, on response to HCV therapy was assessed in a cohort of 40 children treated with a combination of pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN) α2b and ribavirin. RESULTS: Sustained virological response was achieved in 48.7%. High viral load was associated with non-response to therapy. There was no association between histopathological degree of inflammation or fibrosis and response to therapy. There was no direct statistically significant association between polymorphisms in the IL-10 gene (-1082G/A and -592 C/A) as regards inflammation or response to therapy in children. As for the SNP -592 C/A; there was a statistically significant association with the score of fibrosis (P<0.004), concluding that the A allele was protective from moderate and severe fibrosis. Meanwhile the SNP -1082G/A did not show any association with the fibrosis score. CONCLUSION: We could not associate response to therapy for HCV with IL-10 polymorphisms -1082 G/A and -592 C/A. For the SNP -592 C/A, the A allele protected from moderate and severe fibrosis.

Detection of an earlier tubulopathy in diabetic nephropathy among children with normoalbuminuria.

INTRODUCTION: Diabetic nephropathy is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among young adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM). Albuminuria, the gold standard for early diagnosis, cannot always detect early diabetic nephropathy. We aimed at evaluating the level of urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) as a marker of tubulointerstitial damage in children and adolescents with type 1 DM in relation to the level of albuminuria and other parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty children with type 1 DM for more than 5 years were included in this study (mean age, 13.8 ± 4.0 years), and 18 healthy children served as controls. Patients with overt albuminuria (> 300 mg/g creatinine) or inflammatory states were excluded. Urine NGAL, microalbuminuria, and urine albumin-creatinine ratio were measured in patients and controls as well as other parameters. RESULTS: Urine NGAL was significantly higher in microalbuminuric in comparison with normoalbuminuric patients and controls, and correlated positively with urine albumin-creatinine ratio. A positive urine NGAL was observed in 12 of 38 normoalbuminuric patients (31.6%) compared to 9 of 12 microalbuminuric patients (75%). A positive correlation was reported between urine NGAL and both Hemoglobin A1c and duration of DM, but not with estimated glomerular filtration rate or hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetic children, even some normoalbuminurics, showed increased urine NGAL. This finding may support the hypothesis of a "tubular phase" of diabetic disease preceding overt diabetic nephropathy, and hence, the use of urine NGAL measurement for early evaluation of renal involvement.

Aberrant p16INK4A methylation: Relation to viral related chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is currently the fifth most common solid tumor worldwide and the third leading cause of cancer related deaths. Several studies have shown that the tumor suppressor gene p16INK4A is frequently downregulated by aberrant methylation of the 5'-cytosine-phosphoguanine island within the promoter region. AIM: To find out the frequency of methylated p16INK4A in the peripheral blood of HCC and cirrhotic patients and to evaluate its role in hepatocarcinogenesis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was performed on 58 subjects: 30 HCC patients, 20 cirrhotic patients, and eight healthy volunteers. Methylation of p16INK4A was examined using methylation specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (MSP). Comparison of quantitative variables between the study groups was done using Mann-Whitney U test for independent samples when not normally distributed. For comparing categorical data, Chi-square (χ(2)) test was performed. Exact test was used instead when the expected frequency was less than 5. RESULTS: Methylation of p16INK4A was found in 6.7% of HCC patients, 5% of liver cirrhosis (LC) patients, and none of the healthy volunteers; 66.67% of the p16INK4A-methylated cases (2/3) were positive for anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies (one of them had HCC). All HCC cases with aberrant p16INK4A methylation show very high serum alpha fetoprotein (AFP) level (9,080; 30,000 µg/mL). There were no significant associations between the status of p16INK4A methylation and tumor size. CONCLUSION: Hypermethylation of p16INK4A was found to be infrequent among Egyptian patients with HCC.

Gene mutations in Wilson disease in Egyptian children: report on two novel mutations.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Wilson disease (WD) is an autosomal recessive disorder, caused by defects in copper-transporting P-type adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) encoded by the ATP7B gene, resulting in the deposition of copper in the liver and brain with significant disability or death if left untreated. An available regimen of treatment gives hope to those predisposed to the disease if diagnosed early. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of the most common European mutation (p.H1069Q) in Egyptian children with WD, in addition to screening for previously reported mutations in the Egyptian patients in our selected group. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Direct DNA sequencing was applied to exons (13, 14, 18, and 19) of the ATP7B gene for 19 patients previously diagnosed with WD. Then DNA sequencing and pedigree analysis were performed in the families of the patients showing variations in their results for the purpose of family screening and carrier detection. Six out of 19 patients were studied with their families (three families). RESULTS: We identified five variants of which two were novel among the studied patients. One of the novel variants was synonymous substitution (p.A1074A) in 16% of patients and the other was predicted to be missense disease-causing mutations (p.T1076I) in 16% of patients, and three previously published mutations p.H1069Q were detected in 5% of patients, p.P1273Q in 10% of patients, and a silent variant p.A1003A in 26% of patients. CONCLUSION: Screening for the two exons 14 and 18 of the ATP7B gene is important in Egyptian patients especially in suspected patients without hepatic manifestations.