[Review on the use of complementary medicine in pediatrics: an interregional study].

Aim: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has not been widely studied among children in Italy. ISTAT-2005 survey showed a prevalence of 10% of children treated with CAM. Most of other contributes were related to Northern populations.

Resistin and leptin in breast milk and infants in early life.

Background: The role of adipokines in early life is considered an emerging topic issue in nutritional researches.

Aims: To evaluate serum resistin and leptin concentrations and their relations in infants and in breast milk.

Study Design: We enrolled 41 term, AGA, healthy infants, of which 23 exclusively breast-fed (BF) and 18 formula-fed (FF), aged less than 6 months.

Breast milk hormones and regulation of glucose homeostasis.

Growing evidence suggests that a complex relationship exists between the central nervous system and peripheral organs involved in energy homeostasis. It consists in the balance between food intake and energy expenditure and includes the regulation of nutrient levels in storage organs, as well as in blood, in particular blood glucose. Therefore, food intake, energy expenditure, and glucose homeostasis are strictly connected to each other.

Antagonistic effect of Lactobacillus strains against gas-producing coliforms isolated from colicky infants.

Background: Infantile colic is a common disturb within the first 3 months of life, nevertheless the pathogenesis is incompletely understood and treatment remains an open issue. Intestinal gas production is thought to be one of the causes of abdominal discomfort in infants suffering from colic. However, data about the role of the amount of gas produced by infants' colonic microbiota and the correlation with the onset of colic symptoms are scanty.

Assay of ghrelin concentration in infant formulas and breast milk.

Aim: To test if total ghrelin is present in infant formulas.

Methods: Using a radioimmunoassay, we measured total ghrelin concentrations in 19 samples of commercial infant formulas and in 20 samples of human milk. We also determined ghrelin concentration in the serum of infants and lactating mothers.

Bone mineral status in breast-fed infants: influence of vitamin D supplementation.

Background/objectives: To assess bone status using quantitative ultrasound (QUS) applied to the second metacarpus and to evaluate the influence of vitamin D supplementation on bone mineralization in exclusively breast-fed infants.

Subjects/methods: Seventy seven healthy exclusively breast-fed infants aged < 12 months underwent QUS evaluation with QUS DBM Sonic Aurora IGEA (MO, Italy), which measures speed of sound (mcSoS) and bone transmission time (mcBTT). Z-scores for age and length were also considered.

Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 in infantile colic: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Objective: To test the efficacy of Lactobacillus reuteri on infantile colic and to evaluate its relationship to the gut microbiota.

Study Design: Fifty exclusively breastfed colicky infants, diagnosed according to modified Wessel's criteria, were randomly assigned to receive either L reuteri DSM 17 938 (10(8) colony-forming units) or placebo daily for 21 days. Parental questionnaires monitored daily crying time and adverse effects.

Evaluation of leptin in breast milk, lactating mothers and their infants.

Background/objectives: Leptin is present in human milk, but it is not clear what the relationship between breast milk (BM) leptin levels and maternal and infant serum leptin concentrations is. The objective of this study was to evaluate the leptin concentration in BM and to investigate its relationship with infants' and mothers' anthropometric parameters and with serum leptin concentration in breast-fed (BF) infants and lactating mothers.

Subjects/methods: We enrolled 36 adequate for gestational age healthy, exclusively BF, term infants aged <6 months.

Breast milk hormones and their protective effect on obesity.

Data accumulated over recent years have significantly advanced our understanding of growth factors, cytokines, and hormones in breast milk. Here we deal with leptin, adiponectin, IGF-I, ghrelin, and the more recently discovered hormones, obestatin, and resistin, which are present in breast milk and involved in food intake regulation and energy balance. Little is known about these compounds in infant milk formulas.

High faecal calprotectin levels in healthy, exclusively breast-fed infants.

Background: Faecal calprotectin has been proposed as a sensitive marker for gastrointestinal inflammation in children and adults. High levels have been reported in healthy newborns and during the first months of life; the effect of the kind of feeding on the calprotectin concentration in stools is controversial.

Objective: To evaluate faecal calprotectin values in healthy, exclusively breast-fed (BF) or formula-fed (FF) infants.

Can hormones contained in mothers' milk account for the beneficial effect of breast-feeding on obesity in children?

Nutrition and growth during infancy are an emerging issue because of their potential link to metabolic health disorders in later life. Moreover, prolonged breast-feeding appears to be associated with a lower risk of obesity than formula feeding. Human milk is a source of various hormones and growth factors, namely adipokines (leptin and adiponectin), ghrelin, resistin and obestatin, which are involved in food intake regulation and energy balance.

Looking for a relation between serum leptin concentration and body composition parameters in healthy term infants in the first 6 months of life.

We carried out a cross-sectional study of 115 healthy infants, younger than 6 months old, exclusively breast-fed or formula-fed, to investigate correlations between circulating leptin concentrations and body composition measurements. Serum leptin was evaluated with radioimmunoassay, and body composition with bioelectrical impedance analysis. Multiple regression analysis showed a relationship between serum leptin and body mass index in the entire study population (P = 0.

Serum ghrelin concentration, fasting time and feeding in infants.

Background: Data on hormonal feeding control in infants in the first months of life according to the kind of feeding are scanty.

Aim: To evaluate whether serum ghrelin could be involved in feeding behaviour control of breast-fed (BF) and formula fed (FF) infants.

Methods: We studied 50 AGA healthy term infants aged 1-6 months of age.

Lactobacillus reuteri (American Type Culture Collection Strain 55730) versus simethicone in the treatment of infantile colic: a prospective randomized study.

Objective: The goal was to test the hypothesis that oral administration of Lactobacillus reuteri in a prospective randomized study would improve symptoms of infantile colic.

Methods: Ninety breastfed colicky infants were assigned randomly to receive either the probiotic L. reuteri (10(8) live bacteria per day) or simethicone (60 mg/day) each day for 28 days.

Ghrelin, motilin, insulin concentration in healthy infants in the first months of life: relation to fasting time and anthropometry.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate: (i) the relation between fasting time and serum ghrelin, motilin and insulin concentrations and (ii) the correlations between these hormones and anthropometrical parameters of infants in the first 18 months of life.

Patient And Methods: A cross-sectional study on 62 term infants was performed. Blood samples for hormonal assay were obtained at least 1 h after feeding.

Ghrelin and motilin concentration in colicky infants.

Aim: To evaluate serum ghrelin and motilin concentration in infants with infantile colic.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted on fasting blood venous samples obtained from 18 infants with infantile colic and 20 healthy infants to measure ghrelin (RIA test) and motilin (RIA test).

Results: Colicky infants showed higher ghrelin serum levels (2534.

Reduction of crying episodes owing to infantile colic: A randomized controlled study on the efficacy of a new infant formula.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy on crying episodes owing to infantile colic of a new infant formula containing partially hydrolysed whey proteins, prebiotic oligosaccharides (OS), with a high beta-palmitic acid content.

Design: Prospective randomized controlled study.

Setting: Italy.

Maternal BMI and serum leptin concentration of infants in the first year of life.

Aim: To evaluate the relationship between serum leptin concentration in infants and infant and maternal BMI.

Methods: 75 healthy term infants aged 0-12 mo, 51 exclusively breastfed (BF) for at least 4 mo and 24 formula fed (FF), were included in a cross-sectional study. Weight, length and cranial circumference of infants and their mothers were measured, body mass index (BMI) was calculated using the formula weight (kg)/height (m2) and infant serum leptin concentration was determined.

Phenotype resembling Donnai-Barrow syndrome in a patient with 9qter;16qter unbalanced translocation.

We describe a 3-year-old boy with complete agenesis of corpus callosum, developmental delay/mental retardation, anterior diaphragmatic hernia, Morgagni type, severe hypermetropia, and facial dysmorphism suggesting the diagnosis of Donnai-Barrow syndrome. Subtelomeric FISH analysis revealed a paternally-derived t(9;16) (q34.3;q24.

Serum ghrelin concentration and weight gain in healthy term infants in the first year of life.

Objectives: Ghrelin, a recently discovered hormone mainly secreted by the stomach, has several metabolic functions including regulation of food intake, energy homeostasis and body weight. There are few studies on this hormone in healthy infants during the first year of life. The aim of this study was to examine the correlations between ghrelin and weight gain in healthy term infants in the first year of life.

A prospective 10-year study on children who had severe infantile colic.

Aim: To evaluate the association between infantile colic and gastrointestinal, allergic and psychological disorders in childhood.

Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 103 infants aged 31-87 d. After 10 y, between 2001 and 2003, the children were recalled and a paediatrician evaluated the selected disorders by anamnesis, medical examination, laboratory tests and parent interviews.

Advances in the management of digestive problems during the first months of life.

Unlabelled: A study was carried out on 168 full-term infants with digestive problems such as regurgitation and/or constipation to evaluate the efficacy of new infant formulas containing partially hydrolysed whey protein, modified vegetable oil with a high beta-palmitic acid content, prebiotic oligosaccharides and starch. Infants receiving the new formulas had an increase in stool frequency of 0.60 between day 1 and day 7 (95% CI 0.

Z-score of weight for age of infants with atopic dermatitis and cow's milk allergy fed with a rice-hydrolysate formula during the first two years of life.

Background: Recently, rice-based formulas have been widely used in hypoallergenic diets, but data on nutritional values are scarce.

Aim: To evaluate the growth of infants fed with a rice-based hydrolysate formula, compared to those infants fed with a soy formula or an extensively hydrolysed casein formula, in the first 2 y of life.

Methods: A total of 88 infants were enrolled between March 2002 and March 2004.