Epidemiology of Fungal Colonization in Children Treated at the Department of Oncology and Hematology: Single-Center Experience.

Oncological patients are especially predisposed to fungal infections due to multiple risk factors and immunocompromising treatment. Epidemiological research regarding pediatric oncologic patients is still insufficient, and existing data are difficult to generalize on different populations. Therefore, we aimed to analyze fungal infections and fungal epidemiology in the Department of Oncology and Hematology of the University Children's Hospital in Krakow with help from the Clinical Microbiology Department. During the chosen period of 2005 and 2015-2020, 2342 tests were performed in our ward on 847 patients. Analyzed samples were divided into five source groups. The amount of patients with positive test results was 62.5%. The year with the highest detection level was 2005. The most frequent pathogen was Candida albicans, with a significant decrease in tendency. An increase in non-albicans species was observed. Candida parapsilosis was not frequently observed compared to similar studies. We noticed an increase in positive results from the urinary tract material. Our results confirmed that fungal infections are still an issue, and they may indicate the efficacy of prophylaxis. The majority of our results are consistent with the literature, yet we managed to emphasize data unique to our patients' population. Our findings are helpful in clinical work and for further studies in our center.

Fungal Infection Testing in Pediatric Intensive Care Units-A Single Center Experience.

Mycoses are diseases caused by fungi that involve different parts of the body and can generate dangerous treatment complications. This study aims to analyze fungal infection epidemiology in intensive care units (Pediatric and Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Units-PCICU) and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in one large pediatric center in the period 2015-2020 compared with 2005. The year 2005 was randomly selected as a historical time reference to notice possible changes. In 2005 and 2015-2020, 23,334 mycological tests were performed in intensive care units. A total of 4628 tests (19.8%) were performed in the intensive care units. Microbiological diagnostics involved mycological and serological testing. Of the 458 children hospitalized in the NICU, positive results in the mycological tests in the studied years were found in 21-27% of the children and out of 1056 PCICU patients, positive results were noticed in 18-29%. In both departments, the main detected pathogen was Candida albicans which is comparable with data published in other centers. Our experience indicates that blood cultures as well as the detection of antifungal antibodies do not add important information to mycological diagnostics. For the years of observation, only a few positive results were detected, even in patients with invasive fungal diseases. To our knowledge, this is one of a few similar studies over recent years and it provides contemporary reports of mycoses in pediatric ICU patients.

The Insight into Insulin-Like Growth Factors and Insulin-Like Growth-Factor-Binding Proteins and Metabolic Profile in Pediatric Obesity.

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and insulin-like growth-factor-binding proteins (IGFBPs) regulate cell proliferation and differentiation and may be of importance in obesity development. The aim of the study was to analyze the expression of chosen IGF-axis genes and the concentration of their protein products in 28 obese children (OB) and 34 healthy control (HC), and their correlation with essential parameters associated with childhood obesity. The gene expression of IGFBP7 was higher, and the expression of IGF2 and IGFBP1 genes was lower in the OB. The expression of IGFBP6 tended to be lower in OB. IGFBP4 concentration was significantly higher, and IGFBP3 tended to be higher in the OB compared to the HC, while IGFBP1, IGFBP2, and IGFBP6 were significantly lower, and IGFBP7 tended to be lower in OB. We found numerous correlations between IGFs and IGFBP concentration and obesity metabolic parameters. IGFBP6 correlated positively with apelin, cholecystokinin, glucagone-like peptide-1, and leptin receptor. These peptides were also significantly lower in obese children in our study. The biological role of decreased levels of IGFBP6 in obese children needs further investigation.

Is vitamin D concentration an indicator of the severity of atopic dermatitis and chronic spontaneous urticaria in adults?

Atopic dermatitis (AD) and chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) are common chronic and recurrent dermatoses. The role of vitamin D in the immunological processes, including the development of inflammation, has been the subject of numerous studies. The feasible measurement of vitamin D serum concentration and possibly supplementation necessitates the assessment of its impact on the clinical severity of mentioned diseases. AIM: The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between blood serum vitamin D concentration and the severity of clinical symptoms in the group of adults suffering from AD or CSU. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted in 2018 on groups of patients suffering from AD or CSU. Serum vitamin D concentration was determined by electrochemiluminescence assay. Student's t-test was adopted to compare vitamin D levels between groups. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to assess the correlation between vitamin D concentration and the severity of AD (according to the SCORAD scale) and CSU (according to the UAS 7 scale). RESULTS: There was not found any statistically significant relationship between the severity of skin lesions scores in the course of AD and CSU and serum vitamin D concentration.