Association between plasma levels of transforming growth factor-β1, IL-23 and IL-17 and the severity of autism in Egyptian children

It has been recently shown that dysregulation of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), IL-23 and IL-17 has been identified as a major factor involved in autoimmune disorders. Based on the increasing evidence of immune dysfunction in autism the aim of this study was to measure serum levels of TGF-β 1, IL-23 and IL-17 in relation to the degree of the severity of autism. Serum TGF-β1, IL-23 and IL-17 were measured by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay technique in 50 autistic children aged 6–12 years, in comparison to 50 developmental disabilities and 50 typically developing-matched children. The severity of autism was assessed by using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. We found that TGF-β1 and IL-23 levels were significantly decreased in the plasma of children with ASD in comparison to control groups (P < 0.0001 for both) with no significant difference in IL-17 levels. There was no correlation between IL-23 and TGF-β1 with IL-17 in children with ASD. There was a negative correlation between TGF-β1, IL-23 and IL-17 with the severity of autism (P < 0.0001, 0.0001, 0.005 respectively). Our results support the findings that immune dysfunction may occur in some children with autism.     

Prevalence of Masked Hypertension in African Americans

Masked hypertension (MH), the presence of normal office blood pressure (BP) with elevated ambulatory pressure, has been shown to correlate with organ damage. Population‐based studies from Europe and Asia estimate a prevalence of 8.5% to 15.8%. Two small studies in African Americans estimate a prevalence >40%. Therefore, the authors utilized ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) to identify the prevalence of MH in our African American population. Pressure was recorded every 30 minutes while awake and every 60 minutes while asleep. Patients with 24‐hour average BP ≥135/85 mm Hg, awake average BP ≥140/90 mm Hg, or asleep average BP ≥125/75 mm Hg had MH. Seventy‐three participates had valid data. The mean age of the patients was 49.8 years, mean body mass index was 31.1, and 39 patients (53%) were women. Thirty‐three patients (45.2%) had MH. Patients with MH had higher clinic systolic BP and trended toward higher BMI values. The authors corroborated the high prevalence of MH in African Americans. ABPM is critical to diagnose hypertension in African Americans, particularly in those with high‐normal clinic pressure and obesity.     

Effects of the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on routine pediatric immunization coverage rates at the main University Hospital in Saudi Arabia

Objectives:To investigate whether the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic has had any effects on pediatric vaccination rates at the main university hospital in Saudi Arabia.Methods:A retrospective study conducted at King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia using electronic health records. The vaccination statuses of all children who were scheduled for vaccinations at birth and at 2, 4, 6, 9, and 12 months during March, April and May between 2017 and 2020 were included in the study with total sample of 15,870 children, and comparisons between the cohorts were performed.Results:All vaccination visits during April and May 2020 were below the lower extremes except for the birth vaccinations. In March, April, and May 2020 there were respective drops in vaccination visits of 49.93%, 71.90% and 68.48% compared with the mean numbers of vaccination visits during the same months from 2017 to 2019. In comparisons of mean numbers of visits from March 2017 to May 2019 and March to May in 2020, the respective reductions in visits for birth and 2, 4, 6, 9 and 12-month vaccinations were 16.5%, 80.5%, 74.7%, 72.9%, 80.0% and 74.1%.Conclusions:The huge impact of the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic on childhood vaccinations will require urgent vaccination recovery plans with innovative approaches and future action plans to maintain vaccination coverage during any subsequent pandemics.     

Botox in urology

Lower urinary tract dysfunction is one of the challenging problems facing urologists and patients. Several treatment trials have been introduced in the literature, but none has proven to be as effective as being a gold standard treatment for such conditions. We reviewed the literature regarding the use of botulinum toxin (BTx) type A as a current treatment of lower urinary tract conditions described below. The toxin has been shown to be safe and effective in the treatment of conditions caused by increased muscle tonicity. Indications for the urological use of BTx and future applications are also considered.     

Personality,xerostomia and OHRQoL among 35–54-year-olds

Objective: Personality characteristics mean that people may interpret similar symptoms differently, complicating the measurement of self-reported oral health, and so we tested the hypothesis that controlling for aspects of personality makes a difference to the association between xerostomia and oral-health-related quality of life.

Material and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted of a representative adult population sample in Dunedin (New Zealand). Data were collected on xerostomia, OHRQoL and personality characteristics, using (respectively) the 5-item Shortened Xerostomia Inventory (SXI), the OHIP-14 and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Negative binomial regression was used to model the association between the SXI and the OHIP-14 scores, and models with and without the PANAS score were compared.

Results: The participation rate was 51.3%, with complete OHIP-14 data available for 250 individuals (56.5% female). The SXI score (mean 6.9, sd 1.8) was strongly and positively associated with the OHIP-14 score (in both models), as was the PANAS negative affect score in the second model, which also explained slightly more of the observed variance than the first model. However, the difference in model deviance fell short of the amount required to reject the hypothesis that adding the PANAS variables to the model made a significant difference.

Conclusions: Considering aspects of personality in investigating OHRQoL remains a theoretically important undertaking, but adjusting for it in analyses of associations between xerostomia and OHRQoL is unlikely to be necessary.     

GABRG2 Gene Polymorphisms in Egyptian Children with Simple Febrile Seizures

Mutations in the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor (GABRG2) gene have been associated with generalized epilepsy, childhood absence?epilepsy and febrile?seizures. In the present study the authors investigated the association of polymorphism of the GABRG2 with simple febrile seizures (FS) in Egyptian children. Polymorphism at GABRG2 (SNP211037, Asn196Asn), on chromosome 5q33 were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in 100 Egyptian children with simple FS, and 120 healthy controls. The frequency of CC genotype of GABRG2 gene was significantly higher in children with simple FS compared to healthy children (p?≤?0.0001). The C allele of GABRG2 was associated with increased risk for developing simple FS (OR: 2.15. 95% CI, 1.4-3.2. p?≤?0.0001). The present findings suggested that the GABRG2 (SNP211037)-C allele could be a suitable genetic marker for prediction of susceptibility to simple FS in Egyptian children.