Reference values of exhaled nitric oxide in healthy Asian children aged 5 to 18 years.

This study was undertaken to establish reference values of exhaled nitric oxide fraction (F(eNO)) and its determinants in healthy Asian children. 693 healthy Asian children aged 5-18 yrs were assessed using a single-breath online F(eNO) measurement (exhaled flow 50 mL·s(-1)), questionnaires, anthropometric measurements, spirometry and total and specific immunoglobulin (Ig) E. Geometric mean F(eNO) and the upper 95% CI were 13.7 ppb and 49.7 ppb, respectively, for healthy children, and 11.2 ppb and 30.2 ppb, respectively, for those without allergic sensitisation. F(eNO) was positively associated with age, allergic sensitisation, total IgE, ambient nitric oxide, measurement in the afternoon, and drinking water within 1 h before testing, and was negatively associated with weight. In healthy children without allergic sensitisation, age was the single best explanatory variable. The F(eNO) predicted values were 1-2 ppb higher in Asian than in Caucasian children in earlier studies, while the upper 95% CI were 9-10 ppb higher. In conclusion, the upper limits of normal F(eNO) in Asian children depend on age, from 21 ppb in young children to 39 ppb in adolescents. Ethnicity, age, allergic sensitisation, total IgE, ambient nitric oxide, time of testing, drinking water and weight are important determinants.

Acute pancreatitis in pediatric and adult-onset systemic lupus erythematosus: a comparison and review of the literature.

This study aimed to compare differences of acute pancreatitis between adult- and pediatric-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and to clarify the risk factors for mortality. Medical records that carried the dual diagnosis of SLE and acute pancreatitis between 1991 and 2005 were reviewed. Forty-eight episodes of acute pancreatitis were identified in 13 pediatric-onset SLE (pSLE) and 27 adult-onset SLE (aSLE) patients. The prevalence was 1.34% overall, with higher prevalence in pSLE (5.22%) compared with aSLE (0.99%) (p < 0.001). The SLEDAI score on presentation of acute pancreatitis was higher in pSLE (mean ± SD: 21.77 ± 13.09) than in aSLE patients (13.37 ± 8.32) (p = 0.05). Eleven patients died during episodes of acute pancreatitis and mortality rate was significantly higher in pSLE than in the aSLE group (53.8% and 14.8%, respectively, p = 0.015). Mortality was associated with concurrent SLE symptoms (p = 0.049), higher SLEDAI score at presentation of acute pancreatitis (p = 0.011), severe acute pancreatitis (p < 0.001), and the presence of complications (p < 0.001). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that severity of acute pancreatitis was the most powerful risk factor for mortality in SLE patients with this disease. In summary, our results indicate that acute pancreatitis occurs more frequently, tends to be more severe, and is associated with higher mortality in pSLE patients when compared with aSLE patient.

Exhaled nitric oxide discriminates children with and without allergic sensitization in a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) as a biomarker of airway inflammation in children warrants better clarification. OBJECTIVE: To identify the determinants of FeNO in children and assess the validity of FeNO as a discriminative tool for asthma, rhinitis or allergic sensitization in a population setting. METHODS: Children aged 5-18 years (N=1717) were evaluated using online FeNO measurements, questionnaires, anthropometric measurements, pulmonary function tests and total and specific serum IgE. RESULTS: FeNO levels were age-dependent, with an average increase of 7.4% per year of age. It decreased with increasing body mass index (BMI), estimated at 1.5% decrease per kg/m(2) . Children with allergic sensitization had elevated FeNO independent of allergic symptoms. In the combined analyses of asthma, rhinitis and allergic sensitization, elevated FeNO levels were confined mainly to children having allergic sensitization. After adjusting for allergic sensitization, a significant association between rhinitis and FeNO remained, but no such association was seen with asthma. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) of FeNO at the optimum cut-off of 28 p.p.b. for diagnosing asthma were 64.3%, 69.9%, 8.8%, and 97.7%, respectively (area under the ROC curve [AUC] 0.67), and were slightly better for diagnosing allergic asthma: 70.0%, 70.4%, 9.0%, 98.3%, respectively (AUC 0.71). FeNO had modest accuracy in discriminating rhinitis with an AUC value of 0.70, and performed better in discriminating allergic rhinitis (AUC 0.78). FeNO was a robust discriminator of allergic sensitization independent of symptoms at a cut-off of 15.4 p.p.b. (AUC 0.80; sensitivity 72.2%; specificity 71.2%; PPV 76.9%; NPV 65.8%). CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: FeNO measurement discriminates children with and without allergic sensitization independent of allergic symptoms. On the other hand, low FeNO levels in children may help exclude allergic asthma but high levels may be caused by allergic sensitization, older age, rhinitis, and lower BMI, in addition to asthma.

Pediatric lupus in Asia.

Of all patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 15-20% are diagnosed during childhood, with disease onset prior to the age of 16 years. Because disease expression in SLE is influenced by environment factors and differs between racial and ethnic groups. The aims of this review were to describe prevalence, clinical manifestations, common infectious complications, and outcome of pediatric-onset SLE in Asia. The prevalence of pediatric-onset SLE was 6.3-19.3 per 100,000 in Asia. The ratio of female to male was 4.7-6.2. The mean age at diagnosis of pediatric-onset SLE was 8.6-13.5 years. The most common clinical features of pediatric-onset SLE in Asia were cutaneous rashes, arthritis, hematological involvement and nephritis. The occurrence of nephritis varies from 29% to 81%. The most common histopathology of lupus nephritis was diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis (WHO Class-IV) which occurred in 39.4-54% of case of lupus nephritis. Pediatric-onset SLE patients with infections have poor outcomes than uninfected patients. Gram-negative bacilli are the most common microorganisms responsible for bacteremia in Asian patients with SLE. Recurrent major infections predict poorer disease outcome and associated organ damage in pediatric-onset SLE. Improving the survival of SLE patients was reported in Asia in recent decades. The survival was 92% at the age of 5 years, 86% at 10 years and 79% at 15 years in children with SLE in Taiwan in 2008.

Sequential changes to clinical parameters and adhesion molecules following intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide and methylprednisolone treatment of refractory juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

It is believed that the systemic subtype and the positive rheumatoid factor, polyarticular subtype of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) show the least favorable outcomes for therapy; patients with systemic JIA are often resistant to recommended therapeutic modalities. We report the sequential changes to clinical and laboratory findings from pulse therapy with monthly intravenous cyclophosphamide (0.5 g/m2 body surface area) administration combined with methylprednisolone (30 mg/kg; 1 gm maximum) for 6 months, following which the medication interval was elongated to 3 months for a total of from 7 to 12 courses. Among 4 children suffering from refractory systemic JIA, 3 demonstrated clinical improvement, 2 of whom achieved clinical remission. Furthermore, we also adminstered this therapy to a girl suffering from refractory polyarticular JIA, following which she revealed clinical remission subsequent to 9 courses of such therapy. From our experience, we suggest that patients afflicted with JIA that is unresponsive to traditional medication may experience benefit from this type of pulse therapy.

Use of a new fluorescence immunoassay to detect anti-dsDNA antibodies is more correlated with disease activity and complement than the ELISA method in SLE patients.

To determine whether the serum levels of anti-double strand DNA (anti-dsDNA) autoantibodies detected using a newly developed fluorescence immunoassay (FIA) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) correlated more with clinical parameters, such as SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI), complement and the occurrence of nephritis when compared with traditional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), we prospectively collected 124 serum samples from 31 patients who had juvenile-onset SLE and were regularly monitored every 2 months at our outpatient clinic. At every visit, clinical manifestations and laboratory parameters were assessed and the SLEDAI was determined. Correlation analyses between the two different measurements of anti-dsDNA antibodies and SLEDAI, serum complement levels and the occurrence of nephritis were performed. The results showed that anti-dsDNA autoantibodies detected using both ELISA and FIA significantly correlated with SLEDAI, and significantly and inversely correlated with the serum levels of C3 and C4. FIA had significantly higher correlation with SLEDAI and C4 than did ELISA. The mean values of anti-dsDNA antibodies detected using FIA in patients with nephritis were significantly higher than in those without nephritis. In contrast, the values of anti-dsDNA antibodies detected using ELISA did not show significant differences between these two groups. We conclude that FIA had better correlation with SLEDAI, C4 and the occurrence of nephritis, and comparable correlations with C3 that were similar to the results found using ELISA. Thus, it is worthwhile developing the FIA method for clinical evaluation of disease activity in SLE patients.

Association between serum inflammatory cytokines and disease activity in juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Circulating interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-6, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), osteocalcin, and conventional parameters of inflammation were examined serially in 14 children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) to determine any correlation with the disease activity. Serum IL-1beta was undetectable in all JIA patients. Serum IL-6, white blood cell counts, platelet counts, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein levels were significantly elevated in the active phase of JIA, whereas hemoglobin levels were significantly lower. Osteocalcin levels were decreased and TNF-alpha increased in active JIA status, but these differences showed no statistical significance. We concluded that inflammatory cytokines play an important role in JIA. Monitoring IL-6 in children with JIA is useful in determining disease activity and response to therapy. These findings confirm earlier reports.

Comparison of soluble adhesion molecules in juvenile idiopathic arthritis between the active and remission stages.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the serum levels of soluble adhesion molecules in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), and to determine whether the levels of these molecules differ between active disease and remission in the same JIA subtype, and whether differences in these levels exist between controls and the three JIA subtypes. METHODS: The serum levels of soluble E-selectin (sE-selectin) and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 40 patients with JIA (12 systemic, 13 polyarticular, and 15 oligoarticular) who had active disease or were in clinical remission and 16 healthy controls. Differences in the levels of adhesion molecules of the same JIA subtype during different disease activity were determined by the paired t test, and differences between the disease and control groups were calculated by one way analysis of variance. A value p<0.01 was considered significant. RESULTS: During the same disease stage (active or in remission), systemic JIA was associated with a significantly higher sE-selectin level than the oligoarticular JIA subtype, whereas this was not found for sICAM-1. Although the mean levels of sE-selectin and sICAM-1 in active systemic and polyarticular JIA were higher than those in remission, this did not reach statistical significance. The levels of sE-selectin and sICAM-1 of the three JIA subtypes, in both the active stage and clinical remission, were still significantly higher than in normal controls. CONCLUSIONS: Systemic JIA is associated with a higher sE-selectin level than oligoarticular JIA both in active disease and in clinical remission. This may explain why the morbidity of systemic JIA is greater than that of oligoarticular JIA-namely, owing to increased endothelial cell activation. As significantly higher levels of sE-selectin and sICAM-1 were found in the active and remission stages of the three JIA subtypes compared with those in the control group, JIA may recur even when clinical remission has been achieved.

Anaphylaxis to riboflavin (vitamin B2).

BACKGROUND: Vitamin supplements are used more commonly in normal healthy subjects than in patients with vitamin deficiency. Thiamine (vitamin B,) is the vitamin that most frequently induces allergic reactions. To the best of our knowledge, no case of anaphylaxis to riboflavin (vitamin B2) has thus far been reported in the literature. OBJECTIVE: We describe a previously healthy 15-year-old boy in whom anaphylaxis developed several times after he drank one soft drink or took a single multivitamin tablet. This study was done to determine which of the many components found in the soft drink and vitamin tablet caused the anaphylactic reaction. METHODS: In an outpatient clinic with the availability of complete resuscitative procedures, we performed single-blind prick skin tests and intradermal skin tests on the patient with various pure vitamin components of the soft drink and the multivitamin tablet. Physiologic saline and histamine were used for negative and positive controls, respectively. RESULTS: Riboflavin, a component of both the soft drink and the vitamin tablet, produced positive reactions on intradermal skin tests in the patient. Positive reactions were not present in the normal control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Riboflavin is a previously unreported cause of anaphylaxis. Free-form riboflavin may potentially be associated with an anaphylactic reaction. It is a vitamin widely used in many patients with chronic disease and in healthy subjects. Vitamin B2 must be considered as a cause of anaphylaxis.

Time trends and seasonal variations in hospital admissions for childhood asthma in Taiwan from 1990 to 1998.

The aim of the study was to determine the trends and seasonal variations in hospital admissions for childhood asthma in a tertiary medical center since 1990. Data were collected according to the age and sex of patients and obtained from hospital registries between 1990 and 1998. Children between 2 and 14 years of age admitted with the diagnosis of asthma, or asthmatic bronchitis (ICD-9 code 493) were included. Age-specific and sex-specific hospital admission rates for asthma were calculated for each calendar year. The asthma admission rates were defined as the number of asthma admissions divided by the total number of all pediatric admissions in a year. Seasonal admission rates were calculated in a similar fashion. In addition, the number of readmissions was also calculated during the study period with comparisons of sex and age differences. The asthma admission rates showed a significant upward trend throughout the period studied, particularly among the 2-4 years of age group (relative risk = 2.08; p = 0.0001). Seasonal admission rates revealed a statistically significant increase during the October-December period, peaking in November or December of each calendar year (relative risk = 1.84; p = 0.0001). There was a male predominance in both age categories during the 9-year period. Comparisons of readmissions for asthma (at least three admissions) disclosed that girls were far more likely to be readmitted than boys among the 5-14 years of age group (p = 0.01). Our results indicate 1) an increased prevalence and severity of childhood asthma in Taiwan; 2) boys and younger children aged 2-4 years with asthma had increased risks of admission for asthma (relative risks were 1.22 and 1.96, respectively) and 3) girls among the older children with asthma tend to present with greater severity than boys owing to higher relative risks of readmission for asthma.

Clinical characteristics of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in Taiwan.

This study aimed to investigate the clinical features of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis among Taiwan children. The medical records of 228 children who had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis treated in the Chang Gung Medical Center in Taiwan from 1978 through 1998 were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 146 boys and 82 girls (M:F ratio, 1.8:1) were included in this study. Clinical and laboratory data of these patients were collected from medical charts. Pauciarticular onset (56%) was the most common type of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, followed by polyarticular (36%) and systemic (8%) type. The positive rate for rheumatoid factor, human leukocyte antigen B27, and antinuclear antibody were 9.2%, 55.2%, and 16.2%, respectively. Uveitis was observed in 5.7% of patients. Compared with previous reports in other regions and populations, remarkably different features of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis were found in this study, which included a higher prevalence among boys than girls, a high positive rate of human leukocyte antigen B27, and a low rate of uveitis.