This study investigated the relationship between the stimulated peak growth hormone (PGH) level and comprehensive metabolic markers for glucose and lipid metabolism, and liver steatosis in prepubertal children with GH deficiency (GHD).

Sixty-nine prepubertal children with GHD were divided into overweight/obesity (body mass index [BMI]≥85th percentile) and normal BMI groups. The associations between PGH level and metabolic parameters including homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), lipid profiles, AST, and ALT were evaluated.

The LDL cholesterol level was significantly higher in the overweight/obesity group than in the normal BMI group. PGH level was negatively associated with the BMI SD score (SDS) (r=−0.26, P=0.029) and ALT (r=−0.36, P=0.004) levels, whereas it was positively associated with the HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) level (r=0.38, P=0.002). In multivariate analyses, PGH level was positively associated with HDL-C level (P=0.002) and negatively associated with ALT level (P=0.028) after adjusting for age, sex, BMI SDS, HOMA-IR, and TG level.

PGH level in pre-pubertal children with GHD was positively and negatively associated with HDL-C and ALT, respectively, even if they were within normal range, regardless of BMI.

The Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test Device (Panbio COVID-19 Ag, Abbott Rapid Diagnostics) is a lateral flow immunochromatographic assay targeting the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleoprotein in nasopharyngeal specimens for the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed to verify the performance of the Panbio COVID-19 Ag for implementation in clinical laboratories.

Sixty nasopharyngeal swab specimens (30 positive and 30 negative) dipped in transport medium, and COVID-19 was confirmed using real-time RT-PCR using Allplex SARS-CoV-2 assay (Seegene), were tested using the Panbio COVID-19 Ag. Reproducibility was evaluated using positive and negative control materials. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated based on the results of real-time RT-PCR as the standard test method.

Reproducibility was confirmed by the consistent results of repeated tests of the quality control materials. The overall sensitivity and specificity of Panbio COVID-19 Ag were 50.0% and 100.0%, respectively. Panbio COVID-19 Ag demonstrated high sensitivity (88.2%) in analyzing the detection limit cycle threshold (Ct) value of 26.67 provided by the manufacturer as a positive criterion, and the sensitivity was 100.0% for the positive criterion of Ct values <25, although it was less sensitive for Ct ≥25.

Considering the high sensitivity for positive samples with Ct values <25 and the rapid turnaround of results, Panbio COVID-19 Ag can be used in clinical laboratories to diagnose COVID-19 in limited settings.