A prospective study of 14 patients (ages 6 months to 33 years) with glycogen storage disease, Type I (GSD-I) was carried out in order to define the character and frequency of renal dysfunction. A marked increase in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was documented in virtually all subjects, with the mean GFR raised by approximately 50%, to the range of 170 ml/min/1.73 m2. While this constituted the only renal abnormality found in the younger patients, a significant increase in urinary albumin excretion was seen in three teen-aged individuals; three patients over 20 years of age exhibited frank proteinuria (2 to 8 g/day). Renal biopsy on two of the proteinuric subjects revealed focal and global glomerulosclerosis and interstitial fibrosis. Evaluation of factors known to cause an increase in GFR did not define the precise etiology for its elevation in GSD-I. These studies suggest that: (1) glomerular damage and chronic renal disease are common in older patients with GSD-I; (2) the renal injury appears to be specifically related to GSD-I and is not secondary to the treatment of the disease; and (3) the natural history of the renal lesion in GSD-I may be analogous to that seen in insulin-dependent diabetes, with a "silent" period where hyperfiltration is the only demonstrable renal abnormality, followed by evidence of increasing glomerular damage progressing from microalbuminuria to frank proteinuria.

We have evaluated the hypothesis of a protective effect of human milk on the development of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). We studied the feeding histories of 95 diabetic children and compared them with controls consisting of their non-diabetic siblings and a pair matched group of nondiabetic peers of the same age, sex, geographical location, and social background. The incidence of breast feeding in diabetic children was 18%. This was similar to the control group. The duration of breast feedings was also similar among all three groups. There was no difference in the age of introduction of solid food between diabetic and nondiabetic children. Twice as many diabetic children, however, received soy containing formula in infancy as compared to control children. The mean age of onset of IDDM was not related to the type of feeding during infancy. The incidence of positive thyroid antibodies was two and one half times higher in formula-fed diabetic children than in breast-fed ones. In our studies we were unable to document any relationship between the history of breast feeding and subsequent development of IDDM in children.

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