Timing of Puberty, Pubertal Growth, and Adult Height in Short Children Born Small for Gestational Age Treated With Growth Hormone.

CONTEXT: Growth hormone (GH) is used to treat short children born small for gestational age (SGA); however, the effects of treatment on pubertal timing and adult height are rarely studied. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate adult height and peak height velocity in short GH-treated SGA children. METHODS: Prospective longitudinal multicenter study. Participants were short children born SGA treated with GH therapy (n = 102). Adult height was reported in 47 children. A reference cohort of Danish children was used. Main outcome measures were adult height, peak height velocity, age at peak height, and pubertal onset. Pubertal onset was converted to SD score (SDS) using Danish reference data. RESULTS: Gain in height SDS from start of treatment until adult height was significant in both girls (0.94 [0.75; 1.53] SDS, P = .02) and boys (1.57 [1.13; 2.15] SDS, P < .001). No difference in adult height between GH dosage groups was observed. Peak height velocity was lower than a reference cohort for girls (6.5 [5.9; 7.6] cm/year vs 7.9 [7.4; 8.5] cm/year, P < .001) and boys (9.5 [8.4; 10.7] cm/year vs 10.1 [9.7; 10.7] cm/year, P = .002), but no difference in age at peak height velocity was seen. Puberty onset was earlier in SGA boys than a reference cohort (1.06 [-0.03; 1.96] SDS vs 0 SDS, P = .002) but not in girls (0.38 [-0.19; 1.05] SDS vs 0 SDS, P = .18). CONCLUSION: GH treatment improved adult height. Peak height velocity was reduced, but age at peak height velocity did not differ compared with the reference cohort. SGA boys had an earlier pubertal onset compared with the reference cohort.

Month of birth and the risk of developing type 1 diabetes among children in the Swedish national Better Diabetes Diagnosis Study.

AIM: Previous studies have reported an association between month of birth and incidence of type 1 diabetes. Using population-based data, including almost all newly diagnosed children with type 1 diabetes in Sweden, we tested whether month of birth influences the risk of type 1 diabetes. METHODS: For 8761 children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes between May 2005 and December 2016 in the Better Diabetes Diagnosis study, month of birth, sex and age were compared. Human leucocyte antigen (HLA) genotype and autoantibodies at diagnosis were analysed for a subset of the cohort (n = 3647). Comparisons with the general population used data from Statistics Sweden. RESULTS: We found no association between month of birth or season and the incidence of type 1 diabetes in the cohort as a whole. However, boys diagnosed before 5 years were more often born in May (p = 0.004). We found no correlation between month of birth and HLA or antibodies. CONCLUSION: In this large nationwide study, the impact of month of birth on type 1 diabetes diagnosis was weak, except for boys diagnosed before 5 years of age, who were more likely born in May. This may suggest different triggers for different subgroups of patients with type 1 diabetes.

Evaluation of the RSR 3 screen ICA™ and 2 screen ICA™ as screening assays for type 1 diabetes in Sweden.

AIM: The study aim was to evaluate the RSR 3 Screen ICA™ and 2 Screen ICA™ for detection of islet cell autoimmunity in healthy Swedish subjects and patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes (T1D). METHODS: 3 Screen is designed for combined detection of autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase (GADA), to the islet antigen IA-2 (IA-2A) and to zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8A), while 2 Screen detects GADA and IA-2A. Serum samples from 100 T1D patients at onset and 200 healthy controls were studied. RESULTS: 3 Screen achieved 93% assay sensitivity and 97.5% specificity, while 2 Screen achieved 91% assay sensitivity and 98.5% specificity. Samples were also tested in assays for individual autoantibodies. There was only one 3 Screen positive healthy control sample (0.5%) that was positive for multiple autoantibodies (IA-2A and ZnT8A). In contrast, most of the 93 3 Screen positive patients were positive for multiple autoantibodies with 72% (67/93) positive for both GADA and IA-2A and 57% (53/93) positive for three autoantibodies (GADA, IA-2A and ZnT8A). Insulin autoantibodies (IAA, measured by radioimmunoassay) were positive in 13 patients and two healthy controls. CONCLUSION: 3 Screen achieved high sensitivity and specificity, suitable for islet cell autoimmunity screening in a healthy population. In the case of 3 Screen positivity, further assays for GADA, IA-2A and ZnT8A are required to check for multiple autoantibody positivity, a hallmark for progression to T1D. In addition, testing for IAA in children below two years of age is warranted.

Celiac disease can be predicted by high levels of tissue transglutaminase antibodies in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

OBJECTIVES: Children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are not included in guidelines regarding diagnosis criteria for celiac disease (CD) without a diagnostic biopsy, due to lack of data. We explored whether tissue transglutaminase antibodies (anti-tTG) that were ≥ 10 times the upper limit of normal (10× ULN) predicted CD in T1D. METHODS: Data from the Swedish prospective Better Diabetes Diagnosis study was used, and 2035 children and adolescents with T1D diagnosed between 2005-2010 were included. Of these, 32 had been diagnosed with CD before T1D. The children without CD were repeatedly screened for CD using anti-tTG antibodies of immunoglobulin type A. In addition, their human leukocyte antigen (HLA) were genotyped. All children with positive anti-tTG were advised to undergo biopsy. Biopsies were performed on 119 children and graded using the Marsh-Oberhüber classification. RESULTS: All of the 60 children with anti-tTG ≥10x ULN had CD verified by biopsies. The degree of mucosal damage correlated with anti-tTG levels. Among 2003 screened children, 6.9% had positive anti-tTG and 5.6% were confirmed CD. The overall CD prevalence, when including the 32 children with CD before T1D, was 7.0% (145/2035). All but one of the children diagnosed with CD had HLA-DQ2 and/or DQ8. CONCLUSIONS: As all screened children and adolescents with T1D with tissue transglutaminase antibodies above 10 times the positive value 10x ULN had CD, we propose that the guidelines for diagnosing CD in screened children, when biopsies can be omitted, should also apply to children and adolescents with T1D as a noninvasive method.

Increases in Bioactive IGF do not Parallel Increases in Total IGF-I During Growth Hormone Treatment of Children Born SGA.

BACKGROUND: Some children born small for gestational age (SGA) experience supra-physiological insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) concentrations during GH treatment. However, measurements of total IGF-I concentrations may not reflect the bioactive fraction of IGF-I which reaches the IGF-I receptor at target organs. We examined endogenous IGF-bioactivity using an IGF-I kinase receptor activation (KIRA) assay that measures the ability of IGF-I to activate the IGF-IR in vitro. AIM: To compare responses of bioactive IGF and total IGF-I concentrations in short GH treated SGA children in the North European Small for Gestational Age Study (NESGAS). MATERIAL AND METHOD: In NESGAS, short SGA children (n = 101, 61 males) received GH at 67 µg/kg/day for 1 year. IGF-I concentrations were measured by Immulite immunoassay and bioactive IGF by in-house KIRA assay. RESULTS: Bioactive IGF increased with age in healthy pre-pubertal children (n = 94). SGA children had low-normal bioactive IGF levels at baseline (-0.12 (1.8 SD), increasing significantly after one year of high-dose GH treatment to 1.1 (1.4) SD, P < 0.01. Following high-dose GH, 68% (n = 65) of SGA children had a total IGF-I concentration >2SD (mean IGF-I 2.8 SDS), whereas only 15% (n = 15) had levels of bioactive IGF slightly above normal reference values. At baseline, bioactive IGF (SDS) was significantly correlated to height (SDS) (r = 0.29, P = 0.005), in contrast to IGF-I (SDS) (r = 0.17, P = 0.10). IGF-I (SDS) was inversely correlated to delta height (SDS) after one year of high-dose GH treatment (r = -0.22, P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: In contrast to total IGF-I concentrations, bioactive IGF stayed within the normal reference ranges for most SGA children during the first year of GH treatment.

Absence of Islet Autoantibodies and Modestly Raised Glucose Values at Diabetes Diagnosis Should Lead to Testing for MODY: Lessons From a 5-Year Pediatric Swedish National Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: Identifying maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) in pediatric populations close to diabetes diagnosis is difficult. Misdiagnosis and unnecessary insulin treatment are common. We aimed to identify the discriminatory clinical features at diabetes diagnosis of patients with glucokinase (GCK), hepatocyte nuclear factor-1A (HNF1A), and HNF4A MODY in the pediatric population. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Swedish patients (n = 3,933) aged 1-18 years, diagnosed with diabetes May 2005 to December 2010, were recruited from the national consecutive prospective cohort Better Diabetes Diagnosis. Clinical data, islet autoantibodies (GAD insulinoma antigen-2, zinc transporter 8, and insulin autoantibodies), HLA type, and C-peptide were collected at diagnosis. MODY was identified by sequencing GCK, HNF1A, and HNF4A, through either routine clinical or research testing. RESULTS: The minimal prevalence of MODY was 1.2%. Discriminatory factors for MODY at diagnosis included four islet autoantibody negativity (100% vs. 11% not-known MODY; P = 2 × 10-44), HbA1c (7.0% vs. 10.7% [53 vs. 93 mmol/mol]; P = 1 × 10-20), plasma glucose (11.7 vs. 26.7 mmol/L; P = 3 × 10-19), parental diabetes (63% vs. 12%; P = 1 × 10-15), and diabetic ketoacidosis (0% vs. 15%; P = 0.001). Testing 303 autoantibody-negative patients identified 46 patients with MODY (detection rate 15%). Limiting testing to the 73 islet autoantibody-negative patients with HbA1c <7.5% (58 mmol/mol) at diagnosis identified 36 out of 46 (78%) patients with MODY (detection rate 49%). On follow-up, the 46 patients with MODY had excellent glycemic control, with an HbA1c of 6.4% (47 mmol/mol), with 42 out of 46 (91%) patients not on insulin treatment. CONCLUSIONS: At diagnosis of pediatric diabetes, absence of all islet autoantibodies and modest hyperglycemia (HbA1c <7.5% [58 mmol/mol]) should result in testing for GCK, HNF1A, and HNF4A MODY. Testing all 12% patients negative for four islet autoantibodies is an effective strategy for not missing MODY but will result in a lower detection rate. Identifying MODY results in excellent long-term glycemic control without insulin.

Tissue transglutaminase autoantibodies in children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes are related to human leukocyte antigen but not to islet autoantibodies: A Swedish nationwide prospective population-based cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: This study explored the association between tissue transglutaminase autoantibody (tTGA), high-risk human leucocyte antigen (HLA) genotypes and islet autoantibodies in children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes (T1D). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Dried blood spots and serum samples were taken at diagnosis from children <18 years of age participating in Better Diabetes Diagnosis (BDD), a Swedish nationwide prospective cohort study of children newly diagnosed with T1D. We analyzed tTGA, high-risk HLA DQ2 and DQ8 (DQX is neither DQ2 nor DQ8) and islet auto-antibodies (GADA, IA-2A, IAA, and three variants of Zinc transporter; ZnT8W, ZnT8R, and ZnT8QA). RESULTS: Out of 2705 children diagnosed with T1D, 85 (3.1%) had positive tTGA and 63 (2.3%) had borderline values. The prevalence of tTGA was higher in children with the HLA genotypes DQ2/2, DQ2/X or DQ2/8 compared to those with DQ8/8 or DQ8/X (p = .00001) and those with DQX/X (p ≤ .00001). No significant differences were found in relation to islet autoantibodies or age at diagnosis, but the presence of tTGA was more common in girls than in boys (p = .018). CONCLUSION: tTGA at T1D diagnosis (both positive and borderline values 5.4%) was higher in girls and in children homozygous for DQ2/2, followed by children heterozygous for DQ2. Only children with DQ2 and/or DQ8 had tTGA. HLA typing at the diagnosis of T1D can help to identify those without risk for CD.

Building and validating a prediction model for paediatric type 1 diabetes risk using next generation targeted sequencing of class II HLA genes.

AIM: It is of interest to predict possible lifetime risk of type 1 diabetes (T1D) in young children for recruiting high-risk subjects into longitudinal studies of effective prevention strategies. METHODS: Utilizing a case-control study in Sweden, we applied a recently developed next generation targeted sequencing technology to genotype class II genes and applied an object-oriented regression to build and validate a prediction model for T1D. RESULTS: In the training set, estimated risk scores were significantly different between patients and controls (P = 8.12 × 10-92 ), and the area under the curve (AUC) from the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was 0.917. Using the validation data set, we validated the result with AUC of 0.886. Combining both training and validation data resulted in a predictive model with AUC of 0.903. Further, we performed a "biological validation" by correlating risk scores with 6 islet autoantibodies, and found that the risk score was significantly correlated with IA-2A (Z-score = 3.628, P < 0.001). When applying this prediction model to the Swedish population, where the lifetime T1D risk ranges from 0.5% to 2%, we anticipate identifying approximately 20 000 high-risk subjects after testing all newborns, and this calculation would identify approximately 80% of all patients expected to develop T1D in their lifetime. CONCLUSION: Through both empirical and biological validation, we have established a prediction model for estimating lifetime T1D risk, using class II HLA. This prediction model should prove useful for future investigations to identify high-risk subjects for prevention research in high-risk populations.

The exon3-deleted growth hormone receptor gene polymorphism (d3-GHR) is associated with insulin and spontaneous growth in short SGA children (NESGAS).

OBJECTIVE: The effect of a common polymorphism in the Growth Hormone (GH) receptor (d3-GHR) gene on growth, metabolism and body composition was examined in short children born small for gestational age (SGA) on GH treatment. DESIGN: In 96 prepubertal, short SGA children treated with high-dose GH (67µg/kg/day) in the NESGAS study, insulin sensitivity (IS), insulin secretion and disposition index (DI) were determined during the first year of treatment. Body composition was analysed by DXA. The d3-GHR locus was determined by simple multiplex PCR. RESULTS: At baseline, children in the d3-GHR group (d3/fl (n=37), d3/d3 (n=7)) had significantly lower IS (median (25-75 percentile)) (223.3% (154.4-304.8)) vs. (269.7% (185.1-356.7)) (p=0.03) and higher concentrations of glucose (mean (SD)) (4.4mmol/L (0.6) vs. 4.2mmol/L (0.7)) (p=0.03), C-peptide (232.1pmol/L (168.8-304.1) vs. 185.1pmol/L (137.7-253.9)) (p=0.04) and insulin (19.2pmol/L (11.8-32.2)) vs. (13.7pmol/L (9.3-20.8)) (p=0.04) compared to children homozygous for the full length allele (fl/fl-GHR (n=52)). There were no differences in DI or insulin secretion. Postnatal, spontaneous growth was significantly greater in the d3-GHR group compared to the fl/fl-GHR group (p=0.02). There were no significant differences in growth response, body composition or metabolism after one year of GH therapy. CONCLUSION: Short SGA children carrying the d3-GHR polymorphism had increased spontaneous growth, lower IS and a compensatory increase in glucose, C-peptide and insulin before GH therapy compared to children homozygous for the full-length allele.

Thyroid and Islet Autoantibodies Predict Autoimmune Thyroid Disease at Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosis.

Context: Screening of autoimmune thyroid disease in children with type 1 diabetes is important but varies between clinics. Objective: To determine the predictive value of thyroid autoantibodies, thyroid function, islet autoantibodies, and HLA-DQ at diagnosis of type 1 diabetes for autoimmune thyroid disease during follow-up. Setting: Forty-three Swedish pediatric endocrinology units. Design, Patients, and Main Outcome Measures: At diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, autoantibodies against thyroid peroxidase (TPOAb), thyroglobulin (TGAb), glutamic acid decarboxylase (GADA), insulin, insulinoma-associated protein-2, and 3 variants of zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8W/R/QA) HLA-DQA1-B1 genotypes and thyroid function were analyzed in 2433 children. After 5.1 to 9.5 years, information on thyroxine treatment was gathered from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare's Prescribed Drug Register. Results: Thyroxine was prescribed to 6% of patients. In patients <5 years of age, female sex [hazard ratio (HR) = 4.60; P = 0.008] and GADA (HR = 5.80; P = 0.02) were predictors. In patients 5 to 10 years old, TPOAb (HR = 20.56; P < 0.0001), TGAb (HR = 3.40; P = 0.006), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) (HR = 3.64; P < 0.001) were predictors, whereas in 10 to 15 year olds, TPOAb (HR = 17.00; P < 0.001) and TSH (HR = 4.11; P < 0.001) predicted thyroxine prescription. Conclusion: In addition to TPOAb and TSH, GADA at diagnosis of type 1 diabetes is important for the prediction of autoimmune thyroid disease in children <5 years of age.

An Increased Diagnostic Sensitivity of Truncated GAD65 Autoantibodies in Type 1 Diabetes May Be Related to HLA-DQ8.

N-terminally truncated (96-585) GAD65 (tGAD65) autoantibodies may better delineate type 1 diabetes than full-length GAD65 (fGAD65) autoantibodies. We aimed to compare the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity between fGAD65 and tGAD65 autoantibodies for type 1 diabetes in relation to HLA-DQ. Sera from children and adolescents with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes (n = 654) and healthy control subjects (n = 605) were analyzed in radiobinding assays for fGAD65 (fGADA), tGAD65 (tGADA), and commercial 125I-GAD65 (RSRGADA) autoantibodies. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity in the receiver operating characteristic curve did not differ between fGADA and tGADA. At the optimal cutoff, the diagnostic sensitivity for fGADA was lower than tGADA at similar diagnostic specificities. In 619 patients, 64% were positive for RSRGADA compared with 68% for fGADA and 74% for tGADA. Using non-DQ2/non-DQ8 patients as reference, the risk of being diagnosed with fGADA and tGADA was increased in patients with DQ2/2 and DQ2/8. Notably, logistic regression analysis suggested that DQ8/8 patients had an increased risk to be diagnosed with tGADA (P = 0.003) compared with fGADA (P = 0.09). tGADA had a higher diagnostic sensitivity for type 1 diabetes than both fGADA and RSRGADA. As DQ8/8 patients represent 10-11% of patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes <18 years of age, tGADA analysis should prove useful for disease classification.

Next-Generation Sequencing Reveals That HLA-DRB3, -DRB4, and -DRB5 May Be Associated With Islet Autoantibodies and Risk for Childhood Type 1 Diabetes.

The possible contribution of HLA-DRB3, -DRB4, and -DRB5 alleles to type 1 diabetes risk and to insulin autoantibody (IAA), GAD65 (GAD autoantibody [GADA]), IA-2 antigen (IA-2A), or ZnT8 against either of the three amino acid variants R, W, or Q at position 325 (ZnT8RA, ZnT8WA, and ZnT8QA, respectively) at clinical diagnosis is unclear. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was used to determine all DRB alleles in consecutively diagnosed patients ages 1-18 years with islet autoantibody-positive type 1 diabetes (n = 970) and control subjects (n = 448). DRB3, DRB4, or DRB5 alleles were tested for an association with the risk of DRB1 for autoantibodies, type 1 diabetes, or both. The association between type 1 diabetes and DRB1*03:01:01 was affected by DRB3*01:01:02 and DRB3*02:02:01. These DRB3 alleles were associated positively with GADA but negatively with ZnT8WA, IA-2A, and IAA. The negative association between type 1 diabetes and DRB1*13:01:01 was affected by DRB3*01:01:02 to increase the risk and by DRB3*02:02:01 to maintain a negative association. DRB4*01:03:01 was strongly associated with type 1 diabetes (P = 10(-36)), yet its association was extensively affected by DRB1 alleles from protective (DRB1*04:03:01) to high (DRB1*04:01:01) risk, but its association with DRB1*04:05:01 decreased the risk. HLA-DRB3, -DRB4, and -DRB5 affect type 1 diabetes risk and islet autoantibodies. HLA typing with NGS should prove useful to select participants for prevention or intervention trials.

Cotinine Validation of Self-Reported Smoking During Pregnancy in the Swedish Medical Birth Register.

INTRODUCTION: Self-reported data on smoking during pregnancy from the Medical Birth Register of Sweden (MBR) are widely used. However, underreporting of such behavior may occur, leading to biases. It is of importance to validate the smoking data in the MBR. The main objective was to investigate the agreement between self-reported smoking data from the MBR and cotinine levels in maternal serum among women from the general population in the region of Skåne, Sweden. We also estimated the transfer of cotinine from mother to fetus. METHODS: From a cohort used previously to investigate the relationship between intrauterine environmental exposures and offspring neuropsychiatric outcomes, there were 204 control children retrieved from the MBR with data on maternal smoking in early pregnancy registered. Data on maternal and umbilical cord cotinine at delivery were available for these children from a regional biobank. RESULTS: There was a high agreement between cotinine levels and MBR smoking data (κ = 0.82) and a high correlation between cotinine levels in maternal and umbilical cord serum (r s = 0.90, P < .001). Of the self-reported nonsmokers, 95% (95% confidence interval: 89% to 97%) were classified as nonsmokers after cotinine measurements. CONCLUSION: In these data, we found that the agreement between mothers' self-reported smoking habits during pregnancy and their levels of serum cotinine was high, as was the transfer of cotinine from mother to fetus. This indicates that birth register data on pregnancy smoking in Sweden could be considered a valid measure.

Adiposity in Children Born Small for Gestational Age Is Associated With ß-Cell Function, Genetic Variants for Insulin Resistance, and Response to Growth Hormone Treatment.

BACKGROUND: Genetic susceptibility to insulin resistance is associated with lower adiposity in adults. Insulin resistance, and therefore adiposity, may alter sensitivity to GH. We aimed to determine the relationship between adiposity, genetic susceptibility to insulin resistance or insulin secretion, and response to GH treatment in short children born small for gestational age (SGA). METHODS: In 89 short prepubertal SGA children (age, 6.2 ± 1.6 y; 55 boys) treated with GH for 1 year in a multicenter study, body fat percentage was estimated at baseline and 1 year using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. The main outcome measures were treatment-related changes in height, IGF-1 standard deviation score, insulin sensitivity, insulin secretion, and disposition index. Combined multiallele gene scores based on single nucleotide polymorphisms with known associations with lower insulin sensitivity (gene scores for insulin resistance [GS-InRes]) and insulin secretion (gene scores for insulin secretion [GS-InSec]) were analyzed for their relationships with adiposity. RESULTS: Mean percentage body fat at baseline was low compared to normative data (P = .045) and decreased even further on GH treatment (baseline vs 1-year z-scores, -0.26 ± 1.2 vs -1.23 ± 1.54; P < .0001). Baseline percentage body fat was positively associated with IGF-1 responses (p-trends = .042), first-year height gains (B [95% confidence interval], 0.61 cm/y [0.28,0.95]; P < .0001), insulin secretion at baseline (p-trends = .020) and 1 year (p-trends = .004), and disposition index at 1 year (p-trends = .024). GS-InRes was inversely associated with body mass index (-0.13 SD score per allele [-0.26, -0.01]; P = .040), body fat (-0.49% per allele [-0.97, -0.007]; P = .047), and limb fat (-0.81% per allele [-1.62, 0.00]; P = .049) at baseline. During GH treatment, GS-InRes was related to a lesser decline in trunk fat (0.38% per allele [0.16, 0.59]; P = .001) and a higher trunk-limb fat ratio at 1 year (0.04 per allele [0.01, 0.08]; P = .008). GS-InSec was positively associated with truncal fat (0.36% per allele [0.09, 0.63]; P = .009). CONCLUSIONS: Adiposity in SGA children has favorable effects on GH sensitivity and glucose metabolism. The associations with multiallele scores support a causal role of insulin resistance in linking lesser body fat to reduced sensitivity to exogenous GH.

Vitamin D Status at Birth and Future Risk of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder have lower levels of Vitamin D3 at birth than matched controls. MATERIAL: Umbilical cord blood samples collected at birth from 202 children later diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder were analysed for vitamin D content and compared with 202 matched controls. 25-OH vitamin D3 was analysed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. RESULTS: No differences in cord blood vitamin D concentration were found between children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (median 13.0 ng/ml) and controls (median 13.5 ng/ml) (p = 0.43). In a logistic regression analysis, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder showed a significant association with maternal age (odds ratio: 0.96, 95% confidence interval: 0.92-0.99) but not with vitamin D levels (odds ratio: 0.99, 95% confidence interval: 0.97-1.02). CONCLUSION: We found no difference in intrauterine vitamin D levels between children later developing Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and matched control children. However, the statistical power of the study was too weak to detect an eventual small to medium size association between vitamin D levels and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Maternal exposure to air pollution and type 1 diabetes--Accounting for genetic factors.

BACKGROUND: Genetic and non-genetic factors probably act together to initiate and accelerate development of type 1 diabetes [T1D]. One suggested risk factor contributing to development of T1D is air pollution. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate whether maternal exposure during pregnancy to air pollution, measured as nitrogen oxides [NOx] and ozone, in a low-dose exposure area was associated with the child developing T1D. METHOD: In Scania (Skåne), the most southern county in Sweden, 84,039 infants were born during the period 1999-2005. By the end of April 2013, 324 of those children had been diagnosed with T1D. For each of those T1D children three control children were randomly selected and matched for HLA genotype and birth year. Individually modelled exposure data at residence during pregnancy were assessed for nitrogen oxides [NOx], traffic density and ozone. RESULTS: Ozone as well as NOx exposures were associated with T1D. When the highest exposure group was compared to the lowest group an odds ratios of 1.62 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.99-2.65) was observed for ozone in the second trimester and 1.58 (95% CI 1.06-2.35) for NOx in the third trimester. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that living in an area with elevated levels of air pollution during pregnancy may be a risk factor for offspring T1D.

Manganese and selenium concentrations in umbilical cord serum and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in childhood.

Existing evidence on the effects of manganese and selenium during fetal life on neurodevelopmental disorders is inadequate. This study aims to investigate the hypothesized relationship between fetal exposure to manganese and selenium and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis in childhood. Children born between 1978 and 2000 with ADHD (n=166) were identified at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Malmö, Sweden. Controls from the same region (n=166) were selected from the Medical Birth Register and were matched for year of birth and maternal country of birth. Manganese and selenium were measured in umbilical cord serum. The median cord serum concentrations of manganese were 4.3µg/L in the cases and 4.1µg/L in the controls. The corresponding concentrations of selenium were 47 and 48µg/L. When the exposures were analyzed as continuous variables no associations between cord manganese or selenium concentration and ADHD were observed. However, children with selenium concentrations above the 90th percentile had 2.5 times higher odds (95% confidence interval 1.3-5.1) of having ADHD compared to those with concentrations between the 10th and 90th percentiles. There was no significant interaction between manganese and selenium exposure (p=0.08). This study showed no association between manganese concentrations in umbilical cord serum and ADHD. The association between ADHD diagnoses in children with relatively high cord selenium was unexpected and should be interpreted with caution.

Neuropeptide Y is a minor autoantigen in newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients.

BACKGROUND: Autoantibodies (A) against Neuropeptide Y (NPY), was reported in 9% newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at rs16139 (T1128C) within the NPY-gene identified an amino acid substitution from leucine (L) to proline (P) (L7P) associated with both glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes. We aimed to determine: (i) the influence of autoantibodies to leucine neuropeptide Y (NPY-LA) and autoantibodies to proline neuropeptide Y (NPY-PA) on the diagnostic sensitivity of type 1 diabetes (T1D), (ii) the association of NPYA with major islet autoantibodies, and (iii) the association of NPYA with HLA-DQ genotypes in newly diagnosed T1D patients. METHODS: Serum from the HLA-DQ typed T1D patients (n = 673; median age 10 yr) from Skåne, Sweden, were analyzed for autoantibodies against NPY-L and NPY-P in a radioligand binding assay, and against glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65), insulin, insulinoma associated protein-2 (IA-2), and zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8) in addition to islet cell antibodies (ICA). A total of 1006 subjects (median age 9 yr) were used as controls. RESULTS: A total of 9.2% (n = 62) of the T1D patients were positive for NPY-LA (p < 0.001) and 7.6% (n = 51) for NPY-PA (p < 0.001) compared to 1.1% (n = 11) in controls. The NPY-LA and NPY-PA appeared together (κ = 0.63; p < 0.001) and the median levels correlated (R² = 0.603; p < 0.001). T1D patients diagnosed after 10 yr of age were at an increased risk for NPYA at diagnosis [odds ratio (OR = 2.46; 95% CI 1.46-4.16; p = 0.001)] adjusted for age at diagnosis, gender, autoantibody positivity, and HLA. CONCLUSIONS: NPY is a minor autoantigen in children with newly diagnosed T1D. Therefore, NPY autoantibodies may be investigated in T1D autoimmunity.

Genetic markers of insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion are associated with spontaneous postnatal growth and response to growth hormone treatment in short SGA children: the North European SGA Study (NESGAS).

PURPOSE: The wide heterogeneity in the early growth and metabolism of children born small for gestational age (SGA), both before and during GH therapy, may reflect common genetic variations related to insulin secretion or sensitivity. METHOD: Combined multiallele single nucleotide polymorphism scores with known associations with insulin sensitivity or insulin secretion were analyzed for their relationships with spontaneous postnatal growth and first-year responses to GH therapy in 96 short SGA children. RESULTS: The insulin sensitivity allele score (GS-InSens) was positively associated with spontaneous postnatal weight gain (regression coefficient [B]: 0.12 SD scores per allele; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.01-0.23; P = .03) and also in response to GH therapy with first-year height velocity (B: 0.18 cm/y per allele; 95% CI, 0.02-0.35; P = .03) and change in IGF-1 (B: 0.17 SD scores per allele; 95% CI, 0.00-0.32; P = .03). The association with first-year height velocity was independent of reported predictors of response to GH therapy (adjusted P = .04). The insulin secretion allele score (GS-InSec) was positively associated with spontaneous postnatal height gain (B: 0.15; 95% CI, 0.01-0.30; P = .03) and disposition index both before (B: 0.02; 95% CI, 0.00-0.04; P = .04) and after 1 year of GH therapy (B: 0.03; 95% CI, 0.01-0.05; P = .002), but not with growth and IGF-1 responses to GH therapy. Neither of the allele scores was associated with size at birth. CONCLUSION: Genetic allele scores indicative of insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion were associated with spontaneous postnatal growth and responses to GH therapy in short SGA children. Further pharmacogenetic studies may support the rationale for adjuvant therapies by informing the mechanisms of treatment response.