Growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-I and somatostatin in human fetus, newborn, mother plasma and amniotic fluid.

During pregnancy, organism development and its differentiation are stimulated and modulated by fetal and placental hormones. However the exact role played by all the different growth factors has not been explained yet. This study summarizes knowledge about secretion, regulation and role of GH, IGF-1 and SRIF during perinatal age. It also reports the results of researches into GH, IGF-1 and SRIF in amniotic fluid, in mothers and in newborns at delivery and at four days of age. Amniotic fluid GH levels proved significantly higher during middle pregnancy that at delivery (p < 0.001); a significant difference was also found between mean GH concentrations observed in amniotic fluid collected at delivery in preterm and full-term pregnancies. In amniotic fluid, significant reductions of SRIF and IGF-1 concentrations correspond to a sudden decrease of GH concentration during the last months of pregnancy. Fetal serum GH levels resulted higher than venous cordonal GH concentration at birth (p < 0.001). High levels of IGF-1 were found in the amniotic fluid and in the maternal plasma. These values were higher than those observed in cord blood during pregnancy or at delivery. Preterm and full-term newborns showed similar serum GH levels at birth and at the age of 4 days. Mean GH values in newborns, both at birth and at the age of 4 days, proved to be significantly higher than the values of their mothers (p < 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Herpetic encephalitis with biphasic course. A case report and review of the literature]. / Encefalite erpetica a decorso bifasico. Descrizione di un caso e revisione della letteratura.

Encephalitis represents an important event in pediatric practice. Between the different causes Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) seems to be the most significant etiological agent, not only for its frequency but chiefly for conditioning prognosis. The Authors report a new case of HSV encephalitis with biphasic course illustrating the most recent pathologic, diagnostic and therapeutic features in the attempt to individualize those factors, between clinical data, laboratory findings and imaging that allow early diagnosis and consequently precocious specific antiviral therapy.

Thyroid autoimmunity: really an important cause of sporadic congenital hypothyroidism?

The transplacental transfer of maternal antithyroid antibodies has recently been hypothesised as an aetiological factor in CH. In order to test this hypothesis, mothers and newborns identified by neonatal screening as suffering from hypothyroidism were tested for TgAb, MAb and TSHBAb. Significant titres of MAb and TgAb antibodies were found in 5% of the newborns and their mothers. TSHBAb was found in 1 out of 18 newborns and 1 out of 14 mothers. A causal link was found between the transplacental transfer of IgG inhibiting thyroid growth and function induced by TSH from a mother with Hashimoto's thyroiditis a newborn with CH and in her CH newborn. However the present series did not reveal the high percentage of cases with CH and thyroid antibodies reported by others and particularly not among the neonates born to mothers without any kind of maternal thyroid pathology. It therefore seems that the role of autoimmunity in the pathogenesis of CH and TH is yet to be clarified.