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Reference intervals for plasma β-CTX and P1NP in children: A systematic review and pooled estimates.Clinical Biochemistry Aug 2023Reference intervals for plasma P1NP and β-CTX in children and adolescents from several studies have recently been published. The aim of this study was to combine the...
OBJECTIVE
Reference intervals for plasma P1NP and β-CTX in children and adolescents from several studies have recently been published. The aim of this study was to combine the available data into a set of reference intervals for use in clinical laboratories.
DESIGN AND METHODS
A systematic literature search for primary studies reporting reference intervals for plasma P1NP and β-CTX in infants, children and adolescents using the Roche methods was carried out. Reference limits were extracted. For each year of age, mean upper and lower reference limits were calculated, weighted by the number of subjects in each study, and were plotted against age. Proposed reference limits were developed from the weighted mean data with age partitions determined pragmatically.
RESULTS
Reference limits for clinical use for females to 25 years and males to 18 years, based on the weighted mean reference data, are presented. Ten studies contributed to the pooled analysis. The proposed reference limits are identical for males and females <9 years age, prior to the pubertal growth spurt. For β-CTX, the weighted mean reference limits showed relatively constant values during the pre-pubertal years but a marked increase during puberty before a rapid decline towards adult values. Those for P1NP showed high values declining rapidly in the first 2 years of life, followed by a modest increase during early puberty. Limited published information for late adolescent and young adult subjects was noted.
CONCLUSIONS
The proposed reference intervals may be useful for clinical laboratories reporting these bone turnover markers measured by the Roche assays.
Topics: Male; Female; Infant; Young Adult; Adolescent; Humans; Child; Peptide Fragments; Procollagen; Collagen Type I; Biomarkers; Collagen; Bone Remodeling
PubMed: 37187224
DOI: 10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2023.05.001 -
Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) May 2023The aim of this study was to clarify the relationships among large for gestational age (LGA) and cardiometabolic risk factors. (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to clarify the relationships among large for gestational age (LGA) and cardiometabolic risk factors.
METHODS
PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library databases were searched to identify studies on LGA and outcomes of interest, including BMI, blood pressure, glucose metabolism, and lipid profiles. Data were independently extracted by two reviewers. A meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and funnel graph were used to assess the quality and publication bias, respectively.
RESULTS
Overall, 42 studies involving 841,325 individuals were included. Compared with individuals born appropriate for gestational age, individuals born LGA had higher odds of overweight and obesity (odds ratios [OR] = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.31-1.59), type 1 diabetes (OR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.15-1.43), hypertension (OR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.01-1.51), and metabolic syndrome (OR = 1.43, 95%; CI: 1.05-1.96). No significant difference was found in hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia. Stratified analyses showed that, compared with individuals born appropriate for gestational age, individuals born LGA had higher odds for overweight and obesity from toddler age to puberty age (toddler age: OR = 2.12, 95% CI: 1.22-3.70; preschool: OR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.55-2.12; school age: OR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.09-2.14; puberty: OR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.11-1.77).
CONCLUSIONS
LGA is associated with increased odds of obesity and metabolic syndrome later in life. Future studies should focus on elucidating the potential mechanisms and identifying risk factors.
Topics: Female; Humans; Child, Preschool; Overweight; Metabolic Syndrome; Gestational Age; Body Mass Index; Obesity; Weight Gain; Birth Weight
PubMed: 37140379
DOI: 10.1002/oby.23701 -
Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2023Raising a healthy calf up to puberty is essential for optimal farm performance. It is therefore, it is necessary to promote animal welfare from the three spheres during...
INTRODUCTION
Raising a healthy calf up to puberty is essential for optimal farm performance. It is therefore, it is necessary to promote animal welfare from the three spheres during this short period. Social management has been postulated as essential in lowering stress and consequently improving calf welfare during this period. Only the health sphere has been studied for a long time, but more recent studies have recently promoted positive experiences and emotional states from affective states or cognitive judgment and natural living spheres. A systematic review of different management strategies in rearing dairy calves according to the three spheres of animal welfare has been conducted using an electronic search strategy.
METHODS
The analysis and extraction of information from the studies were performed according to a protocol. From 1,783 publications screened, only 351 met the inclusion criteria.
RESULTS
The publications identified in the search can be divided into two main groups, feeding and social management, based on the main topic of the publication. This review provides an overview of social management, understood as the calf's interaction with others around it.
DISCUSSION
Primary social management issues that emerged were social housing with congeners, separation from the mother and human-animal interaction, distributed in the three broad spheres of animal welfare. The review highlights unresolved questions about how social management practices affect the three spheres of animal welfare at this life stage and the need to standardize good socialization practices for this stage. In conclusion, all the information shows that social housing has improved animal welfare from affective states, cognitive judgment, and natural living spheres. However, gaps in research were identified in relation to the optimal time to separate the calf from the mother, the optimal time to group with conspecifics after birth and group size. Further research on positive welfare through socialization are needed.
PubMed: 37138913
DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1154555 -
Hormone Research in Paediatrics 2024Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) therapy effectively increases height in various disorders of childhood growth. However, whether rhGH affects pubertal timing is... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
INTRODUCTION
Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) therapy effectively increases height in various disorders of childhood growth. However, whether rhGH affects pubertal timing is unclear. We aimed to review systematically published evidence on the effect of rhGH on pubertal timing.
METHODS
Embase, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched until December 2021 on randomized and non-randomized controlled studies of rhGH in children.
RESULTS
Twenty-five articles (n = 1,433 children) were identified, describing 12 randomized and 13 non-randomized controlled studies in children with idiopathic short stature (ISS; 15 studies), small for gestational age (n = 6 studies), chronic renal failure (n = 3), Noonan syndrome (n = 1), and growth hormone deficiency (n = 1). Significant differences in the effects of rhGH on pubertal timing were found by clinical indication. Only among children with ISS, rhGH promoted earlier age at pubertal timing (mean difference = -0.46 years; 95% CI, -0.90 to -0.03; 9 studies; n total = 397) or higher relative risk for pubertal onset during study follow-up (1.26; 95% CI, 1.03 to 1.54; 6 studies; n total = 284).
CONCLUSIONS
Treatment with rhGH appears to promote earlier pubertal timing among children with ISS. Evidence was lacking in children with growth hormone deficiency due to the absence of studies with untreated controls.
Topics: Child; Humans; Human Growth Hormone; Growth Hormone; Body Height; Growth Disorders; Dwarfism, Pituitary; Recombinant Proteins
PubMed: 37075730
DOI: 10.1159/000530578 -
Annals of Human Biology Feb 2023Evidence about the effect of age at menarche (AAM) on blood pressure (BP) has largely been drawn from studies in developed countries. Studies in developing countries are... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
CONTEXT
Evidence about the effect of age at menarche (AAM) on blood pressure (BP) has largely been drawn from studies in developed countries. Studies in developing countries are expanding recently but have not been summarised.
OBJECTIVE
To systematically explore the association between AAM and BP and the potential modifiers in developing countries.
METHODS
We searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science for publications until March 2022. A random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI).
RESULTS
Twenty studies were eligible. In studies with participants' mean age at BP assessment <55 years, women in the oldest group as compared with the middle or the youngest group of AAM had a higher risk of hypertension in those studies without adjustment for confounders (RR 1.79, 95% CI 1.41-2.28, =97.0%), those with adjustment for confounders excluding adiposity (1.25,1.04-1.51, =84.8%), and those with adjustment for confounders including adiposity (1.38,1.03-1.86, =91.8%). In studies with participants' mean age at BP assessment ≥55 years, no significant differences were found for studies without adjustment for confounders (RR 1.07, 95% CI 0.78-1.47, 90.3%), studies with adjustment for confounders excluding adiposity (0.85, 0.78-0.92, =12.3%), or studies with adjustment for confounders including adiposity (0.95, 0.80-1.11, =45.5%). A similar association was observed between AAM and baseline systolic BP and diabolic BP.
CONCLUSION
Late menarche was associated with a higher risk of BP and this association was modified by age and adiposity in developing countries.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Female; Middle Aged; Menarche; Blood Pressure; Risk Factors; Developing Countries; Hypertension; Obesity
PubMed: 36943097
DOI: 10.1080/03014460.2023.2184866 -
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Apr 2023Adolescence, the transition between childhood and adulthood, is characterized by rapid brain development in white matter (WM) that is attributed in part to rising levels...
Adolescence, the transition between childhood and adulthood, is characterized by rapid brain development in white matter (WM) that is attributed in part to rising levels in adrenal and gonadal hormones. The extent to which pubertal hormones and related neuroendocrine processes explain sex differences in WM during this period is unclear. In this systematic review, we sought to examine whether there are consistent associations between hormonal changes and morphological and microstructural properties of WM across species and whether these effects are sex-specific. We identified 90 (75 human, 15 non-human) studies that met inclusion criteria for our analyses. While studies in human adolescents show notable heterogeneity, results broadly demonstrate that increases in gonadal hormones across pubertal development are associated with macro- and microstructural changes in WM tracts that are consistent with the sex differences found in non-human animals, particularly in the corpus callosum. We discuss limitations of the current state of the science and recommend important future directions for investigators in the field to consider in order to advance our understanding of the neuroscience of puberty and to promote forward and backward translation across model organisms.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Male; Female; Adolescent; Child; White Matter; Puberty; Gonadal Hormones; Sex Characteristics; Neurosciences; Brain
PubMed: 36913887
DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101214 -
Cells Feb 2023Type 2 familial partial lipodystrophy (FPLD2) is a laminopathic lipodystrophy due to pathogenic variants in the gene. Its rarity implies that it is not well-known. The... (Review)
Review
Type 2 familial partial lipodystrophy (FPLD2) is a laminopathic lipodystrophy due to pathogenic variants in the gene. Its rarity implies that it is not well-known. The aim of this review was to explore the published data regarding the clinical characterisation of this syndrome in order to better describe FPLD2. For this purpose, a systematic review through a search on PubMed until December 2022 was conducted and the references of the retrieved articles were also screened. A total of 113 articles were included. FPLD2 is characterised by the loss of fat starting around puberty in women, affecting limbs and trunk, and its accumulation in the face, neck and abdominal viscera. This adipose tissue dysfunction conditions the development of metabolic complications associated with insulin resistance, such as diabetes, dyslipidaemia, fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease, and reproductive disorders. However, a great degree of phenotypical variability has been described. Therapeutic approaches are directed towards the associated comorbidities, and recent treatment modalities have been explored. A comprehensive comparison between FPLD2 and other FPLD subtypes can also be found in the present review. This review aimed to contribute towards augmenting knowledge of the natural history of FPLD2 by bringing together the main clinical research in this field.
Topics: Humans; Female; Lipodystrophy, Familial Partial; Adipose Tissue; Insulin Resistance; Extremities; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Lamin Type A
PubMed: 36899861
DOI: 10.3390/cells12050725 -
Endocrine Jul 2023The current study aimed to report cases of McCune Albright syndrome (MAS) with growth hormone (GH) hyper secretion along with a systematic review of literature to...
PURPOSE
The current study aimed to report cases of McCune Albright syndrome (MAS) with growth hormone (GH) hyper secretion along with a systematic review of literature to elucidate challenges and intricacies in its diagnosis and management.
METHODS
It was a single centre study carried out in individuals with MAS and autonomous GH secretion (AGHS). In addition, a systematic search of literature across three databases (PubMed, Scopus and EMBASE) was performed from inception until May 31, 2021 to identify cases of MAS with AGHS in the pediatric age group (<18 years).
RESULTS
Three cases from authors centre and 42 cases identified from systematic literature review were analysed. Precocious puberty was the most common presenting endocrinopathy seen in 56.8% (25/44) cases, followed by hyperthyroidism (10/45), hypophosphatemia (4/45), and hypercortisolism (2/45). Cranio-facial fibrous dysplasia (CFFD) was seen in all while polyostotic fibrous dysplasia and Café au lait macule was seen in 40/45 (88.9%) and 35/45 (77.8%), respectively. Pituitary adenoma (58.3% microadenoma) was localized in 53.3% (24/45) cases on pituitary imaging. Biochemical and clinical remission of AGHS was achieved in 61.5% (24/45) cases with medical therapy.
CONCLUSION
Diagnosing AGHS in MAS is challenging because of concomitant presence of CFFD, non-GH endocrinopathies associated height spurt and elevated serum IGF-1. GH-GTT should be performed in presence of elevated growth velocity and serum IGF-1 (>1 X ULN) despite adequate control of non-GH endocrinopathies. Medical management can lead to disease control in substantial number of cases and often entails use of multiple agents.
Topics: Child; Humans; Adenoma; Fibrous Dysplasia, Polyostotic; Growth Hormone; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; Pituitary Neoplasms
PubMed: 36877453
DOI: 10.1007/s12020-023-03333-7 -
International Journal of General... 2023Challenges in selecting the right formulation of testosterone (TE) for young males with delayed puberty (DP) arise from the fact that there is limited evidence based... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Challenges in selecting the right formulation of testosterone (TE) for young males with delayed puberty (DP) arise from the fact that there is limited evidence based guidelines in recommending the most efficient and safe formulation of TE.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the existing evidence and systematically review the interventional effects of transdermal TE to other modes of TE administration for the treatment of DP among young and adolescent males.
METHODS
All types of methodologies published in English were searched from the data sources including MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Reviews, Web of Science, AMED and Scopus from 2015 till 2022. Boolean operators with keywords "types of TE", "modes of TE administration", "DP", "transdermal TE", "constitutional delay of growth and puberty, (CDGP)" "adolescent boys" and "hypogonadism" to optimize the search results. The main outcomes of concern were optimal serum TE level, body mass index, height velocity, testicular volume, pubertal stage (Tanner), The secondary outcomes included in this study were adverse events and patient satisfaction.
RESULTS
After screening 126 articles, 39 full texts were reviewed. Only five studies could be included after careful screening and rigid quality assessments. Most studies were at high or unclear risk of bias with short duration and follow up periods. Only one study was a clinical trial covering all the outcomes of interests.
CONCLUSION
This study points out the favorable effects of transdermal TE treatment for DP in boys, while the existence of the vast gap in research needs to be acknowledged. Despite the utmost demand in an appropriate TE treatment for young males with DP, scarce efforts and trials are being undertaken to provide clear clinical guidance of treatment. Quality of life, cardiac events, metabolic parameters, coagulation profiles are important aspects of the treatment are overlooked and under evaluated in most studies.
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION
PROSPERO CRD 42022369699.
PubMed: 36872942
DOI: 10.2147/IJGM.S396144 -
Human Reproduction Update Jul 2023Regulated cell death is a fundamental component of numerous physiological processes; spanning from organogenesis in utero, to normal cell turnover during adulthood, as... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Regulated cell death is a fundamental component of numerous physiological processes; spanning from organogenesis in utero, to normal cell turnover during adulthood, as well as the elimination of infected or damaged cells throughout life. Quality control through regulation of cell death pathways is particularly important in the germline, which is responsible for the generation of offspring. Women are born with their entire supply of germ cells, housed in functional units known as follicles. Follicles contain an oocyte, as well as specialized somatic granulosa cells essential for oocyte survival. Follicle loss-via regulated cell death-occurs throughout follicle development and life, and can be accelerated following exposure to various environmental and lifestyle factors. It is thought that the elimination of damaged follicles is necessary to ensure that only the best quality oocytes are available for reproduction.
OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE
Understanding the precise factors involved in triggering and executing follicle death is crucial to uncovering how follicle endowment is initially determined, as well as how follicle number is maintained throughout puberty, reproductive life, and ovarian ageing in women. Apoptosis is established as essential for ovarian homeostasis at all stages of development and life. However, involvement of other cell death pathways in the ovary is less established. This review aims to summarize the most recent literature on cell death regulators in the ovary, with a particular focus on non-apoptotic pathways and their functions throughout the discrete stages of ovarian development and reproductive life.
SEARCH METHODS
Comprehensive literature searches were carried out using PubMed and Google Scholar for human, animal, and cellular studies published until August 2022 using the following search terms: oogenesis, follicle formation, follicle atresia, oocyte loss, oocyte apoptosis, regulated cell death in the ovary, non-apoptotic cell death in the ovary, premature ovarian insufficiency, primordial follicles, oocyte quality control, granulosa cell death, autophagy in the ovary, autophagy in oocytes, necroptosis in the ovary, necroptosis in oocytes, pyroptosis in the ovary, pyroptosis in oocytes, parthanatos in the ovary, and parthanatos in oocytes.
OUTCOMES
Numerous regulated cell death pathways operate in mammalian cells, including apoptosis, autophagic cell death, necroptosis, and pyroptosis. However, our understanding of the distinct cell death mediators in each ovarian cell type and follicle class across the different stages of life remains the source of ongoing investigation. Here, we highlight recent evidence for the contribution of non-apoptotic pathways to ovarian development and function. In particular, we discuss the involvement of autophagy during follicle formation and the role of autophagic cell death, necroptosis, pyroptosis, and parthanatos during follicle atresia, particularly in response to physiological stressors (e.g. oxidative stress).
WIDER IMPLICATIONS
Improved knowledge of the roles of each regulated cell death pathway in the ovary is vital for understanding ovarian development, as well as maintenance of ovarian function throughout the lifespan. This information is pertinent not only to our understanding of endocrine health, reproductive health, and fertility in women but also to enable identification of novel fertility preservation targets.
Topics: Adult; Animals; Female; Humans; Apoptosis; Granulosa Cells; Mammals; Oocytes; Ovarian Follicle; Ovary; Regulated Cell Death; Homeostasis
PubMed: 36857094
DOI: 10.1093/humupd/dmad005