Prevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis among children with autoimmune hepatitis.

BACKGROUND: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is an organ specific autoimmune disease, which can manifest at any age of life. there is a high prevalence of extrahepatic autoimmune diseases in patients with AIH. Autoimmune thyroid diseases (ATDs) are the most frequent extrahepatic autoimmune disorders among patients with AIH. Aim of work is to detect the frequency of ATDs among Egyptian children with AIH. METHODS: This research is a cross-sectional study conducted on 58 children with AIH aged ≤ 18 years. All patients were tested for free triiodothyronine (FT3), free tetraiodothyronine (FT4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) and antithyroglobulin (anti-TG). Thyroid ultrasound (US) and thyroid scan were performed for patients with abnormal thyroid profile, borderline values, positive anti-TPO or anti-TG. RESULTS: The mean ± standard deviation (SD) for the age of the patients was 11.3 ± 4.5 years. Out of 58 patients of AIH, 28 patients (48.3%) had associated other autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune thyroiditis was the most common associated autoimmune disease being present in 10 patients (17.2%). The thyroid status of AIT patients showed that 6 patients (60%) were euthyroid, 3 patients (30%) had subclinical hypothyroidism and only one patient (10%) was hyperthyroid. CONCLUSION: Autoimmune hepatitis in Egyptian children is commonly associated with other autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune thyroiditis is the most common to be associated with AIH in pediatric patients. As it is not usually clinically manifesting, regular screening for AIT in children with AIH is mandatory.

Serum cortisol and adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) in infants receiving topical and subconjunctival corticosteroids following cataract surgery.

PURPOSE: Cushingoid features are occasionally encountered in infants after pediatric cataract surgery. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the use of topical glucocorticoids (GCs) following congenital cataract surgery can result in endogenous adrenal suppression and/or systemic side effects similar to those seen with systemic steroids. METHODS: A prospective study was performed on 20 infants with bilateral congenital cataract. All infants received a single subconjunctival betamethasone injection of 1 mg at the end of surgery in addition to topical dexamethasone eye drops 1 mg/ml for 6 weeks. All infants had anthropometric measurements and blood pressure measurements, serum cortisol, and ACTH level measurements before surgery and 2 months after. In addition, the total administered glucocorticoid adjusted per weight was calculated. RESULTS: The mean age of the infants was 4.93 ± 2.58 months. Thirteen were males (65%). The total administered glucocorticoid dose was 18.7 mg and the mean cumulative dexamethasone equivalent dose administered was 2.75 ± 1.31 mg/kg. There was a statistically significant increase in the adjusted weight percentile for age (P = 0.009). Both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly elevated (P = 0.005 and P = 0.025 respectively). There was a statistically significant reduction in both the morning and afternoon serum ACTH levels (P = 0.023 and P = 0.014). The reduction in serum cortisol levels was statistically non-significant. CONCLUSIONS: Topical steroids following pediatric cataract surgery can result in both subclinical and clinical changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis that can be easily overlooked and need careful attention and follow-up.

Micro-RNA 196a2 expression and miR-196a2 (rs11614913) polymorphism in T1DM: a pilot study.

Background Recent emerging evidence supports the role of miR-196a2 in various human diseases. However, its role in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is still underestimated. We aimed, for the first time, to investigate the expression of miR-196a2 in T1DM and the association of miR-196a2 (rs11614913) polymorphism with susceptibility of T1DM in a sample of patients from Cairo, Egypt. Methods The study included 150 patients and 150 healthy subjects. Evaluation of rs11614913 genotypes and miR-196a2 expression was done using the allelic discrimination and quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, respectively. Results The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium of single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP) was detected among controls (p = 0.2). Our results revealed that the TT genotype was more frequent in patients (22.6%) than controls (10%) while the CC genotype was more frequent in controls (47.3%) than patients (39.3%) (p = 0.01). The frequency of the T allele was significantly higher in patients than in controls (41.7 vs. 31.3%), while the C allele was more frequent in controls (p = 0.008). After adjustment for traditional risk factors, the association of the TT genotype with T1DM remained significant (TT vs. CC, odds ration [OR] = 3.2, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.4-7.4, p = 0.005). Power analysis of the data yielded a statistical power of 80% for the miR-196a2 rs11614913 with T1DM. Relative expression of miR-196a2 showed significant decrease in patients compared to controls (median = 0.09, 0.5, interquartile range [IQR] = 0.03-1.6, 0.1-2.1). However, miR-196a2 expression showed no significant difference between different rs11614913 genotypes (p = 0.5). Conclusions Our findings demonstrated that miR-196a rs11614913 is associated with T1DM and decreased expression of miR-196a2 may play a role in pathogenesis of T1DM.

Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer and Ganglion Cell Complex Thicknesses Are Reduced in Children With Type 1 Diabetes With No Evidence of Vascular Retinopathy.

PURPOSE: To determine whether type 1 diabetes (T1DM) in children with a mean age of 12.21 ± 3.04 years affects the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell complex (GCC) when compared to age- and sex-matched healthy children. METHODS: Forty-six children with T1DM with no diabetic retinopathy (DR) and 50 normal age- and sex-matched controls underwent full clinical ophthalmic and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) examination. Using RTVue Fourier-Domain OCT (version 6.11.0.12) average, superior, and inferior RNFL and GCC thicknesses (in µm) were measured. Mean values of patients and the control group were compared. RESULTS: In children with T1DM with no DR, the mean average RNFL thickness was 110.9 µm ± 10.46, and the mean GCC thickness was 95.59 µm ± 5.13; both were significantly thinner than the control group (115.62 µm and 99.30 µm, respectively). The retinal nerve fiber layer and GCC thickness showed no correlation to either age of onset, duration of the disease, or glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c). A positive correlation was found between the daily insulin dose and the average RNFL thickness (r = 0.378, P = 0.01). The average GCC in children with dyslipidemia was thinner than those with normal lipid profile (91.29 ± 6.46 µm, 97.11 ± 3.59 µm, respectively) with a P value of 0.011. CONCLUSIONS: Thinning of the RNFL and GCC in children with T1DM with no DR compared to healthy controls suggests that neurodegenerative changes occur in the absence of vascular changes. It also shows that neurodegeneration is not related to either disease duration, onset, or control.