Browsing by Author "Cristi, Francisca"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Association between obesity and atopic dermatitis in children: A case-control study in a high obesity prevalence population
    (2022) Iturriaga, Carolina; Bustos, María Francisca; Le Roy, Catalina; Rodríguez, Rocío; Cifuentes, Lorena; Silva-Valenzuela, Sergio; Vera-Kellet, Cristián; Cristi, Francisca; Pérez-Mateluna, Guillermo; Cabalín, Carolina; Hoyos-Bachiloglu, Rodrigo; Camargo Jr., Carlos A.; Borzutzky Schachter, Arturo
    Background/Objective: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease. Research suggests an association between obesity and AD, although evidence is lacking from Latin American populations. This study evaluated the association of obesity with AD in children from Chile, a country with high obesity prevalence. Methods: A case-control study was performed in children with active AD (cases) and healthy controls (HCs) from Santiago, Chile. Body mass index was evaluated by z-score (z-BMI), with overweight defined as z-BMI ≥+1 and <+2, and obesity as z-BMI ≥+2. Abdominal obesity was defined by a waist circumference-to-height ratio (WHR) ≥0.5. AD severity was evaluated by Scoring AD (SCORAD) index. Results: A total of 174 children with AD and 101 controls were included. AD patients had similar overweight (27% vs. 28%) and obesity (21% vs. 26%) rates as HCs (p = .65). Abdominal obesity rates were also comparable (64% vs. 62%, p = .81). In sex-specific analyses, girls with AD had higher abdominal obesity rates than HCs (71% vs. 53%, p < .05) while boys with AD had lower abdominal obesity rates than HCs (53% vs. 75%, p = .03). Among children with AD, higher z-BMI or WHR did not correlate with higher SCORAD, eosinophil counts or total IgE. Conclusion: In our study, Chilean children with AD had high but similar rates of obesity as HCs, but showed sex-specific associations of abdominal obesity and AD. Further research is needed to evaluate these associations and the roles that weight excess and weight loss could play in the pathogenesis and treatment of AD.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Clusters of Autoimmune Diseases in Children and the Role of PTPN22 C1858T Gene Polymorphism in Pediatric Polyautoimmunity
    (2014) Borzutzky Schachter, Arturo; Seiltgens, Cristián; Iruretagoyena B., Mirentxu; Cristi, Francisca; Ponce, María Jesús ; Melendez, Patricia; Martínez Aguayo, Alejandro; Hodgson Bunster, María Isabel; Talesnik Guendelman, Eduardo; Riera Cassorla, Francisca Paz; Méndez, Cecilia; Harris D., Paul R.; García Bruce, Hernán; Gana Ansaldo, Juan Cristóbal; Godoy, Claudia; Cattani Ortega, Andreína
    Background/Purpose:Autoimmune diseases (AIDs) have familial aggregation and frequently share a common genetic background, but few studies have evaluated autoimmune clusters in children with AIDs and their families. Children with more than one AID (pediatric polyautoimmunity) may have a stronger genetic component than children with a single AID. The objectives of this study were to identify clusters of AIDs in children and their first-degree relatives and to evaluate the association of PTPN22 C1858T gene polymorphism with pediatric polyautoimmunity.Methods:A cross-sectional study was performed in subjects with an AID of pediatric onset (<18 years)recruited at Pediatric Rheumatology, Endocrinology and Gastroenterology Clinics at the Health Network of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile School of Medicine. Clusters of AIDs were identified by K-means cluster analysis. The PTPN22 C1858T gene polymorphism was determined by RT-PCR in subjects with pediatric polyautoimmunity and in subjects with three common AIDs: juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD), and type I diabetes (T1D).Results:191 subjects with pediatric AIDs were included, of which 45 (24%) had polyautoimmunity. Mean age was 12.1 years (range 1–19) and 68% were female. Most frequent AIDs were JIA (36%), AITD (25%), T1D (19%), uveitis (8%), celiac disease (6%), and vitiligo (6%). 59% of subjects with pediatric autoimmunity had first-degree relatives with an AID. Five clusters of AID were identified in families of children with autoimmunity (Table 1). Among the 45 subjects with pediatric polyautoimmunity, four clusters of AIDs were identified (Table 2). Genomic DNA from 128 subjects was evaluated for PTPN22 C1858T gene polymorphism revealing common homozygosity (C/C) in 85.2%, heterozygosity (C/T) in 13.3%, and rare homozygosity (T/T) in 1.6 %, in equilibrium with Hardy Weinberg equation (P = 0.4). 26% of polyautoimmune subjects had the T allele in contrast with 11% of monoautoimmune subjects (P = 0.04). No significant difference was found in the age of onset of autoimmunity between mono and polyautoimmune subjects (P = 0.44) or between subjects with C/C genotype vs. C/T and T/T genotypes (P = 0.81).
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Effect of weekly vitamin D supplementation on the severity of atopic dermatitis and type 2 immunity biomarkers in children: A randomized controlled trial
    (2024) Borzutzky Schachter, Arturo José; Iturriaga Ortiz, Carolina Alejandra; Pérez Mateluna, Guillermo Andres; Cristi, Francisca; Cifuentes Aguila, Lorena Isabel; Silva‐Valenzuela, Sergio; Vera Kellet, Cristian Andres; Cabalín Arenas, Carolina Andrea; Hoyos Bachiloglu, Rodrigo Andres; Navarrete Dechent, Cristian Patricio; Cossio Traverso, Maria Laura; Le Roy, Catalina; Camargo, Jr, Carlos A.
    Background: Vitamin D (VD) deficiency is common among patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) and often associated with severity. However, randomized trials of VD supplementation in AD have had equivocal results, and there is little information regarding the effect of VD supplementation on type 2 immunity in AD patients.Objectives: To investigate the efficacy of VD supplementation to decrease severity of AD and to alter type 2 immunity biomarkers.Methods: We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. We randomly assigned 101 children with AD to weekly oral vitamin D3 (VD3) or placebo for 6 weeks. The primary outcome was the change in the Severity Scoring of AD (SCORAD).Results: Mean age of subjects was 6.3 ± 4.0 years, and baseline SCORAD was 32 ± 29. At baseline, 57% of children were VD deficient, with no difference between groups. Change in 25(OH)D was significantly greater with VD3 than placebo (+43.4 ± 34.5 nmol/L vs. +2.3 ± 21.2 nmol/L, p < 0.001). SCORAD change at 6 weeks was not different between VD and placebo (-5.3 ± 11.6 vs. -5.5 ± 9.9, p = 0.91). There were no significant between-group differences in change of eosinophil counts, total IgE, Staphylococcal enterotoxin specific IgE, CCL17, CCL22, CCL27, LL-37 or Staphylococcus aureus lesional skin colonization. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms FokI, ApaI and TaqI did not modify subjects' response to VD supplementation.Conclusions: Among children with AD, weekly VD supplementation improved VD status but did not modify AD severity or type 2 immunity biomarkers compared to placebo (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01996423).