Phthalates, as other endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), may alter the homeostasis and the action of hormones and signaling molecules, causing adverse health outcomes. This is true especially for ...infants, who are both more exposed and sensitive to their effects. Phthalates are particularly harmful when the exposure occurs during certain critical temporal windows of the development, such as the prenatal and the early postnatal phases. Phthalates may also interfere with the neuroendocrine systems (e.g., thyroid hormone signaling or metabolism), causing disruption of neuronal differentiation and maturation, increasing the risk of behavioral and cognitive disorders (ADHD and autistic behaviors, reduced mental, psychomotor, and IQ development, and emotional problems). Despite more studies being needed to better understand the role of these substances, plenty of evidence suggests the impact of phthalates on the neuroendocrine system development and function. This review aims to update the knowledge on the neuroendocrine consequences of neonatal and perinatal exposure to phthalates.
Puberty is the process of physical changes between childhood and adulthood during which adolescents reach sexual maturity and become capable of reproduction. It is considered one of the main temporal ...windows of susceptibility for the influence of the endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). EDCs may act as single chemical agents or as chemical mixtures; they can be pubertal influencers, accelerating and anticipating the processing of maturation of secondary sexual characteristics. Moreover, recent studies have started to point out how exposure to EDCs during puberty may predispose to breast cancer later in life. In fact, the estrogen-mimicking endocrine disruptors (EEDs) may influence breast tissue development during puberty in two main ways: the first is the action on the proliferation of the breast stromal cells, the second concerns epigenetic mechanisms. The aim of this mini-review was to better highlight what is new and what is not completely known regarding the role of EDCs during puberty.
Objectives:
The study aimed to assess and compare the global development in six-month-old infants before and during the pandemic restrictive social distancing measures.
Methods:
This cross-sectional ...nested study involved infants assessed through the Griffiths Scales of Child Development (GSCD) between September 2019 and April 2021. Infants were classified in a pre-COVID or a COVID group, considering the evaluation date and the restrictive measures in place. GSCD subscales and General Development Scores (GDS) were calculated and compared.
Results:
One hundred and four healthy term-born infants were evaluated. GDS in the COVID group (n:70; median: 94; IQR: 90–100) appeared significantly lower than in the pre-COVID group (n:34; median: 98; IQR: 97–103;
p
< 0.001). Language and personal-social-emotional subareas scores appeared the most affected. A decreasing trend of GDS along with the severity of restriction was observed.
Conclusion:
A reduction in infant development scores was observed during pandemic social distancing. Further studies are needed to systematize these findings and to address effective public health policies for infants and families during long-term forced isolation periods.
Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis activation occurs three times in life: the first is during fetal life, and has a crucial role in sex determination, the second time is during the first ...postnatal months of life, and the third is with the onset of puberty. These windows of activation recall the three windows of the "Developmental Origin of Health and Disease" (DOHaD) paradigm and may play a substantial role in several aspects of human development, such as growth, behavior, and neurodevelopment. From the second trimester of pregnancy there is a peak in gonadotropin levels, followed by a decrease toward term and complete suppression at birth. This is due to the negative feedback of placental estrogens. Studies have shown that in this prenatal HPG axis activation, gonadotropin levels display a sex-related pattern which plays a crucial role in sex differentiation of internal and external genitalia. Soon after birth, there is a new increase in LH, FSH, and sex hormone concentrations, both in males and females, due to HPG re-activation. This postnatal activation is known as "minipuberty." The HPG axis activity in infancy demonstrates a pulsatile pattern with hormone levels similar to those of true puberty. We review the studies on the changes of these hormones in infancy and their influence on several aspects of future development, from linear growth to fertility and neurobehavior.
The aim of this mini-review is to present the current knowledge on iodine requirements in developmental age, from conception to adolescence. It is based on the analysis of updated national and ...international guidelines on iodine intake and the prevention of iodine deficiency. Health policy initiatives carried out in industrialized countries in previous decades have led to a dramatic improvement in nutritional iodine status in the general population. However, the prevention of iodine deficit continues to be a concern, especially for vulnerable categories, like adolescents and pregnant women.
Phthalates are non-persistent chemicals largely used as plasticizers and considered ubiquitous pollutants with endocrine disrupting activity. The exposure during sensible temporal windows as ...pregnancy and early childhood, may influence physiological neurodevelopment.
The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between the urinary levels of phthalate metabolites in newborn and infants and the global development measured by the Griffiths Scales of Children Development (GSCD) at six months.
Longitudinal cohort study in healthy Italian term newborn and their mothers from birth to the first 6 months of life. Urine samples were collected at respectively 0 (T0), 3 (T3), 6 (T6) months, and around the delivery for mothers. Urine samples were analyzed for a total of 7 major phthalate metabolites of 5 of the most commonly used phthalates. At six months of age a global child development assessment using the third edition of the Griffith Scales of Child Development (GSCD III) was performed in 104 participants.
In a total of 387 urine samples, the seven metabolites analyzed appeared widespread and were detected in most of the urine samples collected at any time of sampling (66-100%). At six months most of the Developmental Quotients (DQs) falls in average range, except for the subscale B, which presents a DQ median score of 87 (85-95). Adjusted linear regressions between DQs and urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations in mothers at T0 and in infants at T0, T3 and T6 identified several negative associations both for infants' and mothers especially for DEHP and MBzP. Moreover, once stratified by children's sex, negative associations were found in boys while positive in girls.
Phthalates exposure is widespread, especially for not regulated compounds. Urinary phthalate metabolites were found to be associated to GSCD III scores, showing inverse association with higher phthalate levels related to lower development scores. Our data suggested differences related to the child's sex.
Aims
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) and obesity are strongly associated with cardiovascular (CV) risk and can start in the paediatric age. The CV risk profile of two groups of adolescents was compared through ...the evaluation of sAGE, IMT and known variables associated with CV risk. The first group was affected by T1D with duration of disease of at least 5 years or 3 years since puberty onset, and the second by severe obesity for more than 3 years.
Methods
A total of 116 patients were prospectively enrolled in the study (71 T1D, 33 males and 38 females; 45 obese, 18 males and 27 females), and their sAGE, IMT, waist/height ratio, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides/cholesterol HDL ratio, BMI, HbA1c and blood pressure were measured.
Results
An IMT value > 0.7 mm, cut-off value to define CV risk, was present in 28% of the obese patients and in no T1D patients. Age-adjusted sAGE and HbA1c levels were higher T1D patients, whereas a higher percentage of pathological values was present in most of the remaining studied variables. In T1D patients, there was a higher percentage of females with waist/height ratio > 0.5, LDL cholesterol > 100 mg/dL, triglycerides/HDL cholesterol ratio > 2 and BMI > 99° centile and a higher percentage of males with HbA1c > 7%. On the contrary, in obese patients there were no differences between males and females. Multiple analysis is identified BMI SDS as the only variable with a significant influence on IMT in both groups. Furthermore, it showed that HbA1c and gender affected sAGE in T1D patients, whereas only age and gender in the obese patients.
Conclusions
Our study demonstrates that our adolescents with severe obesity carry a much higher CV risk than adolescents with T1D unless in bad metabolic control. Apart from lower sAGE levels, most of the variables considered to define CV risk were higher in the obese group than in the T1D group. Gender seems to have a significant impact on sAGE levels but not on IMT.
In 1990, Gorlin et al. described four types of craniofacial duplications: (1) single mouth with duplication of the maxillary arch; (2) supernumerary mouth laterally placed with rudimentary segments; ...(3) single mouth with replication of the mandibular segments; and (4) true facial duplication, namely diprosopus. We describe a newborn born with wide-spaced eyes, a very broad nose, and two separate mouths. Workup revealed the absence of the corpus callosum and the presence of a brain midline lipoma, wide sutures, and a Chiari I malformation with cerebellar herniation. We conducted a systematic review of the literature and compared all the cases described as diprosopus. In 96% of these, the central nervous system is affected, with anencephaly being the most commonly associated abnormality. Other associated anomalies include cardiac malformations (86%), cleft palate (63%), diaphragmatic hernia (13%), and disorder of sex development (DSD) (13%). Although the facial features are those that first strike the eye, the almost obligate presence of cerebral malformations suggests a disruptive event in the cephalic pole of the forming embryo. No major monogenic contribution has been recognized today for this type of malformation.
The effectiveness of "inadequate" intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP administered < 4 h prior to delivery) in preventing early-onset sepsis (EOS) is debated. Italian prospective surveillance ...cohort data (2003-2022) were used to study the type and duration of IAP according to the timing of symptoms onset of group B streptococcus (GBS) and
culture-confirmed EOS cases. IAP was defined "active" when the pathogen yielded in cultures was susceptible. We identified 263 EOS cases (GBS = 191;
= 72). Among GBS EOS, 25% had received IAP (always active when beta-lactams were administered). Most IAP-exposed neonates with GBS were symptomatic at birth (67%) or remained asymptomatic (25%), regardless of IAP duration. Among
EOS, 60% were IAP-exposed. However, IAP was active in only 8% of cases, and these newborns remained asymptomatic or presented with symptoms prior to 6 h of life. In contrast, most newborns exposed to an "inactive" IAP (52%) developed symptoms from 1 to >48 h of life. The key element to define IAP "adequate" seems the pathogen's antimicrobial susceptibility rather than its duration. Newborns exposed to an active antimicrobial (as frequently occurs with GBS infections), who remain asymptomatic in the first 6 h of life, are likely uninfected. Because
isolates are often unsusceptible to beta-lactam antibiotics, IAP-exposed neonates frequently develop symptoms of EOS after birth, up to 48 h of life and beyond.
Benign Hereditary Chorea (BHC) (MIM 118700) is a rare childhood-onset movements disorder characterized by non-progressive chorea. It is usually caused by variants in the thyroid transcription factor ...1 (TITF-1/NKX2-1) gene and it is associated with thyroid dysfunction and pulmonary symptoms in the brain-lung-thyroid syndrome.
We reported the clinical case of a toddler presenting with neurological symptoms (hypotonia, delayed motor milestones, and axial dystonia) and subclinical hypothyroidism in which we found a '
' variant in the NKX2-1 gene.
The peculiarity of our case is that the mild alteration of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, hypotonia, and delayed motor milestones were associated with growth hormone deficiency.
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