Italian translation, cultural adaptation and validation of the PedsQL™ 3.0 Diabetes Module questionnaire in children with type 1 diabetes and their parents.

Background: The PedsQL™3.0 Diabetes Module is a widely used instrument to measure the disease-specific health-related quality of life summary measures in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. After cultural adaptation, we confirmed reliability and validity of PedsQL™3.

Growth factors and metabolic markers in cord blood: relationship to birth weight and length.

Low birth weight and length for gestational age are associated with a high risk of short stature and metabolic syndrome in adulthood. The mechanisms that link prenatal growth to adult stature and metabolic syndrome have not yet been entirely clarified. The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between standardized anthropometric measures at birth and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, IGF-II, insulin, adiponectin, and non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) cord blood levels in the general population.

Plasma homocysteine in patients with retinal vein occlusion.

Purpose: To evaluate total plasma homocysteine (HCY) during fasting and post methionine load test (MLT), serum folate, serum vitamin B12, and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) mutation in patients with retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and to examine the association between these risk factors and 2 subtypes of RVO: central (CRVO) and branch (BRVO).

Methods: This case-control study included 91 Italian patients presenting a first RVO and 71 healthy subjects, matched by age, without history of thromboembolic diseases, glaucoma, or malignancy. Homocysteine fasting and after MLT, serum folate level, serum vitamin B12 level, and other laboratory tests were assessed.

In type 1 diabetes a subset of anti-coxsackievirus B4 antibodies recognize autoantigens and induce apoptosis of pancreatic beta cells.

Type 1 diabetes is characterized by autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta cells. The role played by autoantibodies directed against beta cells antigens in the pathogenesis of the disease is still unclear. Coxsackievirus B infection has been linked to the onset of type 1 diabetes; however its precise role has not been elucidated yet.