Meeting Report: Growth and Social Environment. Proceedings of the 25th Aschauer Soiree, held at Krobielowice, Poland, November 18th 2017.

Twenty-two scientists met at Krobielowice, Poland, to discuss the impact of the social environment, spatial proximity, migration, poverty, but also psychological factors such as body perception and satisfaction, and social stressors such as elite sports, and teenage pregnancies, on child and adolescent growth. The data analysis included linear mixed effects models with different random effects, Monte Carlo analyses, and network simulations. The work stressed the importance of the peer group, but also included historic material, some considerations about body proportions, and growth in chronic liver, and congenital heart disease.

Evaluation of vitamin D status bone mineral density and dental health in children with cholestasis.

BACKGROUND: Hepatic osteodystrophy caused by vitamin D and calcium malabsorption is thought to develop in children with cholestatic liver disease leading to secondary hyperparathyroidism and rickets or osteomalacia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the dental and bone mineral densities and the serum level of vitamin D in cholestatic infants and children and to correlate this process with clinical and laboratory parameters. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study that include 50 patients presenting with cholestasis. Thirty age and sex matched controls recruited not complaining of liver disease. All cases were subjected to full history taking, clinical and dental examination, 25(OH)D level, ALT, AST, bilirubin, albumin, GGT, alkaline phosphatase, PT, INR, calcium, corrected calcium, phosphorus and DXA scan to those above 5 years old. Controls were subjected to measuring the serum levels of 25(OH)D, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, ALT, GGT, AST, PT, INR, alkaline phosphatase, albumin, calcium and phosphorus. RESULTS: Out of the 50 cases; 23 were females (46%), with a mean age of 6.17±3.9 years ranging from 1.1 to 17 years. Twenty-eight of the cases had signs of rickets (56%), 6 of them had bone fracture (12%) and 42.8% had milky teeth caries. The level of 25(OH) vitamin D was below normal range in around half of the patients. There was significant difference between cases and controls in calcium and phosphorus levels, ALT and alkaline phosphatase. Low bone mineral density (BMD) was present in 50% and 5 cases (17.9%) were diagnosed as having osteoporosis. There was a negative correlation between the Z-score, BMD of total body, BMD and bone mineral content (BMC) of spine and total and direct bilirubin. There was a positive correlation between (BMD of total body, spine and BMC of spine) and serum phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase and albumin. There was a positive correlation between the Z-score of total body and serum calcium. CONCLUSION: Decreased level of 25-OH vitamin D is present in more than half of cholestatic patients, and is correlated positively to serum calcium. Decreased BMD was present in more than half of studied cholestatic patients correlated to the low serum calcium rather than the vitamin D level. The decreased BMD and the dental affection in cholestatic children is related to the level of hyperbilirubinemia.

INTESTINAL PARASITIC INFECTIONS AND ATOPIC DISEASES IN CHILDREN: A HOSPITAL BASED STUDY.

Different helminth parasites may have different effects on allergy depending on the timing of the exposure. A meta-analysis of many of studies reported the association between the presence of geohelminth eggs in stool samples and asthma provided some evidence for parasite-specific effects. This study evaluated the occurrence of allergy among different intestinal parasitic infected patients. A cross sectional study was carried out from June, 2013 to October, 2013 in the Pediatric Outpatient Clinic of Al-Fayoum University Hospitals among 55 children aged 2 years to 13 years. The data were collected using ISSAC questionnaire of allergy (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood) also laboratory analysis of complete blood picture, stool analysis and measurement of total serum IgE were performed for the patients. Among the patients 27 suffered from allergy and 28 had no allergic complain. Stool examinations showed Entrobius vernicularis (15), Trichostrongylus species (9), Hymenolepis nana (8), Entameba histolytica (8), Giardia lamblia (6), and mixed infections (9). The allergic group by parasitological examination 7 children (25.9%) had Entrobius vermicularis; 6 children (22.2%) Entameba histolytica; and 2 children (7.4 %) Giardia lamblia, with eosinophilic count was higher in the enterobiasis infected children than in protozoa infected ones. There were significantly high IgE levels in mixed parasitic infection (P= 0.006) and with Entrobius vermicularis infections (P=0.04). Also statistically significant difference between allergic groups by ISAAC score and the non allergic group regarding Ig E levels (P= 0.03). There was no significant difference between numbers of children with allergy and those without allergy among different parasitic infections. However, a marked significant association between the allergy and parasitic infected children was not declaimed.