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Indian Pediatr 2010;47:370 |
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Amit P Shah
[email protected] |
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A New Marker to Identify Steroid
Resistant Asthma (J Allergy Clin Immunol 2010; 125: AB125) |
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Inhaled corticosteroids are
considered the standard of care for long-term control of asthma symptoms.
This study suggested that asthma patients, unlikely to gain control of
symptoms with inhaled corticosteroids, might be identified by estimation
of Uteroglobin (produced by Clara cells in the lung) level in the blood.
The mean levels of Uteroglobin protein in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid
were roughly twice as high on average in the resistant patients. Also,
mean Uteroglobin levels in plasma were about 50% higher in the resistant
patients. Thus, Uteroglobin could be a useful biomarker in guiding
treatment selection of asthma patients.
Comment We must remember that most cases of
so-called "steroid resistance" seen in routine practice have causes like
lack of treatment compliance or inadequate dosing; they are not truly
steroid resistant.
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Effect of Conjugated Linoleic Acid on
Body Fat Accretion in Overweight or Obese Children (Am J Clin Nutr
doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.28404) |
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Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) is a supplemental
dietary fatty acid that decreases fat mass accretion in young
animals. The aim of this study, done in USA, was to determine CLA’s
efficacy with regard to change in fat and body mass
index (BMI) in children. This was a randomized, double-blind,
placebo-controlled trial of CLA in 62 pre-pubertal children aged
6–10 y who were overweight or obese but otherwise healthy.
The subjects were randomly assigned to receive 3 g/d of 80%
CLA (50:50 cis-9,trans-11 and trans-10,cis-12
isomers) or placebo in chocolate milk. The study
concluded that CLA supplementation decreased body
fatness in 6–10 year old children who were overweight
or obese but did not improve plasma lipids or glucose, and
decreased HDL more than in the placebo group.
Long-term investigation of the safety and efficacy
of CLA supplementation in children is required.
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