Background and Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of synbiotic on glycemic status, lipid profile, and biomarkers of oxidative stress in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients. Materials and Methods: In this double-blind clinical trial, 50 T1DM patients were randomly allocated to intervention (n = 25) and control (n = 25) groups and received either synbiotic powder (Lactobacillus sporogenes GBI-30 (probiotic), maltodextrin and fructooligosaccharide (prebiotic)) or placebo 2 g per day for 8 weeks. Fasting blood samples were collected before and after the intervention to measure fasting blood glucose (FBG), insulin concentration, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), lipid profile, and biomarkers of oxidative stress such as total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and hs-C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). Results: Supplementation with synbiotic resulted in a significant decrease in the mean serum levels of HbA1c and hs-CRP (p = 0.01 and p = 0.004, respectively), and marginally significant decrease in FBG (p = 0.05) in the intervention group post-intervention. Also, the mean changes of FBG and hs-CRP were significantly lower in the intervention group compared with the control group (p = 0.03 and p = 0.005, respectively). There were no significant changes found in lipid profile in intervention group post-intervention (p≥ 0.05). The mean serum levels of insulin and TAC were significantly increased in the intervention group post-intervention (p = 0.001). There was a significant increase in the mean changes of TAC (p = 0.005) in the intervention group compared with the control group. Conclusion: The 8-week synbiotic supplementation in T1DM patients may be effective in improvement of FBG, HbA1c, insulin, hs-CRP, and TAC.

The results suggest that adjuvant treatment with zinc accelerates recovery from severe pneumonia in young children and significantly reduces the duration of hospital stay. Further studies are required to develop appropriate recommendations for the use of zinc in the treatment of severe pneumonia in other populations.

NC is significantly correlated with overweight and obesity. It can be used with great reliability to screen overweight and obesity in children, and to identify those with a high BMI.

Background: The decreasing of mortality rate is one of the most important goals in every intensive care unit (ICU). This study was performed to determine the main causes of admission and mortality rate in our referral pediatric ICU (PICU). Methods: In this retrospective study, all patients (age-group, 1 month-16 years) admitted to the PICU in one year were included and patients with less than a 3h duration of admission, multiple traumas, and post-surgery patients were excluded. Results: Among the 688 patients enrolled in the study, 55.6% were male and the mean patient age was 2.7 years. The most common causes of admission were pneumonia (22.9%), bronchiolitis (8.6%), and septicemia (7.9%). The mean duration of hospitalization was 3.3 days and the mortality rate was 16.5%, with a mean age of 2.2 years and 51.8% male. The most common causes of overall mortality were pneumonia (21.6%) and septicemia (16.2%), however, mortality was more common in patients admitted with septicemia (36.6%), liver failure (31.6%), chronic renal failure (28.6%), and meningitis (27.3%). Patients who had undergone intubation before admission, decreased level of consciousness, and prolonged duration of hospitalization were significantly correlated with the mortality (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Our results indicate that the respiratory failure and severe infections are the most common causes of admission and mortality in the PICU and very young children are at risk of high incidence of mortality.

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