Fetal growth restriction…

The intrauterine growth–restricted (IUGR) heart is vulnerable to diabetic heart disease. Lim and colleagues examined the effect of induced type 1 diabetes on myocardial collagen deposition and cardiac function in IUGR adult rat offspring when blood glucose levels were controlled. The investigators concluded that exacerbated fibrosis in hyperglycemic IUGR hearts may lead to long-term cardiac dysfunction.

See Intrauterine growth restriction coupled with hyperglycemia: effects on cardiac structure in adult rats

…and hyperglycemia in utero

The intrauterine environment strongly influences adult disease susceptibility. Katkhuda and coinvestigators utilized a rat model of third-trimester maternal diabetes to test the hypothesis that adult offspring exposed to hyperglycemia in utero display increased blood pressure and alterations in vascular responsiveness. Their findings suggest that this exposure results in sex-specific cardiovascular changes in adult offspring.

See Sex-specific programming of hypertension in offspring of late-gestation diabetic rats

TOF repair and right ventricular dysfunction

Jeewa and colleagues investigated the association of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF1A) variants with right ventricular (RV) remodeling after repair of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) in children. They found that after TOF repair, lower numbers of HIF1A-functioning alleles were associated with RV dilation and dysfunction. This suggests that hypoxia adaptation in TOF may influence RV phenotype after repair.

See Genetic determinants of right-ventricular remodeling after tetralogy of Fallot repair

Predicting total adipose tissue

The measurement of adipose tissue depots in vivo requires expensive imaging methods not accessible to most clinicians and researchers. Bauer et al. wrote mathematical models to predict total adipose tissue (TAT) and subdepots from total body fat on the basis of information derived from dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. In general, the prediction equations for TAT and subdepots were consistent with the measured values obtained using one- and two-year follow-up data.

See Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry prediction of adipose tissue depots in children and adolescents

DNAJC19 gene mutation

In their case report of two brothers, Ojala and colleagues propose that a mutation in the human DNAJC19 gene has a role in early-onset dilated cardiomyopathy syndrome. DNAJC19 is a mitochondrial membrane protein that appears to cause methylglutaconic aciduria type V, one component of the syndrome.

See New mutation of mitochondrial DNAJC19 causing dilated and noncompaction cardiomyopathy, anemia, ataxia, and male genital anomalies

Mind the gap

The 2012 American Pediatric Society’s Keynote Presidential Address by F. Bruder Stapleton is featured in this issue. Dr. Stapleton discusses diversity in the pediatric clinical and academic workforce.

See American Pediatric Society 2012 Presidential Address: mind the gap