Prenatal phthalate exposures and anogenital distance in Swedish boys.

Background: Phthalates are used as plasticizers in soft polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and in a large number of consumer products. Because of reported health risks, diisononyl phthalate (DiNP) has been introduced as a replacement for di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in soft PVC. This raises concerns because animal data suggest that DiNP may have antiandrogenic properties similar to those of DEHP.

Validation of a parental questionnaire to identify atopic dermatitis in a population-based sample of children up to 2 years of age.

Background: Validated eczema questionnaires have been available for schoolchildren only, but the incidence of atopic dermatitis (AD) is highest during infancy.

Objective: To validate a parental questionnaire to identify AD in children up to 2 years of age.

Methods: Parents of 476 children answered a written questionnaire prior to an examination by a physician.

The SELMA study: a birth cohort study in Sweden following more than 2000 mother-child pairs.

Background:  This paper describes the background, aim and study design for the Swedish SELMA study that aimed to investigate the importance of early life exposure during pregnancy and infancy to environmental factors with a major focus on endocrine disrupting chemicals for multiple chronic diseases/disorders in offspring.

Methods: The cohort was established by recruiting women in the 10th week of pregnancy. Blood and urine from the pregnant women and the child and air and dust from home environment from pregnancy and infancy period have been collected.

PVC flooring is related to human uptake of phthalates in infants.

Unlabelled: Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) flooring material contains phthalates, and it has been shown that such materials are important sources for phthalates in indoor dust. Phthalates are suspected endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Consecutive infants between 2 and 6 months old and their mothers were invited.

Exhaled nitric oxide and urinary EPX levels in infants: a pilot study.

Background: Objective markers of early airway inflammation in infants are not established but are of great interest in a scientific setting. Exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and urinary eosinophilic protein X (uEPX) are a two such interesting markers.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of measuring FeNO and uEPX in infants and their mothers and to determine if any relations between these two variables and environmental factors can be seen in a small sample size.

Hypocalcemic syndromes.

Hypocalcemia is common in the ICU and is a marker of poor prognosis. The mechanisms behind the low calcium levels include extravasation, increased chelation, intracellular overload of calcium, and an altered parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion. Hypocalcemia and an altered PTH secretion seem to be related to systemic inflammation, but it is not known today if this response is appropriate or not.

Hypocalcemia during porcine endotoxemic shock: effects of calcium administration.

Objective: To evaluate the pathophysiology involved in hypocalcemia in septic shock and to investigate the value of calcium administration.

Design: Prospective, randomized placebo-controlled trial with parallel groups.

Setting: Animal research laboratory at the University Hospital of Uppsala.

Hypocalcemia and parathyroid hormone secretion in critically ill patients.

Objective: To investigate possible causes of hypocalcemia and to assess parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

Design: Combined cross-sectional and prospective study.

Setting: ICU in a university hospital.

An inhibitor of angiotensin converting enzyme (enalapril) augments endotoxin-induced hypotension in the pig.

Septic shock causes an extensive inflammatory reaction including increased capillary leakage and a decrease in systemic blood pressure. Human septic shock can be replicated in the endotoxaemic pig. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is involved in the degradation of bradykinin, an inflammatory mediator, and in the regulation of blood pressure.

Circulating ionized calcium and parathyroid hormone levels following coronary artery by-pass surgery.

In critically ill patients, hypocalcaemia is a common finding. Also variable derangements in the normally tight Ca2+-mediated control of the parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion have been found. Utilizing coronary artery by-pass grafting (CABG) as a standardized model of severe trauma, 18 patients underwent determinations of blood levels of calcium, magnesium (Mg), ionized calcium (Ca2+), serum levels of intact PTH, procalcitonin (PCT) and the proinflammatory cytokines tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6).

Parathyroid hormone and ionized calcium levels are related to the severity of illness and survival in critically ill patients.

Background: The present study explores serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) and blood ionized calcium (Ca2+) levels in relation to the severity of disease and mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: In a pilot study, 37 consecutive critically ill patients admitted to the ICU were studied with determinations of serum PTH and total serum calcium within the first 24 h. In a following prospective study, patients suffering from sepsis (n = 13) or subjected to major surgery (n = 13) were investigated daily for 1 week with determinations of serum PTH and ionized calcium (Ca2+).

Serum levels of parathyroid hormone are related to the mortality and severity of illness in patients in the emergency department.

Hypocalcaemia is a common finding in intensive care patients. In addition, raised levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) have been described. The explanation and clinical importance of these findings are yet to be revealed.

Proinflammatory cytokines, measured in a mixed population on arrival in the emergency department, are related to mortality and severity of disease.

Objectives: To investigate whether serum levels of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) are related to mortality and severity of disease in patients admitted to the Emergency Department (ED).

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Emergency Department of a tertiary university hospital.