Peripheral blood biological markers for early screening in children with autism spectrum disorder / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To investigate the specifity of amyloid precursor protein(APP), brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)and gamma aminobutyric acid(GABA) in peripheral blood in children with autism spectrum disorder, so as to explore the biomarkers for early screening of ASD and its relationship with the severity of ASD.@*Methods@#A total of 41 children diagnosed with autism from January to December 2019 were enrolled in the ASD group. Meanwhile, 41 healthy children with normal growth and development who were examined in the same period were selected as control group. And the sera total sAPP, sAPP α, sAPP β, BDNF and GABA of all participants were tested by sensitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay method, and were compared between the two groups.@*Results@#The serum sAPP level in ASD group(2 132.98±333.28 ng/mL) was higher than control group(1 734.76 ±357.97 ng/mL),the serum sAPP α level(335.11±33.87 pg/mL) was higher than control group(274.84±32.12 pg/mL) and the serum GABA level(4.17±0.95 μmol/L)was lower than control group(6.35±0.84 μmol/L). GABA level (4.17±0.95 μmol/L) was lower than that of control group (6.35±0.84 μmol/L), the differences were statistically significant ( t =3.92, 4.25, -7.27, P < 0.05 ). In addition, the serum GABA level in children with severe ASD (3.48±0.77 μmol/L)was lower than children with mild to moderate (4.94±0.98 μmol/L).The difference was significant ( t =-3.31, P <0.05). ROC curve showed that total sAPP( AUC = 0.77 ,95% CI =0.66-0.87), sAPP α( AUC =0.77,95%CI=0.67-0.87), and GABA ( AUC =0.95,95% CI =0.90-0.93)had diagnostic efficacy for ASD( P <0.05), among which the AUC of GABA was the largest (0.95)and its sensitivity(85.65%) and specificity(80.76%) were the highest. The results of binary Logistic regression showed that the abnormal expression of sAPPα ( OR =1.04,95% CI = 1.00- 1.07) and GABA( OR =0.02,95% CI =0.00-0.32) were associated with risk for ASD( P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#Considering the specific change of total sAPP, sAPPα andGABA in peripheral blood in ASD children, total sAPP, sAPP α and GABA can be considered as promising biomarkers in the early diagnosis of ASD, among which GABA has the highest sensitivity and specificity.

Sexual orientation and characteristics of sexual behaviors among 200 HIV positive male college students in Beijing / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand sexual orientation and characteristics of sexual behaviors related with HIV infection among HIV positive male college students in Beijing and to provide suggestions for development of sexual health education and HIV prevention strategy for student population.@*Methods@#HIV positive male college students diagnosed from 2016 to June 30, 2019 in Beijing were recruited. Questionnaire was used to retrospectively investigate sexual orientation and characteristics of sexual behaviors before HIV infection. Behaviors related to HIV infection were compared between absolutely homosexual and others sexual orientation.@*Results@#The average age of male students firstly identified to be HIV positive was (22.18±2.70) years old, 61.5%(123) of them were undergraduate, 69.5%(139) were not registered permanent residency in Beijing, 38.5%(77) of their interviewed sexual partners were from online chat and 83.0%(166) had homosexual behaviors. Sexual orientation score analysis showed that 50.0% of the participants self identified as exclusively homosexual. Compared with other sexual oriental group, exclusively homosexual group had lower mean age of their HIV infection firstly identified（ t =2.77， P =0.01）, higher rate of Rush use, firstly insertive sexual behavior with male, firstly insertive sexual behavior before 18 years old, sexual partners more than three persons, having regular partners, nonpersistent use of condom, being diagnosed of sexual transmitted disease and the frequency of homosexual behaviors more than 1 time per month （ χ 2=5.15,28.06,4.16,5.34,5.89,7.39,6.68, P <0.05）. Rush users had higher rate of STD diagnosis than non users in exclusively homosexual group ( χ 2=6.26， P =0.01).@*Conclusion@#Risky sexual behaviors associated with HIV infection were higher in exclusively homosexual group then other sexual orientation groups among HIV positive male college students. Family and school should concern with sexual health education byreinforcing health education via network media to improve college students’ awarenees on HIV/AIDS.

Rush use and related factors among HIV positive young male students in Beijing / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#This study investigated the use of rush and related factors among HIV positive male students in Beijing, and provided suggestions for education and intervention.@*Methods@#Data on HIV positive male students was collected from 2017 to June 30, 2020 in Beijing and analyzed in SPSS 20.0.@*Results@#A total of 200 valid questionnaires were collected. The mean age at HIV diagnosis was (22.18±2.70) years. The rate of using rush was 46.00%. The proportion with homosexual behavior before infection was 92.00%. The results of multivariate analysis showed that meeting sexual partners through the Internet( OR=3.84, 95%CI =1.65-8.96), drinking alcohol( OR=3.26, 95%CI =1.51-7.02), group homosexual behavior( OR=4.84, 95%CI =1.71-13.71), and STD diagnosis ( OR=0.23, 95%CI =1.02-4.87) were associated with the use of rush before infection.@*Conclusion@#The rate of rush use was higher among male students infected with HIV. Government regulation could be strengthened and drug abuse could be prevented through better health education for students.

Epidemiology of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection among youth aged 15-24 years in Beijing during 2010-2019 / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To investigate epidemiological features of genital Chlamydia trachomatis(Ct) infection among youth aged 15-24 years in Beijing, so as to provide scientific basis for developing control strategies.@*Methods@#Data regarding genital Ct infection among youth aged 15-24 years were collected from the disease surveillance information reporting system in Beijing between 2010 and 2019 and were analyzed with the descriptive epidemiological method.@*Results@#During 2010-2019, a total of 1 871 cases of Ct infection was reported, 1 287(68.79%) of the cases were female. The reported incidence rate of genital Ct infection increased from 3.16 per 100 000 in 2010 to 25.15 per 100 000 in 2019, with an average annual increasing rate of 25.92%( χ 2=836.86, P < 0.01 ). Increasing trends in the reported incidence were observed among males and females, females being higher than males in the year 2010 and 2012. The reported incidence rates increased annually in all age groups between 2010 and 2019, and the average annual rate of increase was highest in the group aged 15-19 years.@*Conclusion@#The reported rate of genital Ct infection showed an increasing trend among youth aged 15-24 years in Beijing, and increased rapidly among youth aged 15-24 years. More attention should be paid on sexual and reproductive health education among adolescents. Epidemic of genital Ct infection should be concerned, and its surveillance need to be improved.

Intra-host genetic evolution of HIV-1 pol gene and estimation of infection time for five infections / 预防医学

Objective@#To explore the intra-host genetic evolution of HIV-1 pol gene via follow-up for treatment-naïve HIV infections, and estimate the infection time with Bayesian coalescent theory, so as to support the evaluation of HIV epidemic. @*Methods@#Five cases were recruited and followed up. The pol gene fragments were amplified for the characteristics of transmitted drug resistance ( TDR ) by RT-PCR. Bayesian coalescent theory was utilized to construct maximum clade credibility ( MCC ) tree for genetic evolution and calculate the time to the most recent common ancestor ( tMRCA ). @*Results@#The five cases were all male, and aged from 27 to 50 years old.Five to nine sampling times were obtained from each case, and the pol gene sequences from each case formed a unique subcluster (posterior probability: 100% ), with different evolution characteristics, in the MCC tree. The three cases in primary HIV-1 infection were estimated to be infected one to five months before the first positive reaction of HIV screening, whereas the two HIV-1 diagnosed cases at first screening were extrapolated to get infected fourteen months and seven months before diagnosis, respectively. One case with acute HIV-1 infection carried TDR mutation ( M46I ) , expressing fast disease progress and quasispecies variation. @*Conclusions@#The general infection time can be estimated by analyzing the characteristics of intra-host genetic evolution of HIV-1 pol gene with Bayesian coalescent theory, and this method can help to estimate the HIV epidemic.

Behavioral problems of HIV infected children / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand the behavioral problems of children infected with HIV, and to provide reference for further psychological intervention.@*Methods@#The survey was conducted from January to December 2017. A total of 256 HIV-infected 10-16 years old school-aged children who were receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Control and Prevention were invited to participate. Another 256 children without HIV infection who were matched with sex and age were selected as the control group. Achenbach Children’s Behavior Scale was used to conduct psychological questionnaires in the two groups of children.@*Results@#Activity, social competence, and learning ability in the study group scored lower than control group (P<0.05). In children with HIV infection group, score of social competence in boys and girls aged 10-11 years were (14.35±3.96) (15.26±5.00), respectively, and was (14.21±4.64) and (14.57±5.50) in boys and girls aged 12-16 years was significantly lower than age and sex-matched control group (19.38±6.77 and 18.09±5.16 in boys and girls aged 10-11 years, 17.26±6.88 and 17.84±6.76 in boys and girls aged 12-16 years) (P<0.05). The total detection rate of behavioral problems in the study group (13% and 10% in boys and girls aged 10-11 years, 17% and 13% in boys and girls aged 12-16 years) was significantly higher than that in the control group (5% and 3% in boys and girls aged 10-11 years, both 4% in boys and girls aged 12-16 years) (P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#Behavioral problems in HIV-infected children are prevalent, which worth more attention to carry out psychological intervention among this vulnerable population.

High Mobility Group Box 1 in Preterm Infants with Intraventricular Hemorrhage.

We studied the level of high mobility group box 1(HMGB1) in preterm infants with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH). Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the concentration of HMGB1 in cord blood obtained from 41 infants with IVH and 67 infants without IVH were measured. The cord blood concentration of HMGB1 in infants with IVH were significantly higher than those without IVH (P=0.041). Increased levels of HMGB1 might be associated with IVH in preterm infants.