Cohort Profile Update: The Swiss Eosinophilic Esophagitis Cohort Study (SEECS).

Introduction: The Swiss Eosinophilic Esophagitis Cohort Study (SEECS) is a national cohort that was established in 2015 with the aim of improving quality of care of affected adults with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Between 2020 and 2022, paper questionnaires were gradually replaced by fully electronic data capture using Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) software. We aim to provide an update of the SEECS 8 years after its launch.

Odynophagia and Retrosternal Pain Are Common in Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Associated with an Increased Overall Symptom Severity.

Background And Aims: Dysphagia is the hallmark symptom in eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). However, data are limited regarding the overall prevalence and potential implications of atypical symptoms like odynophagia and retrosternal pain.

Methods: Patients enrolled into the Swiss EoE cohort study (SEECS) were analyzed regarding the presence of odynophagia and retrosternal pain.

Sex Hormone Treatment for Female Children and Young Adults with Disorders Affecting Hypothalamic, Pituitary, and Ovarian Function.

Background: Normal hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) endocrine function is essential for female pubertal and psychosocial development and for ongoing adult physical, sexual, and psychosocial health. Girls with hypogonadism, any endocrine disorder causing abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) or with contraception needs may require sex hormone treatment. Challenges include evolving needs of a young girl through the course of sexual maturation, potential health risks related to the use of sex hormones for pubertal induction, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), menstrual management, and/or contraception.

Increased innate immune responses in adolescents with obesity and its relation to subclinical cardiovascular measures: An exploratory study.

Cardiometabolic risk accrues across the life course and childhood and adolescence are key periods for effective prevention. Obesity is associated with inflammation in adults, but pediatric data are scarce. In a cross-sectional and longitudinal study, we investigated immune cell composition and activation in 31 adolescents with obesity (41.

DXA-based Fat Mass With Risk of Worsening Insulin Resistance in Adolescents: A 9-Year Temporal and Mediation Study.

Context: Surrogate measures of childhood and adolescent obesity have impaired the understanding of the relationship of body composition with insulin resistance in the young population.

Objective: We aim to examine the longitudinal associations of directly measured total fat mass, trunk fat mass, and lean mass with the risk of hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and insulin resistance from ages 15 to 24 years, the mediation path through which lipids and inflammation influence insulin resistance, and whether increased fat mass temporally precede insulin resistance.

Methods: We studied 3160 adolescents from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), UK birth cohort, who had complete dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry measure and fasting blood samples at age 15 years and repeated measures at ages 17- and 24-years clinic visit.

Utility of gastroscopy in the left lateral semi-recumbent position: A blood-free coup!

The utility of esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) in the left lateral semi-recumbent position in the setting of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) with a persistent fundal pool of blood for adequate visualization and effective endotherapy has not been studied. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, efficacy, and safety of this position in such settings. A prospective study of patients presenting with acute UGIB with an uncleared fundal pool of blood was conducted.

Histological Phenotyping in Eosinophilic Esophagitis: Localized Proximal Disease Is Infrequent but Associated with Less Severe Disease and Better Disease Outcome.

Introduction: It is still unknown whether eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) patients with localized disease are different from those with extended disease.

Methods: We evaluated prospectively included patients in the Swiss EoE cohort. Data on all patients with active disease at baseline, no concomitant gastroesophageal reflux disease, no strictures at baseline, and at least one follow-up visit were analyzed.

Evidence for the protein leverage hypothesis in preschool children prone to obesity.

Background & Aims: The protein leverage hypothesis (PLH) proposed that strict regulation of protein intake drives energy overconsumption and obesity when diets are diluted by fat and/or carbohydrates. Evidence about the PLH has been found in adults, while studies in children are limited. Thus, we aimed to test the PLH by assessing the role of dietary protein on macronutrients, energy intake, and obesity risk using data from preschool children followed for 1.

Change in adiposity is associated with change in glycoprotein acetyls but not hsCRP in adolescents with severe obesity.

Background: Obesity-associated chronic inflammation mediates the development of adverse cardiometabolic outcomes. There are sparse data on associations between severe obesity and inflammatory biomarkers in adolescence; most are cross-sectional and limited to acute phase reactants. Here, we investigate associations between adiposity measures and inflammatory biomarkers in children and adolescents with severe obesity both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.

Barrett's Esophagus in Eosinophilic Esophagitis in Swiss Eosinophilic Esophagitis Cohort Study (SEECS).

Introduction: There is a complex interrelationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) potentially promoting the occurrence and modulating severity of each other reciprocally. Presence of Barrett's esophagus (BE) is a defining factor for the diagnosis of GERD. While several studies investigated the potential impact of concomitant GERD on the presentation and course of EoE, little was known with regards to BE in EoE patients.

Evidence for protein leverage in a general population sample of children and adolescents.

Background/objectives: The strong regulation of protein intake can lead to overconsumption of total energy on diets with a low proportion of energy from protein, a process referred to as protein leverage. The protein leverage hypothesis posits that protein leverage explains variation in energy intake and potentially obesity in ecological settings. Here, we tested for protein leverage and the protein leverage hypothesis in children and adolescents.

Diagnostic Delay in Patients With Eosinophilic Esophagitis Has Not Changed Since the First Description 30 Years Ago: Diagnostic Delay in Eosinophilic Esophagitis.

Introduction: Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic progressive disease. Diagnostic delay (DD) is associated with increased risk of esophageal strictures and food impactions. We aimed to assess the evolution of DD since the first description of EoE in 1993 until 2021.

Decreasing severity of obesity from early to late adolescence and young adulthood associates with longitudinal metabolomic changes implicated in lower cardiometabolic disease risk.

Background: Obesity in childhood is associated with metabolic dysfunction, adverse subclinical cardiovascular phenotypes and adult cardiovascular disease. Longitudinal studies of youth with obesity investigating changes in severity of obesity with metabolomic profiles are sparse. We investigated associations between (i) baseline body mass index (BMI) and follow-up metabolomic profiles; (ii) change in BMI with follow-up metabolomic profiles; and (iii) change in BMI with change in metabolomic profiles (mean interval 5.

Impact of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus on Bone Health in Children.

This paper gives an overview of the impact of type 1 diabetes on bone health in children and adolescents. Firstly, we analyse studies using dual X-ray absorptiometry to assess bone mineral content and bone mineral density. Then, we discuss modern, non-invasive techniques including peripheral quantitative computer tomography (pQCT) and high-resolution pQCT for the detailed assessment of bone health aspects including bone mass, bone geometry, bone microarchitecture, and bone strength.

Sex Impacts Disease Activity But Not Symptoms or Quality of Life in Adults With Eosinophilic Esophagitis.

Background: Eosinophilic esophagitis has a strong male predominance that appears at least partially due to genetic susceptibility. However, data regarding sex-related differences in patients with EoE are scarce.

Methods: We analyzed prospectively collected data from adults enrolled into the Swiss Eosinophilic Esophagitis Cohort Study.

The international Perinatal Outcomes in the Pandemic (iPOP) study: protocol.

Preterm birth is the leading cause of infant death worldwide, but the causes of preterm birth are largely unknown. During the early COVID-19 lockdowns, dramatic reductions in preterm birth were reported; however, these trends may be offset by increases in stillbirth rates. It is important to study these trends globally as the pandemic continues, and to understand the underlying cause(s).

Modest decrease in severity of obesity in adolescence associates with low arterial stiffness.

Background And Aims: Childhood obesity is associated with cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF), subclinical cardiovascular phenotypes (carotid intima-media thickness, cIMT; pulse-wave velocity, PWV; and carotid elasticity), and adult cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. In youth with obesity (body mass index, BMI ≥95th centile), we investigated associations between changes in adiposity and CVRF in early adolescence and subclinical cardiovascular phenotypes in late adolescence.

Methods: Participants had adiposity measures (the severity of obesity in percentage >95th BMI-centile (%>95th BMI-centile)), waist circumference (WC), percentage total body fat (%BF) and CVRF (systolic blood pressure, SBP; glycoprotein acetyls, GlycA; and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) assessed in early (mean age 10.

Diabetes and Overweight/Obesity Are Independent, Nonadditive Risk Factors for In-Hospital Severity of COVID-19: An International, Multicenter Retrospective Meta-analysis.

Objective: Obesity is an established risk factor for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but the contribution of overweight and/or diabetes remains unclear. In a multicenter, international study, we investigated if overweight, obesity, and diabetes were independently associated with COVID-19 severity and whether the BMI-associated risk was increased among those with diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: We retrospectively extracted data from health care records and regional databases of hospitalized adult patients with COVID-19 from 18 sites in 11 countries.

Performance of a real-time PCR approach for diagnosing Schistosoma haematobium infections of different intensity in urine samples from Zanzibar.

Background: Efforts to control and eliminate schistosomiasis have accelerated over the past decade. As parasite burden, associated morbidity and egg excretion decrease, diagnosis with standard parasitological methods becomes harder. We assessed the robustness and performance of a real-time PCR (qPCR) approach in comparison with urine filtration microscopy and reagent strip testing for the diagnosis of Schistosoma haematobium infections of different intensities.

Lower grip strength in youth with obesity identifies those with increased cardiometabolic risk.

Background: We examined whether grip strength differentiates youth with obesity with increased cardiometabolic risk.

Methods: The sample comprised 43 youth with severe obesity (mean age 14.8, standard deviation 3.

Trained Immunity: Linking Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease across the Life-Course?

Obesity, a chronic inflammatory disease, is the most prevalent modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The mechanisms underlying inflammation in obesity are incompletely understood. Recent developments have challenged the dogma of immunological memory occurring exclusively in the adaptive immune system and show that the innate immune system has potential to be reprogrammed.

Evidence for Protein Leverage in Children and Adolescents with Obesity.

Objective: The aim of this study was to test the protein leverage hypothesis in a cohort of youth with obesity.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in a cohort of youth with obesity attending a tertiary weight management service. Validated food questionnaires revealed total energy intake (TEI) and percentage of energy intake from carbohydrates (%EC), fats (%EF), and proteins (%EP).