Types of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in Greece

Throat swab specimens were obtained during 2003 from Greek hospitalized children with acute respiratory tract infection. In order to type M. pneumoniae strains a partial region of P1 gene was amplified directly from the clinical specimens and sequence variations among the strains were investigated. It was found that predominant was M. pneumoniae type 1

Original paper<br>Neopterin and circulating adhesion molecules as prognostic markers in childhood asthma

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the serum levels of neopterin and circulating adhesion molecules sICAM-1, sE-selectin and sL-selectin in children with stable asthma in order to investigate their possible role in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammation in asthma. We also compared atopic and non-atopic asthmatic children in order to detect differences between groups, possibly reflecting different mechanisms involved in chronic inflammation of the airways. Material and methods: The study included three groups of children: A, B and C. Group A consisted of 30 children with atopic asthma, group B of 30 children with non-atopic asthma and group C (control group) of 20 healthy children. All asthmatic children had been diagnosed with mild to moderate persistent asthma according to the International Paediatric Asthma Consensus Group Reports and were studied during a stable phase of their disease. The asthmatic children were divided into atopic and non-atopic, as judged by the presence of a positive or negative skin prick test or a positive specific IgE test. Results: There were no differences in serum sICAM-1, sE-selectin or sL-selectin levels between groups A, B and C. Atopic asthmatic children had significantly higher levels of neopterin compared to the non-atopic asthmatics or healthy children (p<0.001). Conclusions: Our data support the hypothesis that neopterin is produced and secreted by activated macrophages, the latter playing a role in chronic asthmatic inflammation. This may allow a better understanding of the clinical implications and more insight into the inflammatory processes of bronchial asthma

The validity of clinical criteria in the differentiation of infantile acute bronchiolitis syndrome

Introduction: the purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of the clinical criteria in the differentiation of infantile acute bronchiolitis syndrome, over a follow up period of 6-8 years. The clinical criteria were the following: number of bronchiolitic episodes/year, personal and family history of atopy, the response to bronchodilation, the total serum IgE levels and skin prick testingMaterials and methods: fifty four infants out of 116 (46.5 %), who were hospitalized with wheezing associated respiratory illness. In infancy were followed up for 6-8 years. Thirty out of 54 infants responded to nebulized b2 agonists (salbutamol) therapy (Group A) and the rest did not (Group B).Results: in group A 90% of the children continued to have wheezing episodes , 76.6% collateral signs of atopy, 86.6%r responded to bronchodilating medications and 70% had higher levels of serum IgE than the expected for age values. In group B the above findings were respectfully: 37.5%, 29.1%, 25% and 20%. More children in group A (26.6%) versus 8.3% in group B had positive prick tests to aeroallergens (p<0.05).Conclusions: our findings indicate that the above mentioned clinical criteria are accurate, simple and easily applied for the early diagnosis of the reversible airways obstruction

The Role of PTPN22 C1858T Gene Polymorphism in Diabetes Mellitus Type 1: First Evaluation in Greek Children and Adolescents

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is an autoimmune multifactorial disease. Protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor type 22 (PTPN22) gene encodes lymphoid-specific tyrosine phosphatase (Lyp), an inhibitor of T cell activation. PTPN22 C1858T polymorphism was associated with T1DM in populations of Caucasian origin. The aim of this study was the investigation for the first time of the association of PTPN22 C1858T polymorphism with T1DM in Greek population. We studied 130 children and adolescents with T1DM and 135 healthy individuals of Greek origin. The polymorphism was genotyped using polymerase chain reaction with restriction fragment length polymorphism. C1858T and T1858T genotypes as well as 1858T allele were found more frequently in patients (10.8% and 5.8%, resp.) than in healthy individuals (5.9% and 3.0%, resp.) but at non statistically significant level. There was no statistically significant association found with gender, age at diagnosis, severity of onset, history of Hashimoto thyroiditis or family history of T1DM. Increased frequency of 1858T allele in patients than in controls, implying a probable association, agrees with results of similar studies on other populations. The inability to find a statistically significant difference is probably due to the decreased frequency of minor allele in Greek population, indicating the need for a larger sample