Summary:Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of short-term oxcarbazepine (OXC) and valproate (VPA) monotherapy on thyroid functions in children.Methods: Fifty-five newly diagnosed epileptic children with normal thyroid functions (confirmed with the thyrotropin releasing hormone stimulation test) participated in this study. VPA treatment was started in 30 patients and OXC in 25 patients. Serum thyroxine (T 4 ), free thyroxine (fT 4 ), triiodothyronine (T 3 ), free triiodothyronine (fT 3 ), reverse T3 (rT 3 ), thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO-ab), and urine iodine levels were evaluated at baseline and at the third and sixth months of therapy.Results: In the OXC group, serum T 4 , fT 4 , T 3 , fT 3 , and rT 3 levels were found to be decreased at the third and sixth months, the differences were significant compared to the baseline values except for fT 3 levels at the third month and fT 4 and rT 3 levels at the sixth month (p < 0.05). At the sixth month, serum T 4 level dropped below the normal reference value in 8 (32%), fT 4 in 5 (20%), T 3 in 4 (16%), and fT 3 in 3 (12%) patients. In the VPA group, mean T 4 , fT 4 , T 3 , fT 3 , and rT 3 levels at 3 and 6 months remained similar compared to the baseline values (p > 0.05). Mean serum thyroid stimulating hormone levels increased significantly at the sixth month compared to the baseline values in the VPA group (p < 0.05) while it remained unchanged in the OXC group (p > 0.05). There was no effect of either drug on urinary iodine excretion and serum TPO-ab levels remained in normal ranges throughout the study.Conclusions: In this prospective study, it is documented that children under short-term OXC or VPA therapy showed altered thyroid functions similar to the changes observed after long-term treatment. Although, the clinical significance of these results need to be evaluated with future studies, this observation of altered thyroid functions points out that thyroid functions may need to be monitored closely in children receiving antiepileptic treatment, even in the short-time interval.

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Objective: To investigate vitamin D status in children with Hashimoto thyroiditis. Subjects and methods: The study group consisted of 78 children recently diagnosed as Hashimoto thyroiditis and 74 subjects as the control group. Parameters of calcium metabolism, thyroid function tests, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels were measured. Results: Vitamin D defi ciency rate was signifi cantly higher in the Hashimoto group compared with the control subjects (73.1 % vs. 17.6 % , p < 0.0001). In the Hashimoto group, mean 25(OH)D levels were signifi cantly lower compared with the control group (31.2 ± 11.5 vs. 57.9 ± 19.7 nmol/L, p < 0.001) and was inversely correlated with the anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) levels (r = -0.30, p = 0.007). Conclusion: The higher vitamin D defi ciency rates besides lower vitamin D levels in the Hashimoto group together with the inverse correlation between vitamin D and anti-TPO suggest that vitamin D defi ciency may have a role in the autoimmune process in Hashimoto thyroiditis in children.

Our study suggests that hepcidin levels do not contribute to the development of iron deficiency anemia in pediatric obese individuals.

With this study, novel reference values for penile length in prepubertal children were presented to the literature.