Comorbid asthma is associated with rhinitis severity in children exposed to air pollutants.

Background: The impact of asthma on the severity of rhinitis when children with allergic rhinitis (AR) are exposed to air pollutants has not been studied.

Methods: Children with AR (65 with asthma, 208 without asthma), aged 6-13 years, were recruited from a hospital in Taichung, Taiwan, between 2007 and 2011. Correlations between Pediatric-Rhinoconjunctivitis-Quality-of-Life score, nasal peak expiratory flow, and air pollutants were compared.

Allergic rhinitis children with obesity are more vulnerable to air pollution: a cross sectional study.

The association between air pollution, allergic rhinitis (AR), and obesity has not been studied. From 2007 to 2011, 52 obese and 152 non-obese children (7-17 years old) with AR were recruited. Pediatric-Rhinoconjunctivitis-Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (PRQLQ) and nasal peak expiratory flow (NPEF) were tested.

Lactobacillus Attenuate the Progression of Pancreatic Cancer Promoted by Porphyromonas Gingivalis in Transgenic Mice.

Accumulating evidence suggests that there is a link between the host microbiome and pancreatic carcinogenesis, and that increases the risk of developing pancreatic cancer. The aim of the current study was to clarify the role of in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer and the potential immune modulatory effects of probiotics. The six-week-old LSL-K-rasG12D; Pdx-1-cre (KC) mice smeared P.

The synergistic tumor growth-inhibitory effect of probiotic Lactobacillus on transgenic mouse model of pancreatic cancer treated with gemcitabine.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal and chemo-resistant cancers worldwide. Growing evidence supports the theory that the gut microbiota plays an essential role in modulating the host response to anti-cancer therapy. The present study aimed to explore the effect of probiotics as an adjuvant during chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer.

Early Gut Microbiota Changes in Preterm Infants with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: A Pilot Case-Control Study.

Objective: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a complex chronic lung disease that primarily affects premature or critically ill infants. This pilot study investigated early changes in gut microbiota composition in BPD patients and explored the potential risk factors associated with these changes.

Study Design: Preterm infants admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit with a gestational age of 26 to 32 weeks were prospectively surveyed and eligible for stool collection on days 7 and 28 of postnatal age between February 2016 and June 2017.

The Risk of Developing Constipation After Neonatal Necrotizing Enterocolitis.

Neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a complex and lethal inflammatory bowel necrosis that primarily affects premature infants. Gut dysbiosis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of NEC. We aim to assess the association between NEC and two other diseases in children, including allergic diseases and constipation, considered to be associated with the alterations in gut microbiota composition.

Minimally invasive surfactant therapy versus intubation for surfactant administration in very low birth weight infants with respiratory distress syndrome.

Background: Minimally invasive surfactant therapy (MIST) is a new mode of surfactant administration without intubation to spontaneously breathing preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). The aims of this study were to assess the feasibility, efficacy and safety of using MIST to give surfactant for very low birth weight (VLBW) infants with RDS.

Methods: In total, 53 VLBW infants who were born before 32 gestational weeks with spontaneous breathing, respiratory distress, and requiring surfactant therapy were divided into two groups.

Association between allergic disease, sleep-disordered breathing, and childhood nocturnal enuresis: a population-based case-control study.

Background: Little is known about the associations between allergic disease, sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), and childhood nocturnal enuresis (NE). We examined whether allergic disease and SDB were associated with childhood NE.

Methods: Data were assessed from the 2007-2012 Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database.

Impact of Sjogren's syndrome on Parkinson's disease: A nationwide case-control study.

Objective: To investigate whether Sjogren's syndrome would have an influence on the development of Parkinson's disease.

Methods: A population-based case-control study was conducted. Participants consisted of 7716 subjects with newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease and a population of 75129 matched control subjects between 2000 and 2010.

Antimicrobial Resistance and Diagnostic Imaging in Infants Younger Than 2 Months Old Hospitalized With a First Febrile Urinary Tract Infection: A Population-based Comparative Study.

Background: Data on urinary tract infection (UTI) in infants ≤2 months of age are limited. We examined clinical characteristics, antimicrobial resistance, imaging findings and clinical outcomes in infants ≤2 months of age and children 2-24 months of age hospitalized with the first febrile UTI.

Methods: Children ≤24 months of age hospitalized with their first-diagnosed febrile UTI were prospectively studied.

Faecal calprotectin as a novel biomarker for differentiating between inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome.

The present study aimed to investigate faecal calprotectin as a diagnostic marker to differentiate between patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and those with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). A total of 20 healthy control subjects, 26 patients with IBS and 58 patients with IBD, including 22 with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 36 with Crohn's disease (CD), were recruited for the present study. Calprotectin was analysed in stool samples, and C-reactive protein (CRP) and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were assessed in blood samples.

Clinical characteristics and outcome in norovirus gastroenteritis.

Objective: To examine differences in clinical characteristics among children with norovirus, rotavirus, and bacterial gastroenteritis and investigate the outcomes in children with sporadic norovirus gastroenteritis.

Methods: The study included patients aged 4 mo to 14 y who had acute gastroenteritis and were admitted to a tertiary care center between April 2008 and July 2009. The clinical features and laboratory findings of acute gastroenteritis were recorded.

Association between the growth rate of renal cysts/angiomyolipomas and age in the patients with tuberous sclerosis complex.

Purpose: Renal manifestations of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) occur with a high frequency and a wide range of severity. The onset and complications of each affected organ depend on the age. This study aimed to investigate the associations between comorbidities, frequency, and size of cysts/angiomyolipomas of TSC and the patients in the different ages.

Neurological images and the predictors for neurological sequelae of epidemic herpangina/hand-foot-mouth disease with encephalomyelitis.

Since 1998 in Taiwan, enterovirus (EV) 71 epidemics have caused encephalomyelitis and placed a significant burden on parents and physicians. In this study, we present clinical manifestations, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings, and neurological sequelae on epidemic EV-infected patients with encephalomyelitis. Of the 46 patients, 14 patients presented with neurological sequelae; of them, 3 patients suffered from complications of mental regression.

The significance of serum and fecal levels of interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 in hospitalized children with acute rotavirus and norovirus gastroenteritis.

Background: Rotavirus and norovirus are the most common known causes of viral gastroenteritis in children. This study examined the association between serum interleukin 6 (IL-6) and interleukin 8 (IL-8) levels and disease severity in the acute phase of rotavirus and norovirus gastroenteritis in children, and it also explored the role of fecal cytokine levels in children with viral and bacterial gastroenteritis.

Methods: This prospective study enrolled patients aged 4 months to 14 years admitted with acute gastroenteritis in a tertiary care center.

Tuberous sclerosis complex associated with heterotopic ossification in a young girl.

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a multisystem disorder resulting in hamartomatous lesions. Despite diverse manifestations, skeletal muscular comorbidity is rarely reported in TSC. We report a 2-year-old girl with TSC who suffered from multiple subcutaneous masses over the paraspinal and bilateral scapular areas, which caused disabling pain on any passive movement.

Normal uricemia in Lesch-Nyhan syndrome and the association with pulmonary embolism in a young child-a case report and literature review.

Deficiency of hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase activity is a rare inborn error of purine metabolism with subsequent uric acid overproduction and neurologic presentations. The diagnosis of Lesch-Nyhan syndrome (LNS) is frequently delayed until self-mutilation becomes evident. We report the case of a boy aged 1 year and 10 months who was diagnosed with profound global developmental delay, persistent chorea, and compulsive self-mutilation since the age of 1 year.

Role of procalcitonin in predicting dilating vesicoureteral reflux in young children hospitalized with a first febrile urinary tract infection.

Objective: The aim of this article was to assess the usefulness of procalcitonin (PCT) as a marker for predicting dilating (grades III-V) vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in young children with a first febrile urinary tract infection.

Methods: Children ≤2 years of age with a first febrile urinary tract infection were prospectively evaluated. Serum samples were tested for PCT at the time of admission to a tertiary hospital.

Acute 99mTc DMSA scan predicts dilating vesicoureteral reflux in young children with a first febrile urinary tract infection: a population-based cohort study.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the ability of acute (99m)Tc DMSA scan for predicting dilating (grades III-V) vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) after a first febrile urinary tract infection in children aged 2 years or younger.

Patients And Methods: All children underwent ultrasonography (US), (99m)Tc DMSA scan, and voiding cystourethrography. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, likelihood ratios, and receiver operating characteristic curves were performed to assess the diagnostic accuracy for predicting dilating VUR.