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Objective:To observe the role of yogurt containing 2 type of Bifidobacterias in improving the intestinal comfort in children. Methods:A 4-week, single-arm, non-randomized study was conducted from October 23, 2021 to November 21, 2021, in which, healthy children aged 3-6 years in real life were provided with commercially available children′s yogurt supplemented with Bifidobacteriumlactis BL-99 and Bifidobacterium infantis YLGB-1496.The questionnaire on gastrointestinal symptoms in children and the Patient-Oriented SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (PO-SCORAD) index were used to evaluate the intestinal comfort and skin sensitivity changes at baseline, week 1, week 2, and week 4, respectively. Kruskal- Wallis rank sum test was used for comparison at different time points. Results:A total of 39 children, involving 20 boys and 19 girls with the median age of 5.0 years completed the study.There were significant differences in intestinal comfort score and PO-SCORAD scores, distribution of stool consistency and night awakening frequency at different time points (baseline, week 1, week 2 and week 4) (all P<0.05). The total score of intestinal comfort at week 2 and 4 was 12.0 (10.0, 13.0) points and 10.0 (9.0, 10.0) points, which was significantly lower than that at baseline[17.0 (15.0, 21.0) points, P<0.05]. The total score of intestinal comfort at week 4 was significantly lower than that at week 1[13.0 (11.0, 15.0)points] and week 2 (all P<0.05). At week 4, all children had an ideal stool consistency (type 3-4). At week 4, 33 (84.6%) of the children woke up 0 times, and 6 (15.4%) of the children woke up once or twice.The PO-SCORAD scores at week 1, 2 and 4 were 10.2 (6.5, 14.7) points, 8.2 (5.5, 14.2) points and 5.5 (4.5, 9.0) points, respectively, which were all significantly lower than that at baseline[18.3 (11.6, 25.3) points, all P<0.05]. The total PO-SCORAD score at week 4 was significantly lower than that at week 1 ( P<0.05). Conclusions:After eating yoghurt supplemented with Bifidobacteriumlactis BL-99 and Bifidobacterium infantis YLGB-1496 for 4 weeks, the children′s intestinal comfort and stool consistency, night awakening and skin sensitivity are improved.
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Infancy is the most critical period for the formation and development of intestinal flora, which is an important stage for the rapid succession and stable colonization of intestinal flora involved in the health and establishment and improvement of the immune system.Breast milk is rich in human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), which can effectively promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the infant intestine.It inhibits the invasion of pathogen, improves the composition of the intestinal flora, increases its diversity, and promotes the growth and development of the infant.This study mainly reviews the research status of HMOs and its influence on the infant intestinal flora.
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Objective@#To observe and compare the effects of two standards on the overweight trend in urban Shanghai infants and young children.@*Methods@#A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in 19 communities in two districts of Shanghai, and the subjects (n=15 019) were divided into S-group and W-group by sealed envelope randomization. The subjects were newborns born between November 2013 and December 2014. The 2005 Shanghai growth standard was applied in the S-group and the 2006 WHO growth standard was used in the W-group. At each follow-up time point age of 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12 and 18 months, the outpatient physician assessed the length and weight of the infants according to the standard adopted by each group and provided feeding guidance. The weight-for-age Z scores (WAZ), length-for-age Z scores (LAZ) and weight-for-length Z scores (WLZ) were calculated according to the WHO standard. Weight, length, WAZ, LAZ, WLZ and overweight ratio (WLZ≥2) were compared between the two groups using t test, Wilcoxon test and χ2 test.@*Results@#A total of 6 509 infants (3 391 were boys, 3 118 were girls) were in the W-group, and 8 510 infants (4 374 were boys, 4 136 were girls) were in the S-group. Among the boys, the weight values at the age of 4, 6, 9, 12, 18 months in the W-group were all lower than those in the S-group ((7.5±0.8) vs. (7.7±0.8) kg, (8.6±0.8) vs. (8.7±0.8) kg, (9.6±0.9) vs. (9.7±0.9) kg, (10.4±1.0) vs. (10.5±1.0) kg, (11.5±1.1) vs.(11.7±1.1) kg; t=4.329, 2.422, 3.739, 2.451, 2.736; P<0.01, 0.015,<0.01, 0.014, 0.009). The length had no significant difference between two groups at all months of age(all P>0.05). The overweight ratio in the W-group was lower than that in the S-group at the age of 9, 12, 18 months(3.3% (71/2 170) vs. 4.9% (143/2 927), 2.5% (51/2 037) vs. 4.5% (126/2 818), 0.8% (7/832) vs. 3.1% (39/1 266); χ2=6.520, 14.209, 12.350; P=0.011,<0.01,<0.01).Among the girls, except at the age of 2 months (W-group (5.6±0.6) vs. S-group (5.7±0.6), t=2.935, P=0.003), weight values had no significant difference between the two groups at other age months (all P>0.05).The length in the W-group was higher than that in the S-group at 12 and 18 months of age ((75.6±2.4) vs.(75.5±2.3)cm, (82.4±2.9) vs.(82.2±2.7) cm; t=2.351, 2.197; P=0.019, 0.028). The ratio of overweight in the W-group was lower than that of S-group at the age of 12 and 18 months (1.8% (33/1 871) vs.3.0% (80/2 658), 0.6% (5/790) vs.1.7% (20/1 178); χ2=6.764,4.276; P=0.009, 0.039).@*Conclusions@#The application of WHO growth standard can help to reduce the weight gain rate of boys, promote the linear growth of girls, and thus alleviate the overweight trend of infants within 18 months. It suggested that 2006 WHO growth standard should be applied to infants within 1 year of age in Shanghai.
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With the progress of human civilization,the harmonious development of society is gradually realized by different researchers.Medicine,as a science directly serving humans,emphasizes more on humanism than other sciences.Medical research is not only characterized by scientificity and innovativeness,but also by ethicality.More and more biomedical journals are paying attention to issues of ethics.This review discussed the ethical issues in academic medical writing based on the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals published by International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the discussions by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
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Objective To explore the relationship between infant feeding practices and infants growth,especially the weight gain for length in the first 6 months of life. Methods Two-hundred healthy full-term singlet normal birth weight 5 - 6 months old infants and their main care givers were recruited in Kongjiang community health service center in Shanghai. The questionnaires included infants feeding pattern, feeding environment and care givers feeding behaviors, and were completed on-site by investigators. The birth weight was obtained. The weight and length of infants at 6 months were measured. Results There were 70/200 (35.0%) infants overweight (BMI for age Z score>+1) at 6 months. There were more overweight boys than girls (40.0% vs. 30.9%, x2 = 1.798, P = 0.180). Compared with normal weight infants, the overweight infants had same birth weight (3.30 ± 0.35 kg vs. 3.35 ± 0.32 kg, t =1.010, P = 0.314) and same length at 6 months (67.64 ± 2.10 cm vs. 67.91 ± 1.97 cm, t=- 0.896, P = 0.371). However, the overweight infants gained much more weight for length in the first six months of life. At 6 months, the weight and BMI of overweight infants was significantly higher than that of normal weight infants (9.16 ± 0.67 vs. 7.94 ±0.64, t = 12.324, P 0.05). The grandparents played an important role in infants feeding in Shanghai. There were 39.0% infants fed only by grandparents, and 23.0% infants fed jointly by grandparents and parents (x2 = 0.175, P > 0.05).The care givers' educational level and knowledge of feeding skill were similar in overweight and normal weight infants (x2 = 0.446, t = 0.949, P > 0.05). However, the overweight infants were fed more quickly than normal weight infants (Z = 2.753, P < 0.01), and there was less language communication between care givers and overweight infants during feeding (Z = 2.932, P < 0.01). In overweight infants, the overfeeding behaviors of care givers were positively correlated with BAZ (r = 0.281, P < 0.05). Conclusions Overweight in early life is associated with some particular infants feeding behaviors of care givers in Shanghai. The long term effect of more rapid weight gain for length in the first 6 months of life on the risk of childhood obesity warranted to be further followed and researched.
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Objective: To observe the effects of dietary zinc deficiency on the apoptosis of immunocytes in 3 weeks old rats and study the underlying mechanism. Methods: A zinc-deficient growing rat model was developed. Using TUNEL(terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling) method, the apoptosis of thymocytes and spleen lymphocytes was checked. The expression of bcl-2, bax mRNA in thymus and spleen was detected by RT-PCR. Results: Compared with zinc adequate(ZA) and paired-fed(PF) groups, the percentage of apoptosis cells in thymus and spleen of zinc-deficient(ZD) rats was obviously higher, and the thymus and spleen of ZD rats had a higher expression of bax mRNA. Zinc supplementation could reverse these changes. Conclusion: Dietary zinc deficiency leads to the increase of apoptosis of lymphocytes in thymus and spleen. One important mechanism is that the thymus and spleen have higher expression of bax mRNA, which causes the decrease of bcl-2/bax ratio.
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Objective: To observe the effects of zinc deficiency on peripheral blood lymphocyte phenotypic distribution and the balance between Th1 and Th2 cells in growing rats. Methods: Two-color cytofluorometric analysis was used. Results: Compared with zinc adequate (ZA) and paired-fed (PF) groups, peripheral blood lymphocytes in zinc deficient (ZD) rats had higher percentage of CD8+ cells (cytolytic T cells), lower percentage of CD4+ cells (T helper cells) and lower percentage of CD45RA+ cells (pure B lymphocytes).In addition, zinc deficiency selectively caused reduction of Th1-like CD45RC+CD4+ cells , but Th2-like CD45RC-CD4+cells had no significant changes in weanling rats. Zinc supplementation could reverse these changes. Conclusion: Dietary zinc deficiency leads to changes of lymphocyte phenotypic distribution and the imbalance of Th1 and Th2 subsets. These changes are reversible.