Iron deficiency anemia and cognitive function in infancy.

Objectives: This study examined effects of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) on specific domains of infant cognitive function and the role of IDA-related socioemotional deficits in mediating and/or moderating these effects.

Methods: Infants were recruited during routine 9-month visits to an inner-city clinic. IDA was defined as hemoglobin level <110 g/L with > or =2 abnormal iron deficiency indicators (mean corpuscular volume, red cell distribution width, zinc protoporphyrin, transferrin saturation, and ferritin).

Higher infant blood lead levels with longer duration of breastfeeding.

Objective: To determine whether longer breastfeeding is associated with higher infant lead concentrations.

Study Design: Data were analyzed from 3 studies of developmental effects of iron deficiency in infancy: Costa Rica (1981-1984), Chile (1991-1996), and Detroit (2002-2003). The relation between duration of breastfeeding and lead levels was assessed with Pearson product-moment or partial correlation coefficients.

From suspicion of physical child abuse to reporting: primary care clinician decision-making.

Objectives: The goals were to determine how frequently primary care clinicians reported suspected physical child abuse, the levels of suspicion associated with reporting, and what factors influenced reporting to child protective services.

Methods: In this prospective observational study, 434 clinicians collected data on 15003 child injury visits, including information about the injury, child, family, likelihood that the injury was caused by child abuse (5-point scale), and whether the injury was reported to child protective services. Data on 327 clinicians indicating some suspicion of child abuse for 1683 injuries were analyzed.

Dose-response relationships between iron deficiency with or without anemia and infant social-emotional behavior.

Objective: To assess dose-response relationships between severity of iron deficiency (ID) and infant social-emotional behavior.

Study Design: The study group was a cohort of 9- to 10-month-old African-American infants (n = 77 with final iron status classification). The infants were given oral iron for 3 months.

Iron deficiency and infant motor development.

Background: Iron deficiency (ID) during early development impairs myelination and basal ganglia function in animal models.

Aims: To examine the effects of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and iron deficiency (ID) without anemia on infant motor skills that are likely related to myelination and basal ganglia function.

Study Design: Observational study.

An event-related potential study of attention and recognition memory in infants with iron-deficiency anemia.

Objectives: The purpose of this work was to determine whether iron-deficiency anemia in infancy represents a risk factor for deficits in attention and memory development using event-related potentials.

Methods: Artifact-free event-related potential data were obtained at 9 and/or 12 months from 15 infants with iron-deficiency anemia and 19 who were iron sufficient during a test of the infant's ability to discriminate a highly familiar stimulus, the mother's face, from a stranger's face.

Results: A midlatency negative component associated with attention and a late-occurring positive slow wave associated with memory updating were identified at both ages in the iron-deficiency anemia and iron-sufficient groups.

Interpretation of serum ferritin concentrations as indicators of total-body iron stores in survey populations: the role of biomarkers for the acute phase response.

Background: Nutritional surveys use acute phase protein (APP) biomarkers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and alpha1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) to identify the influence of inflammation on the distribution of iron status biomarkers. Few, however, have examined which biomarker better identifies persons with spurious elevations in iron status markers.

Objective: We explored the relations of APP biomarkers to iron-status biomarkers in infants and school-age children.

Inter-rater evaluation of a clinical scoring system in children with asthma.

Background: Many clinical scores that measure the degree of asthma are used without adequate evaluation of inter-rater reliability. When reliability is tested, most often the Cohen K statistic is used, which limits the comparative results of only two raters at a time.

Objective: To evaluate inter-rater agreement of a clinical asthma score using a multi-rater K statistic.

Palatability of oral antibiotics among children in an urban primary care center.

Objective: To evaluate the palatability of antimicrobial agents effective against beta-lactamase-producing bacteria in American children.

Design: In a taste test of 4 antimicrobial agents, azithromycin (cherry flavored), cefprozil (bubble gum flavored), cefixime (strawberry flavored), and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (banana flavored) were compared.

Setting: An urban inner-city primary care clinic.

Patient race and ethnicity in primary care management of child behavior problems: a report from PROS and ASPN. Pediatric Research in Office Settings. Ambulatory Sentinel Practice Network.

Background: Minority persons have less access to many specialty treatments and services, possibly because of clinician biases. It is not clear whether any such biases exist in primary care settings, especially for children with psychosocial problems.

Objectives: The objective was to compare primary care recognition and treatment of pediatric psychosocial problems among African American, Hispanic American and European American patients.

Prenatal cocaine and neonatal outcome: evaluation of dose-response relationship.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the hypothesis that prenatal cocaine exposure would negatively affect newborn behavior.

Methods: A prospective observational study of term infants recruited from the low-risk nursery used a structured, standardized interview to obtain maternal data. Cocaine exposure was determined by radioimmunoassay of the infant's meconium stool.

A non-cholinergic transmitter, pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide, utilizes a novel mechanism to evoke catecholamine secretion in rat adrenal chromaffin cells.

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is the most potent non-cholinergic neurotransmitter to stimulate catecholamine secretion from rat chromaffin cells; however, the mechanism of action is not clear. We used amperometric detection of exocytosis and indo-1 monitoring of [Ca2+]i to identify PACAP actions in cultured chromaffin cells. PACAP (100 nM) required external Ca2+ to evoke secretion.

History of in utero cocaine exposure in language-delayed children.

To determine whether children with language delays are more likely to have been exposed to cocaine in utero than children with normal language development, a case-control study was undertaken. Based on routine office screening in our primary-care clinic over a 1-year period, we identified 29 consecutive children, aged 24 to 48 months, as language-delayed. They were compared with an approximate 2:1 match of children without language delay who had been seen in the clinic on the same days and who were of similar age.