Pediatric formulas: Categories, composition, and considerations.

Formulas, liquid nutrition, may be consumed orally or via a feeding tube to provide partial or complete nutrition that a given individual could not obtain using natural food stuffs in their native form. A wide range of commercially available formulas exist, which may be used as sole-source nutrition or in conjunction with other foods. Physicians and dietitians must understand the nature of and indications for specific formulas to treat diseases, provide complete nutrition to patients, and avoid harm. Products vary in macronutrient and micronutrient content and calorie concentration among many other factors. They are formulated specifically for patients of specific ages, correlating to nutritional needs and medical diagnoses. Additionally, formula availability, insurance coverage, mode of consumption, physiologic tolerance, and caregiver preference influence formula selection. Caregivers may also make their own pediatric formulas. We review commercial and homemade pediatric formulas.

Conversion of a Traditional In-Person Feeding Clinic to a Telehealth-Only Model of Care.

PURPOSE:  In March 2020, many state, local, and national governments declared various states of emergencies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Massachusetts, where our multidisciplinary pediatric feeding clinic is located, the governor declared of a state of emergency encouraging social distancing, and simultaneously signed an order establishing reimbursement parity for telehealth visits to in-office traditional visits by both commercial and state health insurers. This presented a challenge and an opportunity for our multidisciplinary program for children with pediatric feeding disorders embedded in a large academic children's hospital. In this paper we aim to provide a roadmap for rapid implementation of telehealth practice without a reliance on in-person care in a multidisciplinary pediatric feeding clinic. Description: Within a week, the program pivoted from solely in-person care to 100% telehealth services for both new and established patients. Through this transition, the program encountered several challenges with technology, scheduling, licensing, and concerns for reinforcing pre-existing healthcare disparities. ASSESSMENT:  The program quickly overcame many of these challenges and found telehealth to offer benefits to patients such as improved coordination of care with other agencies, reduced appointment times, and reduced travel time and travel cost. Even with a reduction in the number of patients seen per clinic due to the manner in which telehealth was implemented, there was an increase in the number of visits completed with a slight reduction in the no-show rate. Additionally, providers in the program are better able to evaluate feeding practices in the home and understand many of the barriers families may face in implementing interventions. While telehealth does have some challenges, it can help to improve access, communication, and may increase patient satisfaction for children who require multidisciplinary care for their pediatric feeding disorder. CONCLUSION:  Our hope is that billing parity for telehealth will continue to be supported by insurance companies and state governments throughout the remainder of this pandemic, and far beyond.

North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition Position Paper: Plant-based Milks.

Parents and caretakers are increasingly feeding infants and young children plant-based "milk" (PBM) alternatives to cow milk (CM). The US Food and Drug Administration currently defines "milk" and related milk products by the product source and the inherent nutrients provided by bovine milk. Substitution of a milk that does not provide a similar nutritional profile to CM can be deleterious to a child's nutritional status, growth, and development. Milk's contribution to the protein intake of young children is especially important. For almond or rice milk, an 8 oz serving provides only about 2% or 8%, respectively, of the protein equivalent found in a serving of CM. Adverse effects from the misuse of certain plant-based beverages have been well-documented and include failure to gain weight, decreased stature, kwashiorkor, electrolyte disorders, kidney stones, and severe nutrient deficiencies including iron deficiency anemia, rickets, and scurvy. Such adverse nutritional outcomes are largely preventable. It is the position of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) Nutrition Committee, on behalf of the society, that only appropriate commercial infant formulas be used as alternatives to human milk in the first year of life. In young children beyond the first year of life requiring a dairy-free diet, commercial formula may be a preferable alternative to cow's milk, when such formula constitutes a substantial source of otherwise absent or reduced nutrients (eg, protein, calcium, vitamin D) in the child's restricted diet. Consumer education is required to clarify that PBMs do not represent an equivalent source of such nutrients. In this position paper, we provide specific recommendations for clinical care, labelling, and needed research relative to PBMs.

Current Concepts in Pediatric Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents a spectrum of disease. Its increasing prevalence is a direct result of historically high rates of obesity. Hepatocyte lipid accumulation is the first step in a cascade of metabolic and inflammatory events thought to precipitate NAFLD. Histologic findings provide insight into these events. Lifestyle modification remains the primary therapy in children. Current recommendations include vitamin E treatment in those with biopsy-proven NASH. Trials of novel drugs are ongoing in adults. As efficacy/safety are established, these therapies may be tenable for use in children. At the current time, biopsy-driven histology endpoints are necessary to establish whether future therapies can improve pediatric or adult-type NASH in children.

A mutagenesis study of the putative luciferin binding site residues of firefly luciferase.

Firefly luciferase catalyzes the highly efficient emission of yellow-green light from substrate firefly luciferin by a sequence of reactions that require Mg-ATP and molecular oxygen. We had previously developed [Branchini, B. R., Magyar, R. A., Murtiashaw, M. H., Anderson, S. M., and Zimmer, M. (1998) Biochemistry 37, 15311-15319] a molecular graphics-based working model of the luciferase active site starting with the first X-ray structure [Conti, E., Franks, N. P., and Brick, P. (1996) Structure 4, 287-298] of the enzyme without bound substrates. In our model, the luciferin binding site contains 15 residues that are within 5 A of the substrate. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we made changes at all of these residues and report here the characterization of the corresponding expressed and purified proteins. Of the 15 residues studied, 12 had a significantly (>or=4-fold K(m) difference) altered binding affinity for luciferin and seven residues, spanning the primary sequence region Arg218-Ala348, had substantially (>or=30 nm) red-shifted bioluminescence emission maxima when mutated. We report here an interpretation of the roles of the mutated residues in substrate binding and bioluminescence color determination. The results of this study generally substantiate the accuracy of our model and provide the foundation for future experiments designed to alter the substrate specificity of firefly luciferase.