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Infantile colic is a common pediatric problem. The cause of infantile colic remains unclear. Treatment options are limited. Evidence suggests that probiotics might offer some benefit. The aim of the study was to systematically assess the effectiveness of probiotics supplementation in the management of infantile colic. MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library were searched up to April 2016 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy of probiotics (any well-defined strain) compared with placebo for the management of infantile colic. The outcome measures of interest were treatment success and the duration of crying at the end of the intervention. Seven RCTs (471 participants) were included. Compared with placebo the administration of DSM 17938 at a daily dose of 10 CFU was associated with the treatment success (relative risk = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.10-2.81, number needed to treat 5, 95% CI: 4-8) and reduced crying times at the end of the intervention (mean difference: -49 min, 95% CI: -66 to -33); however, the effect was mainly seen in exclusively breastfed infants. Other probiotics (single or in combinations) were studied in single trials only. Some probiotics, primarily DSM 17938, may be considered for the management of infantile colic. Data on other probiotics are limited.

IntroductionOptimal nutrition during early childhood is crucial for psychosomatic development and for preventing diet-related diseases. However, evidence from Poland highlights significant deviations from recommended dietary practices. The previous Polish Infants and Toddler Nutritional Study conducted in 2016 (PITNUTS 2016) revealed imbalances in nutrient intake among children aged 5–36 months. The aim of this study (PITNUTS 2024) is to assess the diet and nutritional status of infants and children aged 5–72 months, providing a broader understanding of eating behaviours across critical stages of growth and development and allowing evaluation of how dietary practices changed in recent years.Methods and analysisThis cross-sectional study will recruit a nationally representative sample of Polish infants and children aged 5 to 72 months using stratified random sampling. Survey interviews will be conducted with parents or legal guardians as proxy reporters for the children. Dietary practices will be evaluated through validated qualitative and quantitative dietary assessments, ensuring a comprehensive evaluation of food consumption and energy and nutrient intake. Dietary data will be collected using the 3 day food record and the survey questionnaire, including a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Daily energy and nutrient intake will be compared with national dietary standards and WHO guidelines. Dietary patterns will be derived based on the FFQ data. Nutritional status will be assessed based on measured anthropometric parameters. Energy, macro- and micronutrient intake as well as dietary patterns identified among children will be associated with nutritional status, including body mass index z-score and body weight status.Ethics and disseminationThe study has been approved by the ethics board of the Institute of Mother and Child. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants’ parents or legal guardians before the interviews began. The results from this study will be presented at scientific conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals, contributing to nutrition policies in Poland and informing educational materials and dietary consultation services.Trial registration numberNCT06417151, results.

The market of plant-based food, including plant-based beverages, is one of the fastest-growing food sectors within the food industry and a subject of major research in the area of new product development. Plant-based beverages are a diverse group of non-dairy beverages with varying nutritional value, depending on the raw material sources and additional substances used in their production. A wide range of plant beverages makes it possible to choose products tailored to individual consumer preferences and needs as a part of sustainable dietary patterns. Increased consumer awareness of the environmental and health implications of proper nutrition, interest in plant-based diets, climate, and natural resource protection, as well as ethical concerns about animal welfare and the negative environmental impact of animal production, have led some consumers to seek a more balanced diet based on varied plant-based products, including beverages. Considering the highly diversified nutritional value of plant-based beverages, their availability, convenience, accessibility to consumers, ethical and environmental concerns, increasing health concerns as well as growing popularity of plant-based beverages as potential cow-milk alternatives, the Group of Experts in medicine and nutritional sciences presents the opinion on the nutritional value, health benefits and concerns of the available plant-based beverages. The opinion was based on a critical review of the current scientific literature, as well as on the experts’ experience. This knowledge can be used to make the right choices to improve the nutritional status and health of the consumers from different groups. Since the nutritional profiles of plant-based beverages vary across different plant-based drink varieties and they do not have standards of identity, in our opinion, there is a need for action to standardize nutrient fortification regarding the type and amount of added ingredients to ensure the safety of consumers and avoid potential over- or under-fortification of plant-based beverages.

IntroductionIntroducing baked milk into the diet of children with cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA) has been shown to potentially accelerate the development of tolerance to non-heated milk. However, there is no standardised milk ladder (ML) protocol, and different scientific societies across countries recommend varying versions. This study aims to assess the effectiveness and safety of the four-step ML (4-ML) compared with the six-step ML (6-ML) in children with IgE-mediated CMPA.Methods and analysisWe will perform an open-label randomised trial with two parallel arms in two departments of the same academic hospital. A total of 92 children with IgE-mediated CMPA will be allocated in a 1:1 ratio to introduce cow’s milk into their diet according to either 4-ML or 6-ML with a 4-week break period between subsequent steps. Oral food challenge (OFC) with tested products at each subsequent step of the ML will be conducted in hospital settings. The primary outcome will be the percentage of children with tolerance to non-heated cow’s milk proteins defined as no allergic reaction to raw cow’s milk (120–240 mL depending on the age of the patient) during the last OFC; measured at the end of the 12-week observation period for the 4-ML and 20-week observation period for the 6-ML. Secondary outcomes will include the percentage of children with a negative OFC to each ML step; the percentage of children with anaphylaxis (both those who were treated and those who were not treated with epinephrine); the percentage of children with exacerbation of atopic dermatitis; growth; compliance; and quality of life of the caregivers and parents’ anxiety about adverse events during their child’s OFC.Ethics and disseminationThe bioethics committee of the Medical University of Warsaw, Poland, approved this protocol (KB/107/2024). The findings will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and submitted to relevant conferences no later than 1 year after data collection.Trial registration numberNCT06664918.

IntroductionCurrent recommendations for early introduction of cow’s milk proteins in infants who cannot be breastfed vary and are inconsistent due to a lack of clear evidence. We aim to assess whether early supplementation with various nutritional interventions, including cow’s milk formula (CMF), amino acid formula (AAF), donor human milk (DHM) or high-pressure processed ‘pascalised’ DHM (DHM-P) is effective for the primary prevention of cow’s milk allergy (CMA) in breastfed neonates.Methods and analysisWe will perform an open-label randomised, controlled, head-to-head trial with four parallel arms in three Polish study centres (Warsaw). 1000 healthy full-term newborns of mothers eager to exclusively breastfeed will be allocated to receive early supplementation with one of four nutritional interventions: CMF, AAF, DHM or DHM-P. All children will receive 10 mL of each intervention per day for the first 3 days of life; exclusive breastfeeding will be recommended. However, if any supplementation in addition to the breastfeeding is needed, the assigned nutritional intervention will be provided until 4 months of age. The primary outcome is a cumulative incidence of CMA confirmed by open oral food challenge at 4–6 months and 12 months of age. Secondary outcomes include an incidence of sensitisation to cow’s milk protein; a total score in the Cow’s Milk Related Symptom Score; the percentage of children with acquired tolerance to cow’s milk, feeding difficulties and exclusively and predominantly breastfed; an incidence of atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis and wheezing; growth; compliance and adverse events. The level of immunomodulatory factors in maternal milk and its nutritional component analysis will also be performed.Ethics and disseminationThe ethics committee of the Medical University of Warsaw, Poland, approved this protocol (KB/61/2023). The results of this study will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal no later than 1 year after data collection. The abstract will be presented at relevant national and international conferences.Trial registration numberNCT06652698.

Background/Objectives: The past evidence indicates that Polish children’s diets frequently deviate from recommendations. The aim of the PITNUTS 2024 study was to provide an updated nationwide assessment of energy and nutrient intake among children aged 5–72 months, evaluate the risk of inadequate intake, and examine the relationship between diet quality patterns and nutritional adequacy. Methods: PITNUTS 2024 was a cross-sectional study analyzing dietary data from a representative sample of 940 Polish children. Dietary intake was assessed qualitatively and quantitatively. Nutrient adequacy was evaluated using the estimated average requirement or adequate intake cut-point method. Two diet quality scores were developed: the Children’s pro-Healthy Diet Score and the Children’s non-Healthy Diet Score, and their association with the risk of inadequate intake was evaluated using logistic regression. Results: The proportion of energy derived from protein intake exceeded recommended levels in most children, while that from fat was typically below reference levels, especially in younger groups of children. The risk of inadequate energy intake from carbohydrates was uncommon, while sucrose intake exceeding 10% of overall energy was present in almost half of the children. Among children aged 13–72 months, approximately 15% adhered to high child-pHDS, associated with a lower risk of insufficient intake of selected nutrients. Conclusions: The diets of Polish children aged 5–72 months show persistent nutritional risks, including excessive protein intake, low vitamin D intake, suboptimal fatty acid intake profiles, and insufficient calcium and fibre intake. Diet quality scores can be useful for identifying children at risk of inadequate nutrient intake.

Serologic tests for the detection of Salmonella serotype Enteritidis in children may become supplementary to stool culture examination. A total of 190 children were examined with a new 1-step, 2-minute test (TUBEX) that detects anti–Salmonella immunoglobulin M antibodies, which was found to be 92.6% sensitive and 94.8% specific (P <.0001).

Rectal faecal impaction (RFI) from functional constipation is a common problem in children. Maintenance therapy should start after successful disimpaction. However, there is uncertainty with regard to the optimal disimpaction regimen. We systematically evaluated the effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) compared to enema for treating RFI. The MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library, with no language restrictions, were searched up to July 2014 for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of PEG compared with enema for disimpaction in children with functional constipation. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Two RCTs, involving 170 children aged 1 to 17 years, met the inclusion criteria. The studies were generally low in methodological quality. Compared with the enema group, the PEG 3350 group had significantly reduced chance for treatment success, but the difference was of a borderline statistical significance (RR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.7-0.99). The use of PEG was also more likely to increase defecation frequency, but increased the risk of watery stools and increased faecal incontinence. Other outcomes, in general, were similar in both groups. Current evidence does not allow us to conclude which intervention is more effective for treating RFI in children with functional constipation. These results should be interpreted with caution due to the limited number of trials and the low quality of reporting in these trials, high or unknown risk of bias, and sparse data. Further high-quality, adequately powered RCTs are needed to determine the optimal management.

Decapping Scavenger (DcpS) enzyme was initially identified by its ability to hydrolyze the cap structure resulting from mRNA decay. Human DcpS is an established target for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and hepatic metastasis. Recently, the protein has been linked to neuronal development regulation and implicated in certain developmental neurological disorders. Here we demonstrate for the first time that DcpS undergoes misfolding in vitro, leading to the formation of amyloid-like fibrils. Fibrillization was observed for human and nematode (C. elegans) DcpS using transmission electron microscope (TEM) imaging, Thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence assay, Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Additionally, the DcpSINS15 insertional mutant linked to the Al-Raquad syndrome, exhibited accelerated fibril aggregation kinetics compared to the wild type protein. Moreover, we show that the DcpS species investigated in this study undergo liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) prior to amyloid-formation. We propose that the LLPS phase transition underlies the intricate kinetics (e.g. lack of a clearly-resolved lag phase) of the misfolding process. As the physiological implications of the here-reported propensity of DcpS to lose its biological function through the coupled LLPS-fibrillization transition remain to be elucidated, this work lays the groundwork for further studies on this phenomenon.