Early-pregnancy BMI, maternal gestational weight gain, and asthma and allergic diseases in children.

Background: Association of early pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and maternal gestational weight gain (GWG), and asthma and allergic disease in children is unclear.

Methods: We analyzed data from 3176 mother-child pairs in a prospective birth cohort study. Maternal anthropometric measurements in the first and last antenatal clinic visits were obtained through post-delivery questionnaires to calculate early pregnancy BMI and maternal GWG.

Detection of antinuclear antibodies: recommendations from EFLM, EASI and ICAP.

Objectives: Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) are important for the diagnosis of various autoimmune diseases. ANA are usually detected by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) using HEp-2 cells (HEp-2 IFA). There are many variables influencing HEp-2 IFA results, such as subjective visual reading, serum screening dilution, substrate manufacturing, microscope components and conjugate.

Comparison of 2 fully automated tests detecting antibodies against nucleocapsid N and spike S1/S2 proteins in COVID-19.

Automated assays for detecting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnostics have recently come available. We compared the performance of the Elecsys® Anti-SARS-CoV-2 and LIAISON® SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG tests. The seroconversion panel comprised of 120 samples from 13 hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Quality and best practice in medical laboratories: specific requests for autoimmunity testing.

Special conditions associated with laboratory autoimmune testing are not well compatible with recent developments in regulatory frameworks such as EN/ISO 15189 accreditation or in vitro diagnostic medical device regulation (IVD-R). In addition, international recommendations, guidelines and disease criteria are poorly defined with respect to requirements on autoantibody testing. Laboratory specialists from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and The Netherlands collected information, reported national experience, and identified quality issues in relation to autoantibody testing that require consensus on interpretation of the regulatory frameworks and guidelines.

Early exposure to cats, dogs and farm animals and the risk of childhood asthma and allergy.

Background: Synergistic role of exposure to cats, dogs, and farm animals during infancy on the risk of childhood asthma and allergy remains unknown.

Objectives: To investigate independent and synergistic associations between exposure to indoor pets and farm animals during infancy and the risk of asthma and allergy by age 5.

Methods: We studied 3781 children participating in the Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) Nutrition Study.

Enterovirus infection during pregnancy is inversely associated with atopic disease in the offspring.

Background: Prenatal environment has been shown to influence child's risk of atopic diseases. Laboratory-confirmed data about the role of maternal infections during pregnancy is scarce.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the associations between serologically confirmed maternal infections during pregnancy and atopic disease in the offspring.

Vitamin D intake during the first 4 years and onset of asthma by age 5: A nested case-control study.

Background: Early-life vitamin D intake has been linked to asthma risk in childhood, but the role of longitudinal vitamin D exposure has not been previously evaluated. We investigated the association between vitamin D intake during the first 4 years of life and asthma risk by age 5.

Methods: Within a Finnish population-based birth cohort, 182 incident asthma cases were matched to 728 controls on sex, genetic risk for type 1 diabetes, delivery hospital, and time of birth.

Accreditation in autoimmune diagnostic laboratories. A position paper of the European Autoimmunity Standardisation Initiative (EASI).

Reliable autoantibody detection is important for early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of autoimmune disorders. However, in contrast to testing for classical clinical chemistry analytes, autoantibody testing is complex and evolving. Moreover, there is a lack of standardization.

Food consumption and risk of childhood asthma.

Background: The consumption of foods rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids has been proposed to protect against childhood asthma. This study explores the association of food consumption (including cow's milk (CM)-free diet) in early life and the risk of atopic and non-atopic asthma.

Methods: Food intake of 182 children with asthma and 728 matched controls was measured using 3-day food records, within the Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) Nutrition Study cohort.

Human enterovirus 71 strains in the background population and in hospital patients in Finland.

Background: Human enterovirus 71 (HEV71) is a common cause of severe outbreaks of hand-foot- and mouth disease, aseptic meningitis and encephalitis in Asian populations but has not caused such epidemics in all populations.

Objectives: To analyze the frequency of HEV71 in the background childhood population in Finland by screening in stool and serum samples and by measuring neutralizing antibodies against HEV71 in serum and to compare the genetic relationship of virus strains detected in asymptomatic children and those causing severe illness in Finland to the strains found in other countries.

Study Design: 4185 stool samples and 5686 serum samples were collected and clinical symptoms recorded from children who were observed from birth.

Timing of infant feeding in relation to childhood asthma and allergic diseases.

Background: Emerging evidence questions current recommendations on the timing of infant feeding for the prevention of childhood allergies. The evidence for asthma is inconclusive.

Objective: We sought to investigate the associations between the duration of breast-feeding and timing of introduction of complementary foods and the development of asthma and allergies by the age of 5 years.

High concentration of immunoglobulin A is associated with temporal lobe epilepsy.

Introduction: Dysfunction of immunoglobulins (Igs) has been detected in association with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and in newly diagnosed epilepsy patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of clinical features and the current or past use of AEDs on serum Ig concentrations in a well-examined group of patients with refractory epilepsy.

Patients And Methods: Using a nephelometric method, concentrations of IgA, IgG and IgM were analyzed in the sera of 257 patients with refractory epilepsy, 15 patients with controlled epilepsy and 584 healthy control subjects.

Role of enterovirus infections in IgE sensitization.

Among other infectious agents, enteroviruses have been associated with protection against allergic diseases. The aim of the present study was to confirm these findings using a highly sensitive and specific neutralization antibody assay and to investigate whether the protective effect is related to certain enterovirus serotypes. Antibodies against 12 enterovirus serotypes were measured in 60 children who were positive for allergen-specific IgE and in 190 control children.

Gluten-sensitive hypertransaminasemia in celiac disease: an infrequent and often subclinical finding.

Objectives: Earlier studies suggest that 40-50% of untreated celiac disease patients have elevated transaminase levels. Celiac disease can also be the underlying reason for unexplained hypertransaminasemia or even liver failure. We investigated the prevalence and gluten dependency of hypertransaminasemia in celiac patients also diagnosed with minor or atypical symptoms.

Maternal diet during lactation and allergic sensitization in the offspring at age of 5.

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of maternal dietary intake during lactation on allergic sensitization at the age of 5 in children carrying HLA-DQB1-conferred susceptibility to type 1 diabetes. We analyzed data for 652 consecutively born children with complete information on maternal diet and allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) measurements who are participating in the Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) Nutrition and allergy study. Analysis was performed using logistic regression.

Co-occurrence of allergic sensitization and type 1 diabetes.

Background: The mechanisms leading to abnormal immune regulation in type 1 diabetes and allergic diseases may be partly overlapping. If so, these diseases should co-occur more often than expected. We investigated this phenomenon in two contrasting socio-economic environments, Finland and Russian Karelia.

Maternal diet during pregnancy and allergic sensitization in the offspring by 5 yrs of age: a prospective cohort study.

To examine the effect of maternal diet during pregnancy on allergic sensitization in the offspring by 5 yrs of age. The Finnish type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention Nutrition Study. A population-based cohort study with 5-yr follow-up.

Age at the introduction of solid foods during the first year and allergic sensitization at age 5 years.

Objective: The goal was to examine the relationship between age at the introduction of solid foods during the first year of life and allergic sensitization in 5-year-old children.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention nutrition study, a prospective, birth cohort study. We studied 994 children with HLA-conferred susceptibility to type 1 diabetes mellitus for whom information on breastfeeding, age at the introduction of solid foods, and allergen-specific immunoglobulin E levels at 5 years was available.

Clinical significance of glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies in patients with epilepsy.

Purpose: Glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies (GADAs) have been detected in patients with epilepsy, but the clinical determinants of epilepsy associated with GADA have not been defined.

Methods: We analyzed GADA with a radioimmunoassay in sera of 253 well-characterized patients with epilepsy and 200 control subjects. The positive samples were confirmed by immunohistochemistry and western blotting (WB).

Time trends in allergic sensitisation and Helicobacter pylori prevalence in Finnish pregnant women.

Background: An increase in the prevalence of allergic conditions has been documented in Finland, correlating with the diminishing prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infections. We investigated whether the increase of allergic sensitisation still continues and correlates with the prevalence of H. pylori infections.

Lower economic status and inferior hygienic environment may protect against celiac disease.

Background: The populations in adjacent Russian Karelia and Finland are equally exposed to grain products and share partly the same ancestry, but live in completely different socioeconomic environments.

Aim: This creates an ideal epidemiological setting to study gene-environmental interactions in pathogenesis of celiac disease.

Methods: The prevalence of celiac disease and predisposing human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles was compared between Russian Karelia and Finland.

Serological evidence of thyroid autoimmunity among schoolchildren in two different socioeconomic environments.

Context: The mechanisms leading to thyroid autoimmunity are largely unknown.

Objective: Our objective was to assess the role of environment in the development of thyroid autoimmunity.

Design: Prevalence of thyroid autoantibodies in two neighboring populations living in completely different socioeconomic circumstances (Russian Karelia and Finland) was studied.