Effectiveness of azithromycin mass drug administration on trachoma: a systematic review / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUNDS@#Azithromycin mass drug administration (MDA) is a key part of the strategy for controlling trachoma. This systematic review aimed to comprehensively summarize the present studies of azithromycin MDA on trachoma; provide an overview of the impact of azithromycin MDA on trachoma in different districts; and explore the possible methods to enhance the effectiveness of azithromycin MDA in hyperendemic districts.@*METHODS@#PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched up to February 2021 with no language restriction. Studies reporting the effect of azithromycin MDA on trachoma were included. Mathematical modeling studies, animal studies, case reports, and reviews were excluded. The trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) 30.0%), especially with baseline TF >50.0%, annual MDA was unable to achieve the TF 10.0% is not appropriate for all eligible districts.

Clinical features of coronavirus disease 2019 in children: a systemic review of severe acute respiratory syndrome, Middle East respiratory syndrome, and coronavirus disease 2019 / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To systematically summarize the clinical features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children.@*METHODS@#PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, Weipu Database, and Wanfang Database were searched for clinical studies on COVID-19 in children published up to May 21, 2020. Two reviewers independently screened the articles, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of the studies included. A descriptive analysis was then performed for the studies. Related indices between children with COVID-19 and severe acute respiratory syndromes (SARS) or Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) were compared.@*RESULTS@#A total of 75 studies were included, with a total of 806 children with COVID-19. The research results showed that the age of the children ranged from 36 hours after birth to 18 years, with a male-female ratio of 1.21 : 1. Similar to SARS and MERS, COVID-19 often occurred with familial aggregation, and such cases accounted for 74.6% (601/806). The children with COVID-19, SARS, and MERS had similar clinical symptoms, mainly fever and cough. Some children had gastrointestinal symptoms. The children with asymptomatic infection accounted for 17.9% (144/806) of COVID-19 cases, 2.5% (2/81) of SARS cases, and 57.1% (12/21) of MERS cases. The children with COVID-19 and MERS mainly had bilateral lesions on chest imaging examination, with a positive rate of lesions of 63.4% (421/664) and 26.3% (5/19) respectively, which were lower than the corresponding positive rates of viral nucleic acid detection, which were 99.8% and 100% respectively. The chest radiological examination of the children with SARS mainly showed unilateral lesion, with a positive rate of imaging of 88.9% (72/81), which was higher than the corresponding positive rate of viral nucleic acid detection (29.2%). Viral nucleic acid was detected in the feces of children with COVID-19 or SARS, with positive rates of 60.2% (56/93) and 71.4% (5/7) respectively. The children with COVID-19 had a rate of severe disease of 4.6% (31/686) and a mortality rate of 0.1% (1/806), the children with SARS had a rate of severe disease of 1.5% (1/68) and a mortality rate of 0%, and those with MERS had a rate of severe disease of 14.3% (3/21) and a mortality rate of 9.5% (2/21).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Children with COVID-19 have similar symptoms to those with SARS or MERS, mainly fever and cough. Asymptomatic infection is observed in all three diseases. Children with COVID-19 or SARS have milder disease conditions than those with MERS. COVID-19 in children often occurs with familial aggregation. Epidemiological contact history, imaging examination findings, and viral nucleic acid testing results are important bases for the diagnosis of COVID-19.

Novel Long Non-coding RNA Markers for Prognostic Prediction of Patients with Bladder Cancer / 中国医学科学杂志(英文版)

Objective To explore novel long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) molecular markers related to bladder cancer prognosis and to construct a prognostic prediction model for bladder cancer patients. Methods LncRNA expression data of patients with bladder cancer were downloaded from TCGA database. Univariate Cox regression and likelihood-based survival analysis were used to discover prognosis related lncRNAs. Functional studies of prognosis related lncRNAs were conducted by co-expression analysis and pathway enrichment analysis. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to establish risk score model, and Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis was used to determine the optimal cut-off point of the model. The risk score model was validated through Kaplan Meier estimation method and log-rank test. Results Seven prognosis related lncRNAs (OCIAD1-AS1, RP11-111J6.2, AC079354.3, RP11-553A21.3, RP11-598F7.3, CYP4F35P and RP11-113K21.4) which can predict survival of bladder cancer patient were discovered. Co-expression analysis and pathway analysis of these novel lncRNA signature and their target genes further revealed that these lncRNAs play important roles in the occurrence and development of bladder cancer. Additionally, a seven-lncRNA signature based risk score model for prognostic prediction of bladder cancer patients was established and validated. Notably, we identified the potential significance of two tumor-related antisense lncRNAs (OCIAD1-AS1 and RP11-553A21.3) in the prognosis of bladder cancer. Conclusion Our results suggest that these lncRNA markers may serve as potential prognosis predictors for bladder cancer and deserve further functional verification studies.

Effect of irisin on hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in neonatal rats / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To study the effect and mechanism of action of irisin on hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in neonatal rats.@*METHODS@#A total of 248 7-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a sham-operation group, a model group, and low- and high-dose irisin intervention groups (n=62 each). The rats in the model and irisin intervention groups were given hypoxic treatment after right common carotid artery ligation to establish a model of hypoxic-ischemic brain damage. Those in the sham-operation group were given the separation of the right common carotid artery without ligation or hypoxic treatment. The rats in the high- and low-dose irisin intervention groups were given intracerebroventricular injection of recombinant irisin polypeptide at a dose of 0.30 µg and 0.15 µg respectively. Those in the model and sham-operation groups were given the injection of an equal volume of PBS. The water maze test was used to compare neurological behaviors between groups. TTC staining, hematoxylin-eosin staining and TUNEL staining were used to observe histopathological changes of the brain. Western blot was used to measure the expression of the apoptosis-related molecules cleaved-caspase-3 (CC3), BCL-2 and BAX.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the sham-operation group, the model group had a significant increase in latency time and a significant reduction in the number of platform crossings (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, the high-dose irisin intervention group had a significant reduction in latency time and a significant increase in the number of platform crossings (P<0.05). Compared with the sham-operation group, the model group had massive infarction in the right hemisphere, with significant increases in karyopyknosis and karyorrhexis. Compared with the model group, the high-dose irisin intervention group had a smaller infarct area of the right hemisphere, with reductions in karyopyknosis and karyorrhexis. The model group had a significantly higher apoptosis rate of cells in the right cerebral cortex and the hippocampus than the sham-operation group. The high-dose irisin intervention group had a significantly lower apoptosis rate than the model group (P<0.05). At 24 and 48 hours after modeling, the sham-operation group had a significantly lower level of CC3 than the model group (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, the high-dose irisin intervention group had a significantly lower level of CC3 and a significantly higher BCL-2/BAX ratio (P<0.05). The low-dose irisin intervention group had similar laboratory markers and histopathological changes of the brain to the model group.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Irisin can alleviate hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in neonatal rats in a dose-dependent manner, possibly by reducing cell apoptosis in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus.

Research advances in the effect of bioactive substances in breast milk on the growth and development of infants / 中国当代儿科杂志

There are various types of bioactive substances in human breast milk, such as active proteins, growth factors, cytokines, oligosaccharides, probiotics and cells. Many studies have shown that these bioactive substances in breast milk have important protective effects on infant growth and development, including anti-bacterial and anti-viral effects and the promotion of infant growth and development and immunologic maturation. They can also reduce the incidence rate of infectious diseases in infants, improve neural development in preterm infants, and reduce the risk of obesity and diabetes in future. However, there is still no clinical evidence for the effects of several active substances in breast milk, and their immunoregulatory mechanism remains unclear. Therefore, further studies are needed for clarification.

Pediatric projects funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China from 2009 to 2018: retrospect and prospects / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To perform a review and data analysis of the pediatric projects funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China from 2009 to 2018, and to investigate the changes in key support areas, research interest, and research hotspots in pediatrics.@*METHODS@#The database of National Natural Science Foundation of China was searched to screen out pediatric research projects in 2009-2018, and the changes in funding intensity and research direction were analyzed.@*RESULTS@#From 2009 to 2018, a total of 1 017 pediatric projects were funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China, with 485 (47.69%) General Projects, 426 (41.89%) Youth Fund Projects, 73 (7.18%) Regional Research Programs, 16 (1.57%) Key Programs, 6 (0.59%) Outstanding Youth Fund Projects, 7 (0.69%) Overseas Programs, and 4 (0.39%) other programs. There was a seven-fold increase in the total amount of subsidies, which increased from 8.42 million yuan in 2009 to 66.25 million yuan in 2018. The projects with the Primary Discipline Code of reproductive system/perinatology/neonatology, nervous system and mental illness, or circulatory system received the highest amount of fund.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The support of pediatric projects by National Natural Science Foundation of China continues to increase in the past ten years, and the main types of projects are General Projects and Youth Fund Projects. Neonatology, nervous system/mental illness, and circulatory diseases are the main directions of funded projects.

A visualization analysis of current research on stem cell transplantation in the treatment of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To reveal the current research status on stem cell transplantation in the treatment of neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), and to summarize the recent hotspots of the research in this field.@*METHODS@#Using the key words of "stem cells" and "HIE", a computerized search was performed for the articles in English published before June 1, 2018 in PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Microsoft Office Excel 2013 was used for the statistical analysis of key words. Bicomb 2.0 and VOSviewer 1.6.6 were used for the cluster analysis of hot words and plotting of knowledge maps, respectively.@*RESULTS@#A total of 106 articles were included and 43 high-frequency key words were extracted. The words of "cell transplantation" and "hypoxia-ischemia" were in the core position of the co-word map. The cluster analysis showed that the studies of stem cell transplantation in the treatment of neonatal HIE mainly focused on umbilical cord blood cell transplantation (32.6%), mesenchymal stem cells and neural stem cells (29.5%), perinatal brain injury (28.1%), and other topics (9.8%).@*CONCLUSIONS@#In the current studies of stem cell transplantation in the treatment of neonatal HIE, umbilical cord blood cell transplantation, mesenchymal stem cells, neural stem cells, and perinatal brain injury are popular research topics at different levels.

A review on the relationship between mitochondrial dysfunction and white matter injury in preterm infants / 中国当代儿科杂志

White matter injury in preterm infants has a complex etiology and can lead to long-term neurocognitive and behavioral deficits, but there are still no specific treatment methods for this disease at present. More and more studies have shown that mitochondrial dysfunction plays an important role in the pathogenesis of white matter injury in preterm infants and might be a common subcellular mechanism of white matter developmental disorder, which involves oxidative stress, reduced ATP synthesis, and disequilibrium of calcium homeostasis. This article reviews the role of mitochondria in brain development and the mechanism of mitochondrial dysfunction, with a hope to perform early intervention of white matter injury in preterm infants by protecting mitochondrial function, so as to provide a reference for improving the neurodevelopmental outcome of preterm infants who survive.

Secretory expression of recombinant porcine zona pellucida glycoprotein-3alpha (rpZP3alpha) in Pichia pastoris / 生物工程学报

To obtain the recombinant pZP3alpha protein for the study of the contraceptive vaccines, the DNA sequence (446-1423) encoding purified pZP3alpha was inserted into a vector--pPICZalphaA. The recombinant plasmid pPICZalphaA-pZP3alpha was linearized and then transformed into Pichia pastoris GS115 by electroporation. Engineering strains were attained by screening with zeocin and induced to produce rpZP3alpha in high-density fermentation. Then rpZP3alpha was purified by Cu2+ metal affinity column chromatography from the separated and concentrated fermentative supernatants. The purified rpZP3alpha was identified by SDS-PAGE and Western blot, and the quantity, purity and rate of recovery of the rpZP3alpha were analyzed by Quantity One software. One male rabbit was immunized with the Cu-NTA-purified rpZP3alpha. The antibody responses against rpZP3alpha and porcine ZP were detected by ELISA and the indirect immunofluorescence. Engineering strains expressing rpZP3alpha in secretion were constructed. A 46kD component named rpZP3alpha which can react with anti-pZP3 antibody was purified from fermentative supernatants of engineering strains and the average yield of purified rpZP3alpha obtained from fermentative supernatants was 8mg/L. The purity and the rate of recovery were up to 92% and 63% respectively. The anti-rpZP3alpha antiserum was prepared by immunization of a male rabbit with purified rpZP3alpha. This anti-rpZP3alpha antiserum could react with rpZP3alpha and purified pZP3 in ELISA and bind to porcine zona pellucida which produced bright green fluorescence in the indirect immunofluorescence. The rpZP3alpha (46kD) protein could be successfully expressed in the Pichia pastoris expression system. And this protein retained the immunogenic activity of natural pZP3.