Evaluation of the relationship between infantile colic and minipuberty

Aim: Minipuberty and infantile colic coincide with each other. Nonetheless, the literature lacks studies that investigate the relationship between these entities. In this study, the relation between minipuberty and infantile colic was evaluated by comparing the levels of sex steroids in saliva between infants aged 1-2 months with and without infantile colic. Material and Method: Saliva samples were collected from 139 term, healthy infants who were aged 15-60 days and diagnosed with (n=68, male:31, female:37) or without (n=71, male: 37, female: 34) infantile colic according to the Rome IV criteria. The levels of estradiol in girls and testosterone in boys were studied in duplicate by using the ELISA method. The demographic and anthropometric attributes, characteristics of mother and father, physical examination, and laboratory findings were registered and compared by proper statistical methods. Results: The median (25-75p) age and birth week for infants were 33 (29-43) days and 39 (38,1-40) weeks, respectively. No difference was found between the levels of sex steroid hormones for infants with or without infantile colic. The girls who were diagnosed with infantile colic were born a median of 5 days earlier in contrary to the girls without an infantile colic diagnosis (p<0.001). Furthermore, the levels of estradiol and body mass index (BMI) standard deviation score (SDS) in physical examination indicated a positive correlation (rs = 0.393, p=0.016). BMI (p=0.018) and weight for height SDS (p=0.044) were significantly higher in boys who were diagnosed with infantile colic. In addition, weight SDS (rs =-0.424, p=0.017) and BMI SDS (rs =-0.528, p=0.002) indicated a significant negative correlation. A positive and significant correlation was found between the sampling time and testosterone levels of boys with infantile colic (rs=0.369, p=0.041). Conclusion: The levels of sex steroid in the saliva were similar among infants with or without infantile colic. It was determined that lower gestational week in term infants may be related to infantile colic in girls. In contrary to the control group, the levels of sex steroid and body mass index were associated in infants with infantile colic.