Association of interleukin-10 gene promoter polymorphisms with susceptibility to acute pyelonephritis in children.

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a potent inhibitor of leukocyte chemotaxis, bacterial killing in phagocytes and synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, and recent studies have suggested an important role for this immunoregulatory cytokine in the pathogenesis of urinary tract infections (UTIs). Therefore, the gene encoding IL-10 (IL10) is an attractive candidate for association studies attempting to identify susceptibility genes conferring risk of UTIs. In this case-control study, we aimed to investigate the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter region of IL10 with acute pyelonephritis in the Slovak population.

Aetiology, antifungal susceptibility, risk factors and outcome in 201 fungaemic children: data from a 12-year prospective national study from Slovakia.

A total of 201 cases of fungaemia in children in a 12-year national survey from seven University Paediatric Clinics in Slovakia in 1990-2001 was assessed to determine risk factors, therapy and outcome, and to compare those cases with fungaemia in 130 adult cancer patients studied in a similar survey. Four univariate analyses were performed to assess differences in aetiology, antifungal susceptibility and outcome between fungaemia in neonates and paediatric intensive care unit (ICU) patients as well as between paediatric and adult cancer patients with fungaemia. There was a significant difference in aetiology and antifungal susceptibility between the subgroups of children with fungaemia: 83.