ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the endogenous vitamin D level and its correlation with bone mineral density (BMD) in children under 7 years old. METHODS: Totally 6 838 children who visited the Growth and Development Clinic due to "growth retardation, night terrors, hyperhidrosis, and dysphoria" were enrolled in the study. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] level was measured by chemiluminescence, whereas individual BMD was measured by quantitative ultrasound. RESULTS: Among all subjects, serum 25(OH)D level was 34 ± 14 ng/mL, and the Z value of BMD was -0.49 ± 0.54. With increasing age, serum 25(OH)D level and BMD decreased gradually (P<0.01), and the detection rates for vitamin D deficiency and low BMD increased gradually (P<0.01). Compared with those with sufficient vitamin D, children with vitamin D deficiency had a significantly lower BMD (P<0.01) and a significantly higher detection rate for low BMD (P<0.01). 25-(OH)D level showed a positive linear correlation with BMD in children with vitamin D deficiency (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Preschool and school-age children have severer vitamin D deficiency than infants. Vitamin D level may be correlated with BMD within a certain range.
Subject(s)
Bone Density , Vitamin D/analogs & derivatives , Child , Child, Preschool , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Vitamin D/blood , Vitamin D Deficiency/epidemiologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Obestatin and ghrelin both have effects on the hypothalamus which controls food intake. We hypothesize that the circulating levels of obestatin and ghrelin may change after a meal and might be different between obesity and anorexia, which might be relevant to anorexia or obesity. METHOD: Fifteen children with obesity, 25 children with anorexia and 17 normal-weight healthy controls were enrolled in the study. The preprandial and postprandial glucose, insulin, total ghrelin and obestatin tests were completed in the three groups. The values of these indices were compared. RESULTS: The obesity group had the highest values for BMI and fasting glucose (p < 0.001), while the anorexia group had the highest values for obestatin and ghrelin, followed by the control and obesity groups. No differences in ratios of ghrelin to obestatin were found between the anorexia and obesity groups (p > 0.05), but both were higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05). BMI was negatively correlated with preprandial obestatin (r = -0.8413, p < 0.001) and ghrelin (r = -0.7400, p < 0.001), but showed no significant correlations with the ghrelin-to-obestatin ratio. CONCLUSION: Although there is still controversy between the present and previous studies, the present study show that levels of obestatin and ghrelin are inversely correlated with BMI.
Subject(s)
Anorexia/blood , Eating , Ghrelin/blood , Obesity/blood , Anorexia/physiopathology , Body Mass Index , Child , Child, Preschool , Fasting , Female , Humans , Male , Obesity/physiopathology , Postprandial PeriodABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To discuss the diagnostic value of English, Chinese and Japanese standards of TW2 to skeletal age assessment of children with central precocious puberty (CPP), then to confirm the normal thresholds. METHODS: Sixty one children as patient group were definitely assured CPP. The control group had 67 children. Among them, 61 were normal children, another 6 children as a special control group. Left hand-wrist X-ray radiographs were retrospectively analyzed by two doctors separately and their skeletal ages were assessed with the three standards of TW2 method. The differences between skeletal age and chronological age were analyzed with ROC in SPSS 13.0. RESULTS: (1) The skeletal age results showed kappa value is 0.776 deduced by two clinical doctors(u = 16.128, P < 0.05). (2) There were no statistic differences for the areas under ROC curves among three methods. (3) d > or = 1.15 years in TW2, d > or = 1.25 years in TW2-CHN and d > or = 0.65 years in TW2-JP were more susceptive and specific points. CONCLUSION: TW2, TW2-CHN and TW2-JP provided a higher value for the diagnosis of skeletal age in unhealthy children, and TW2-CHN is highest value for Chinese children.
Subject(s)
Age Determination by Skeleton/methods , Carpal Bones/diagnostic imaging , Puberty, Precocious/diagnosis , Age Determination by Skeleton/standards , Age Factors , Body Height , Bone Development , Carpal Bones/growth & development , Child , Child, Preschool , China , Female , Hand/diagnostic imaging , Hand/growth & development , Humans , Infant , Male , ROC Curve , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To compare three assessment methods (TW2, TW2CH, and TW3) for carpal bone age and their potential applications in diagnosis of idiopathic precocious puberty (IPP) in Chinese girls. METHODS: Fifty-five (55) girls with IPP and 83 normal girls as control group were selected in this study. The X-ray films of the left hand-wrist taken at their first visit were analyzed retrospectively. Three assessment methods were used to estimate the carpal bone age with single-blinded method and percentiles were set at 5 different decision thresholds (1)>97th percentile, (2)>90 th percentile, (3)>75th percentile, (4)>50 th percentile, and (5)< or =50th percentile. RESULTS: All of the three methods showed similar high sensitivity and specificity at the threshold above 90th percentile. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate that all of the three methods for estimation of the carpal bone age are useful in diagnosis of IPP. TW2CH and TW3 methods appear to be superior to TW2 method.
