It seems that neonates of mothers with well-controlled GDM are still at increased risk of cardiac hypertrophy, subclinical diastolic dysfunction, and impaired left ventricular relaxation. This can be interpreted that focusing only on glycemic control is not enough to prevent cardiac dysfunction.

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) as a urological disorder occur in 1% -3% of females and 1% of males. This disease can induce severe complications such as pyelonephritis. Objectives: The current study aimed at evaluating the efficacy of vitamin C supplementation on UTI in children. Methods: The current clinical trial was conducted on 152 female children with UTI admitted to Amir-Kabir hospital, Arak, Iran. The cases were randomly divided, based on blocked groups, into two treatment and control groups of 76 patients. The subjects were matched in terms of age, gender, and clinical signs and symptoms. The control group received only routine treatment of UTI, while the treatment group, in addition to the routine treatment received oral vitamin C supplementation tablet, for a 14-day period. Results: Dysuria, urine incontinence, fever, urinary urgency, and dribbling occurred significantly earlier in vitamin C supplemented individuals than the control ones, while abdominal pain, dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scan, and recurrent UTI were not different between the two groups. Conclusions: Vitamin C supplementation can control the symptoms of urinary tract infections, including fever, dysuria, urinary urgency, and dribbling urine.

Introduction:Electrocardiographic (ECG) corrected QT (QTc) interval and dispersion were used as prognostic variables in adult patients and limited studies showed the relationship between QTc prolongation and dispersion with some clinical situations in newborn babies.Aim:In the present study, we compared the electrocardiographic (ECG) variables such as QTc interval and dispersion of healthy full-term and pre-term neonates with those who suffered from non-cardiac illnesses.Methods:This prospective cohort study involved 127 neonates including four study groups: normal full-term neonates, ill full-term neonates, normal pre-term neonates and ill pre-term neonates. Neonates with fever, apnea, poor feeding, tachypnea, muscle retraction, grunting, reduced neonatal reflexes, positive blood culture or antibiotic therapy > 3 days were considered as ill neonates. QTc interval and dispersion were calculated and compared among the four groups.Results:QTc interval was significantly (p = 0.012) higher in ill pre-term neonates in comparison with normal pre-term ones (418.74± 54.29 ms vs. 386.66± 39.26 ms). QTc dispersion was calculated and showed significantly higher mean values in ill pre-term neonates when compared with normal full-term, ill full-term and normal pre-term ones. QT dispersion and QTc dispersion of dead neonates were significantly (p= 0.0001-0.01) higher than alive ill pre-term neonates at 3, 7 and 28 days after birth.Conclusion:QTc interval and dispersion seem to represent non-invasive, reliable predictors of mortality in pre-term ill neonates, but further investigation is needed to confirm cutoff values for the risk assessment.

Background In community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), pulmonary vascular endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, and oxidative stress (OS) are prominent and interesting as the unfavorable clinical outcomes of it. Asthma as a common chronic respiratory disease may affect the clinical outcomes of pneumonia, but the exact mechanism of this effect remains unclear. The present study aimed to assess the effects of asthma on the OS, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction biomarkers in the children pneumonia. Methods A cross-sectional study designed with a total of 75 children including both severe CAP and asthma (as group I), severe CAP alone (as group II), and healthy children (as group III) was conducted. Fasting blood samples were taken to the assay of serum malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). The mean of anthropometric and biochemical parameters was compared by ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc test between groups. Results We observed TAC levels in groups I and II (0.997 ± 0.22 and 1.23 ± 0.21 mmol/l, respectively) were significantly lower compared with group III (1.46 ± 0.19 mmol/l, P value < 0.001). It was significantly higher in group II than in group I (P value < 0.001). Also, we observed MDA and TNF-α levels in groups I (6.94 ± 1.61 μmol/l, 7.34 ± 2.23 pg/ml, respectively) and II (2.57 ± 0.40 μmol/l, 5.54 ± 1.84 pg/ml, respectively) were significantly higher compared with group III (1.89 ± 0.27 μmol/l, 3.42 ± 1.32 pg/ml, P value < 0.001, P value < 0.001, respectively). VCAM-1 and PAI-1 levels as the endothelial dysfunction biomarkers were significantly higher in group I (1.5 ± 0.62 mmol/l, 10.52 ± 3.2 AU/ml, respectively) compared with groups II (1.06 ± 0.53 mmol/l and 8.23 ± 3.4 AU/ml; P value < 0.001, P value < 0.001, respectively) and III (0.6 ± 0.35 mmol/l and 2.39 ± 0.83 AU/ml; P value < 0.001, P value < 0.001, respectively). Also, VCAM-1 and PAI-1 levels were significantly higher in group II compared with groups III (P value < 0.001, P value < 0.001). Conclusions Asthma can exacerbate the vascular dysfunction of pneumonia in children by increasing oxidative stress, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction.

Background: Pulmonary vascular endothelial activation, inflammation, and stress oxidative have been implicated in adverse clinical outcomes of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Although chronic lung problems such as asthma may affect the consequences of pneumonia, the exact mechanism of this effect remains unclear. The present study aimed to assess the effects of asthma on the oxidative stress, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction biomarkers in children pneumonia.Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed at Amir Kabir Hospital affiliated to Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran. Participants were 25 children with severe CAP and asthma (group I), 25 children with severe CAP (group II), and 25 healthy children (group III) with 2 to 6 years of age. Fasting blood samples were taken to the assay of serum malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), and Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1).Results: We observed a significant reduction in TAC in groups I and II (0.997±0.22 and 1.23±0.21 mmol/l, respectively) compared with group III (1.46±0.19 mmol/l). This reduction was significantly higher in group I than in group II. Also, we observed a significant increase in MDA and TNF-α in groups I (2.57±0.40 µmol/l, 6.94±1.61 pg/ml, respectively) and II (6.94±1.61µmol/l, 5.54±1.84 pg/ml, respectively) compared with group III (1.89 ±0.27µmol/l, 3.42±1.32 pg/ml, respectively). The increase in MDA was significantly higher in group I than in group II. VCAM-1 and PAI-1 as endothelial dysfunction biomarkers increased significantly in group I (1.5 ±0.62 mmol/l and 10.52±3.2 AU/ml, respectively) compared with groups II (1.06±0.53 mmol/l and 8.23±3.4 AU/ml, respectively) and III (0.6± 0.35 mmol/l and 2.39 ± 0.83 AU/ml, respectively). Also, VCAM-1 and PAI-1 increased significantly in group II compared with groups III.Conclusions: Asthma can exacerbate the consequences of pneumonia in children by increasing oxidative stress, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction.