Effects of postpartum depression on the behaviour of children born to mothers with epilepsy.

Purpose: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a non-psychotic depressive disorder that begins within 4 weeks of childbirth. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of PPD by screening mothers with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), to assess the behavioural outcome of children born to mothers with and without epilepsy and to investigate the relationship between PPD and children's behavioural problems.

Method: We enrolled 80 pregnancies of women with epilepsy, who filled in EPDS after birth, and afterward we asked them to complete the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).

Polyclonal immunoglobulin E levels are correlated with hemoglobin values and overall survival in patients with multiple myeloma.

Purpose: Polyclonal IgG, IgA, and IgM immunoglobulins are often decreased in sera of patients with multiple myeloma (MM), whereas very few data are available on polyclonal IgE levels. We have determined IgE levels in a large series of MM patients at diagnosis and subjects with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and correlated IgE levels with survival and prognostic factors in MM.

Experimental Design: IgE were determined with a commercially available ELISA kit in 201 MM patients at diagnosis, 144 subjects with MGUS, and 77 age-matched controls.

Decrease of specific and total IgE levels in allergic patients after BCG vaccination: preliminary report.

Background: A systemic reaction to mycobacteria biases the balance of T helper cell types 1 and 2 toward T helper cell type 1. BCG vaccination mimics some characteristics of mycobacterial infection. Children who have undergone tuberculin conversion after BCG vaccination seem to be more likely to lose their atopic symptoms.