The LIFE PERSUADED project approach on phthalates and bisphenol A biomonitoring in Italian mother-child pairs linking exposure and juvenile diseases.

Phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA), plasticizers used in several products of daily life, are considered as endocrine disrupters, therefore children exposure is particularly relevant. The LIFE PERSUADED project aims to define the following: (a) the evaluation of internal levels of DEHP's metabolites and BPA in Italian children and their mothers, (b) the association of the exposure with puberty development and obesity diseases, and (c) the effects of exposure in juvenile in vivo model. The cross-sectional study has involved 2160 mother-child pairs, including males and females, children and adolescents, from urban and rural areas of North, Center, and South Italy.

The response to gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) stimulation test does not predict the progression to true precocious puberty in girls with onset of premature thelarche in the first three years of life.

Context: Premature thelarche in early childhood may evolve into true precocious puberty. The individuation of cases progressing to precocious puberty is challenging.

Objective: We analyzed the parameters predictive for progression in girls younger than 3 years.

Bone age assessment in the workup of children with endocrine disorders.

Bone age is a measure of developmental age, or physiological maturity, which represents more truthfully than chronological age, how far an individual has progressed towards full maturity. It is particularly helpful in the clinical workup of children with growth and/or puberty disorders as well as in treating decisions, such as whether to start replacement therapy in a patient with hypogonadism. Skeletal maturity assessment plays a pivotal role in confirming the diagnosis of normal variants of growth such as familial short stature and constitutional delay of growth, in interpreting hormone tests during puberty, and in the diagnosis of precocious puberty and hyperandrogenism.

Low birth weight for gestational age associates with reduced glucose concentrations at birth, infancy and childhood.

Background/aims: Our aim was to investigate glucose homeostasis, insulin sensitivity and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system status in children born small for gestational age (SGA).

Methods: A case-control study was carried out at birth, infancy and childhood, comparing SGA with children appropriate for gestational age strictly matched for age, gender, pubertal status and body mass index. Ninety newborns, 52 infants, and 68 children were studied.

Soy protein formulas in children: no hormonal effects in long-term feeding.

Recently, the finding of high plasma concentration of phyto-oestrogens in soy protein formula (SPF) fed children has focused scientific attention on the phyto-oestrogens (isoflavones genistein, daidzein, and their glycosides) contained in SPFs. The aim of this study was to evaluate some hormonal and metabolic effects of long-term (more than 6 months) SPF feeding. We enrolled 48 children, mean age 37 months (range 7-96 months), 27 males and 21 females.

Adiponectin levels are reduced in children born small for gestational age and are inversely related to postnatal catch-up growth.

Adiponectin is an adipocytokine with insulin-sensitizing and antiatherogenic properties. Reduced concentrations of adiponectin precede the onset of type 2 diabetes and the development of atherosclerosis. Our aim was to quantify adiponectin concentrations in small for gestational age (SGA) children.

Blood glucose concentrations are reduced in children born small for gestational age (SGA), and thyroid-stimulating hormone levels are increased in SGA with blunted postnatal catch-up growth.

Fetal growth restriction is associated with an increased risk of developing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in adulthood. In addition, 10-20% of children born small for gestational age (SGA) do not achieve a normal final height. The purpose of this study was to investigate insulin sensitivity and endocrine status in SGA children, compared with that in children born appropriate for gestational age (AGA).

Height velocity and IGF-I assessment in the diagnosis of childhood onset GH insufficiency: do we still need a second GH stimulation test?

Objective: The diagnosis of GH insufficiency (GHI) in childhood is not straightforward. Our aim was to test the sensitivity and specificity of height velocity (HV), IGF-I, IGFBP-3 and GH stimulation tests alone or in combination in the diagnosis of GHI.

Design: A retrospective review of patients with GHI and idiopathic short stature (ISS) diagnosed in our centre and followed up to the completion of linear growth.