Effects of Inhaled Corticosteroids on the Growth Plates of Infant Rats.

The most significant adverse effect of inhaled steroid administration in children is suppression of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responsiveness and suppression of growth. This study evaluates the effects of inhaled corticosteroids on the growth plates in infant rats. Rats aged 10 days were divided into five groups. Low and high doses of budesonide and fluticasone propionate (50-200-250 mcg/day) were applied with a modified spacer for 10 days. The rat's tibias were then removed and the effects of the steroids on the growth plates were compared. Growth cartilage chondrocyte proliferation and apoptosis rates; IGF-1 and glucocorticoid receptor levels; and resting, proliferative, hypertrophic, and total zone (TZ) measurements were compared using immunohistochemical-staining methods. With high doses of fluticasone, growth plates were affected much more than with high doses of budesonide (p = 0.01). Fluticasone, particularly at a dose of 250 mcg, inhibited the growth plate with an intensive negative impact on all parameters.

Increased fecal calprotectin in preterm infants with necrotizing enterocolitis.

BACKGROUND: Necrotizing entrocolitis (NEC) remains a potentially fatal disease in premature infants despite the recent advances in neonatal care. It is a disease with a multifactorial etiology leading to the one common final pathway of necrosis and inflammmation of the neonatal intestine. METHODS: Calprotectin is a calcium and zinc-binding protein in human neutrophils. Its concentration rises in various organic bowel diseases in adults and is resistant to degradation and has been proposed as a useful, simple, and rapid diagnostic method of inflammatory bowel disease that shows gastrointestinal inflammation in children and adults. RESULTS: We found that infants with necrotizing enterocolitis had increased fecal calprotectin concentrations, and there was a correlation between calprotectin concentrations and severity of NEC. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that fecal calprotectin is a useful marker for diagnosis and severity of NEC in preterm infants.

Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D level and adiponectin is associated with insulin sensitivity in large gestational age infants.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between adipokines (visfatin, adiponectin) and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), and markers of insulin sensitivity in large for gestational age (LGA) infants. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty LGA infants (25 LGA born to diabetic mothers and 15 LGA born to non-diabetic mothers) and 34 appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants were recruited. RESULTS: FGIR, QUICK-I, adiponectin and 25(OH)D levels were significantly lower in LGA with diabetic mother group than AGA and LGA with non-diabetic mother group. HOMA-IR, fasting insulin, visfatin and parathormone (PTH) levels were significantly higher in LGA with diabetic mother group than AGA and LGA with non-diabetic mother group. CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of this study, visfatin, adiponectin and 25(OH)D levels can be used as specific markers for insulin sensitivity and may help advance new therapies for glucose intolerance spectrum.