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Background Platelets are heterogeneous in size, density, metabolic, functional, and biochemical properties. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is a measure of the average size of platelet in a blood sample. Aim We aimed to evaluate the mean platelet volume as a marker for disease activity in children with systemic lupus erythematosus. Materials and Methods This was a prospective case-control study, which included 50 patients with SLE and 50 age and sex, matched healthy controls. All subjects were subjected to history taking, physical examination and laboratory parameters in active and remission phases of the diseases. Results The MPV value in the SLE group was significantly higher than control group (9.6 ± 1.3 fL, 9.1 ± 0.57 fL, respectively, p = 0.04). There was a significant increase of weight, blood pressure, urea, creatinine, proteinuria, CRP, ESR, cholestrol, MPV values, SLEDAI-2K scores and significant decrease of HB, albumin, C3, mean platelet volume (MPC) in the active stage than in the remission stage. There was a significant negative correlation between MPV and MPC in active stage of the disease but the correlation was insignificant in remission stage. Conclusion MPV increased in active phase of patients with SLE and can be an easy, rapid, inexpensive and simple method to assess disease activity in children with SLE.

Introduction Malnutrition is the major co-morbid condition of patients on dialysis, regular monitoring of nutritional status should be apart of treatment .Ghrelin is a stomach-derived hormone Aim of the Study The aim of this study is to investigate the changes in levels of serum ghrelin in end-stage renal disease patients receiving dialysis treatment and its relationship to some malnutrition markers. Patients and Methods This prospective case control study was conducted in the Nephrology Unit of our University Hospital, 46 patient were included in this study ; they were classified into two groups , cases group comprised 23 children with chronic renal failure on regular hemodialysis control group comprised 23 children matched for age and sex body mass idex , Malnutrition inflammation score, total protein, albumin, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, total iron binding capacity, ferritin, and cholesterol., Serum ghrelin levels Results Ghrelin was significantly higher in cases than control mean 4769.0957 , Ghrelin sensitivity was 87.0 % , specificity was 78.3 % , positive predictive value was 80.0 % , negative predictive value was 85.7 % and accuracy was 82.6 % , cutoff value was >2070. Cases showed significant higher than control mean levels for ferritin, cholesterol and lower Hemoglobin, total iron binding capacity and total proteins. Cases showed significant high level of Ghrelin compared to normal control. Conclusion Ghrelin level increased in Hemodialysis patient, increased Ghrelin level might be related to anorexia . It could be used as a prognostic nutritional marker.

Background: Vitamin D plays an immunoregulatory role in both the innate and adaptive immune systems. Rickets is a disorder that can develop due to a lack of vitamin D, calcium, or phosphate. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess serum immunoglobulins as one of the aspects of humoral immunity in children with vitamin D resistant rickets. Subjects and Methods: This case-control study was performed on 60 patients divided into Group (A):30 cases with vitamin D resistant rickets patients who were presented with rachitic manifestation who didn’t respond to therapeutic doses of the vitamin. Group (B):30 cases with untreated classic vitamin D deficiency rickets. Group (C): 30 healthy subjects as a control group. All subjects were subjected to detailed history taking including age, sex, weight, dietary history, medication history, and physical examination including vital signs, body weight, and head circumference. Laboratory investigations that included calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, electrolytes, ESR, urine analysis, parathyroid hormone, vitamin D, and Immunoglobulin assay. Results: There is a significant decrease of IgA in vitamin D deficiency rickets and vitamin D resistant rickets than in controls (3.74 ± .867, 3.13 ± 1.72, 5.01 ± 1.61, respectively with P =0.012).There is a significant decrease of IgG in vitamin D deficiency rickets and a significant increase in vitamin D resistant rickets than in controls (523.5 ± 136.3, 751.25 ±163.5, 692.0 ± 186.4, respectively with P =0.009). There is no significant difference in IgM in the three studied groups. Conclusion: Patients with vitamin D deficiency have significantly lower IgG levels, while vitamin D resistant patients have significantly higher IgG levels. Whereas, both groups have lower IgA and normal IgM levels.

Background Urinary Tract Infection is one of the most common bacterial infections among children.. It is noted that the risk of renal damage from Urinary Tract Infection is greatest in children younger than 5 years, thus early diagnosis and prompt treatment are important. Aim of Work The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of urinary tract infection in children attending Pediatric outpatient clinic in Zagazig University Children's Hospital. Also it aimed to determine, related risk factors, isolate the organisms that cause Urinary Tract Infection in children and antibiotics susceptibility patterns Patients and Methods This Cross sectional descriptive study, was conducted on 600 children, (377 males and 223 females) from 2 to 7 years old attending to pediatric outpatient clinic Zagazig University Children's Hospital, All patient groups were subjected to full medical history, physical examination, Dipstick analysis by using both nitrite and leukocyte esterase detector, Microscopic examinations and urine culture for positive cases. Results The prevalence of Urinary Tract Infection among children included in the current study was (7%). Leukocyte esterase positive were 56 (9.3%), Nitrite positive were 47 (7.8%) and both Leukocyte esterase and Nitrite positive were 17 (2.8%). Conclusion The prevalence of Urinary Tract Infection in our study was 7%. Escherichia Coli was the most common organism. Cefotaxime and Amikacin were the most common antibiotic sensitive to the isolates.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections among children. It is noted that the risk of renal damage from UTI is the greatest in children younger than five years, thus early diagnosis and prompt treatment are important. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of UTI in children attending pediatric outpatient clinics in Zagazig and Tanta University Hospitals as tertiary care hospitals. Furthermore, we attempted to determine related risk factors, isolate the organisms that cause UTI in children, and study their antibiotic susceptibility patterns. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 1200 toddlers and children, (754 boys and 446 girls) aged between 30 months and seven years attending the pediatric outpatient clinics of Zagazig and Tanta University Hospitals. All patient groups were subjected to full medical history, physical examination, dipstick analysis by using both nitrite and leukocyte esterase (LE) detectors, microscopic examinations, and urine culture for cases with the positive LE, positive nitrite dipstick test for urine or positive for both LE and nitrite. The incidence of UTI among children included in the current study was 7%. Positive LE was seen in 112 (9.3%), nitrite positivity was seen in 94 (7.8%), and both LE and nitrite positivity in 34 (2.8%). Escherichia coli was the most common organism. Cefotaxime and amikacin were the most common sensitive antibiotics to the isolates.

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-lup-10.1177_0961203320965695 for Mean platelet volume in children with systemic lupus erythematosus by Mohamed A Talat, Mayy AN Allah, Naglaa Ali Khalifa, Maha Mahmoud Hamed Sakr, Eman Morsy Mohammed and Ezzat K. Amin in Lupus

Little was known about the relationships between the T lymphocytes (CD3+), expression of glucocorticoid receptors (GCR) and the response to GC treatment in children with the idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS). Our objective was to determine the relation between steroid responsiveness and GCR expression in T lymphocytes. The present study was carried out on 80 children with new-onset INS admitted in Pediatric Nephrology Units of Zagazig and Tanta University Hospitals and on 40 healthy children of the same age and sex who served as control group. The Subjects were subdivided into three groups as follows: Group 1 with 40 healthy children of comparable age and sex served as control group; Group 2 consisted of 60 patients diagnosed with INS with early response to steroid therapy [early responder (ER)] and Group 3 with 20 patients diagnosed with INS with late response to steroid therapy [late responder (LR)]. They were subjected to history taking, focusing on the pattern of response to steroids (ERs), clinical examination, routine laboratory investigations and the GCR/CD3% relationship. 75% of newly diagnosed INS cases were ER whereas 25% were LR. GCR/CD3% was significantly lower in LR group in comparison with ER and control groups, with a significant negative correlation between time of steroid responsiveness and GCR/CD3%. LR group showed lower GCR expression in T lymphocytes before starting therapy which may mean that GCR expression could be part of a pathophysiological mechanism of steroid responsiveness in these children and can be used as a useful diagnostic marker to predict steroid responsiveness in patients with INS.

Background Febrile seizures are the most common form of childhood seizures. Among pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin-6 is the key acute-phase cytokine. To date, only a few studies concerned the association of interleukin-6 gene polymorphisms with febrile seizures.In this study, we aimed to investigate 3 cytokine single-nucleotide polymorphisms situated at positions –174 (G/C), –572 (G/C), and –597 (G/A) in the promoter region of the interleukin-6 gene for the first time in Egyptian children with febrile seizures. Methods This was a case–control study included 100 patients with febrile seizure, and matched with age, gender, ethnicity 100 healthy control subjects. Interleukin-6 –174 (G/C), −572 (G/C), and −597 (G/A) polymorphisms were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), while the serum IL6 levels were measured by ELISA method. Results Compared to the controls subjects, the frequency of the −174 GG and −597 GG IL6 genotypes were observed to be increased in children with febrile seizures (OR: 4.17; 95 % CI: 1.86–9.49; P 0.05). Conclusion In conclusion, our data brought a novel observation that the presence of a G allele or GG genotype at the −174 and the GG genotype at the −597 positions of the promoter region of the interleukin-6 gene constitute risk factors for developing febrile seizures in Egyptian children. Moreover, we observed a significant positive association between the IL6 –597 GG genotype and susceptibility to complex febrile seizures as did the G allele at the same position. However, we found no association between IL6- genotypes and serum IL6 levels in patients with febrile seizures.

Recently, hepcidin, an antimicrobial-like peptide hormone, has evolved as the master regulator of iron homeostasis. Despite the growing evidence of iron imbalance in childhood-onset ischemic stroke, serum hepcidin level in those patients has not yet been researched. In this study, we aimed to estimate serum (hepcidin) level in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients and to investigate whether subcutaneous enoxaparin sodium, which is a low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) derivative, could modulate serum hepcidin level in those patients. This was a case–control study included 60 (AIS) cases, and 100 healthy children with comparable age and gender as control group. For all subjects’ serum hepcidin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and soluble transferrin receptor [sTfR]) levels were assessed by (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] method). Iron parameters including (serum iron, ferritin, transferrin, and total iron binding capacity [TIBC]) were also measured. The patients were subdivided according to treatment with an LMWH derivative into 2 groups and serum hepcidin levels were assessed initially and 1 week after stroke onset for all cases. We found that AIS cases had higher serum iron, ferritin, and IL6 levels compared to the control group (all P 0.05). However, on the 7th day of diagnosis serum hepcidin level decreased significantly in AIS cases treated with LMWH (group 1) (median, 36 vs 21 ng/mL; P 0.05). Serum hepcidin showed significant positive correlations with serum iron, transferrin saturation, ferritin, and IL6 (r = 0.375, P

Introduction. Early diagnosis and treatment of neonatal sepsis may help decrease neonatal mortality.Aim of the Study. To evaluate the role of pancreatic stone protein as a marker for early onset neonatal sepsis.Methods. A hospital-based prospective study was conducted on 104 (52 uninfected and 52 infected neonates) admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Zagazig University hospitals during the period from April 2014 to April 2015. All newborns were subjected to full history taking, careful neonatal assessment, blood, C-reactive protein (CRP), and serum pancreatic stone protein.Results. Serum PSP levels were significantly higher in the infected group than in the uninfected group. At a cutoff level of PSP 12.96 ng/mL, the sensitivity was 96.2%, the specificity was 88.5%, positive predictive value was 95.8%, negative predictive value was 89.3%, and area under the curve was 0.87. A significant positive correlation between CRP and PSP was found in infected group.Conclusion. The high negative predictive value of PSP (89.3%) indicates that the serum PSP level is a good marker for diagnosis of early onset neonatal sepsis and can be used to limit hospital stay and antibiotic use in neonates treated for suspected sepsis.

The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of obesity among female students from the United Arab Emirates University. A sample of 566 students was taken. Body weight and height were measured. The stu dents were interviewed to collect data on age, home Emirate, obesity in childhood, obesi ty among parents, food intake between meals, the consumption of fast foods and physical activity. A student was considered overweight when the body weight was 110-120% of the reference weight of height and was considered obese when the body weight exceeds 120 % of the reference value. The results show that 10.8% of the students were overweight and 30.6% were obese. While the prevalence of obesity increased with age, obesity among stu dents was associated with obesity during childhood, the presence of obesity among one or both parents, food intake between meals and in particular fast foods. Limited physical exer cise and long afternoon napping were important contributors to the development of obesi ty.

Recently, hepcidin, an antimicrobial-like peptide hormone, has evolved as the master regulator of iron homeostasis. Despite the growing evidence of iron imbalance in childhood-onset ischemic stroke, serum hepcidin level in those patients has not yet been researched. In this study, we aimed to estimate serum (hepcidin) level in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients and to investigate whether subcutaneous enoxaparin sodium, which is a low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) derivative, could modulate serum hepcidin level in those patients. This was a case–control study included 60 (AIS) cases, and 100 healthy children with comparable age and gender as control group. For all subjects’ serum hepcidin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and soluble transferrin receptor [sTfR]) levels were assessed by (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] method). Iron parameters including (serum iron, ferritin, transferrin, and total iron binding capacity [TIBC]) were also measured. The patients were subdivided according to treatment with an LMWH derivative into 2 groups and serum hepcidin levels were assessed initially and 1 week after stroke onset for all cases. We found that AIS cases had higher serum iron, ferritin, and IL6 levels compared to the control group (all P 0.05). However, on the 7th day of diagnosis serum hepcidin level decreased significantly in AIS cases treated with LMWH (group 1) (median, 36 vs 21 ng/mL; P 0.05). Serum hepcidin showed significant positive correlations with serum iron, transferrin saturation, ferritin, and IL6 (r = 0.375, P

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of mothers’ education on infant feeding pattern and weaning practices in Kuwait. A multistage stratified sample of 2994 mothers of children less tha...

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is of clinical and public health importance, affecting up to one in five women of reproductive age. It has significant and diverse clinical implications including reproductive, metabolic, and psychological features. Aim: The study was to investigate the effect of anti-inflammatory dietary combo on metabolic, endocrine, inflammatory, and reproductive profiles in overweight and obese women with PCOS. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 nonpregnant, overweight, and obese adult females with PCOS according to the Rotterdam criteria, were screened during the year 2012, and 75 completed the trial. At baseline and study end, fasting blood samples were drawn to measure biological markers, body fat percent (BFP), and visceral fat area (VFA) were assessed by the InBody720 device and anthropometric measurements were done for all participants who were subjected to an anti-inflammatory hypocaloric diet and physical activity for 12 weeks. Results: At study completion, we achieved moderate weight loss of (± 7%) and significant improvements in body composition, hormones and menstrual cyclicity, blood pressure, glucose homeostasis, dyslipidemia, C-reactive protein (CRP), and serum amyloid A (SAA) (surrogate measures of cardiovascular risk (CVR)). This was a clinically relevant weight loss that is associated with a reduced prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) and metabolic syndrome (MS) in the general population and improved fertility outcomes in PCOS. We achieved 63% regain of menstrual cyclicity and 12% spontaneous pregnancy rate within 12 week. Conclusions: We have explored an additional dietary treatment option with good prognostic metabolic and reproductive responses to weight loss that occur in overweight and obese PCOS.

THE AIM of this study was to investigate the role of the maid and her nationality on infant feeding patterns, nutritional status of mothers and food pattern in Kuwait. A multistage stratified sample of 2004 Kuwaiti families was taken to represent all districts in Kuwait. Mothers were interviewed to collect data on infant feeding patterns, types of foods pre sented daily and the nutritional status of the mother was assessed. When there was no maid, 65.3% of the infants were breast fed, such rate declined to 55.1% when a maid was employed. The duration of breast feeding was prolonged from 5.43 months in the presence of a maid to 7.29 months in her absence. Obesity was more prevalent among mothers (44.7%) when a maid was employed and decreased when they received no help (35.4%). The results show that traditional dishes are presented for lunch which is the major meal of the day. Food items presented for breakfast or dinner are more diversified. Hamburger, fried potato, macaroni and fried chicken have become popular dishes in Kuwait. The types of food presented were significantly associ ated with the nationality of the maid.