Whole blood circular RNA hsa_circ_0002171 serves as a potential diagnostic biomarker for human adenovirus pneumonia in children

Severe pneumonia related to human adenoviruses (HAdVs) has a high lethality rate in children and its early diagnosis and treatment remain a major challenge. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are novel long noncoding RNAs that play important roles in gene regulation and disease pathogenesis. To investigate the roles of circRNAs in HAdV pneumonia, we analyzed the circRNA profiles of healthy children and children with HAdV pneumonia, including both mild and severe cases, and identified 139 significantly upregulated circRNAs in children with HAdV pneumonia vs healthy controls and 18 significantly upregulated circRNAs in children with severe HAdV pneumonia vs mild HAdV pneumonia. In particular, hsa_circ_0002171 was differentially expressed in both groups and might thus be useful as a diagnostic biomarker of HAdV pneumonia and severe HAdV pneumonia. To identify the underlying mechanisms of circRNAs in HAdV pneumonia, we analyzed the transcriptome of children with HAdV pneumonia and established a circRNA-mRNA regulatory network. Enrichment analysis of differentially expressed target mRNAs demonstrated that the differentially expressed genes between healthy controls and HAdV pneumonia patients were mainly involved in RNA splicing while the differentially expressed genes between children with mild and severe HAdV pneumonia were mainly involved in regulating lymphocyte activation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis suggested that hsa_circ_0002171 had a significant value in the diagnosis of HAdV pneumonia and of severe HAdV pneumonia. Taken together, the circRNA expression profile was altered in children with HAdV pneumonia. These results demonstrated that hsa_circ_0002171 is a potential diagnostic biomarker of HAdV pneumonia.

Relationship of gender and age on thyroid hormone parameters in a large Chinese population

ABSTRACT Objective This study aimed to present the impact of age and gender on thyroid hormone levels in a large Chinese population with sufficient iodine intake. Subjects and methods A total of 83643 individuals were included and were stratified by age and gender. The median, 2.5th and 97.5th of thyrotropin (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4) and FT3/FT4 ratio were calculated for both genders for every decade from 18 to over 80 years. TSH, FT3, FT4, FT3/FT4 distribution in each age group was evaluated for females and males using smoothing splines in the generalized additive models (GAM). TSH concentrations were compared in the different age groups in gender. Results In the over 80s age group, the TSH level (median: 2.57 mIU/L, 2.5th-97.5th: 0.86-7.56 mIU/L) was significantly higher than other age groups, irrespective to gender (P<0.001). Females had a higher TSH value than males in all age groups (P<0.001). Results of the smoothing curves showed that TSH increased with age, FT3 concentration was higher in males than in females and the tendency of the FT3/FT4 ratio was basically similar to that of FT3. TSH concentration in the 50s age group (median 2.48 mIU/L for females versus 2.00 mIU/L for males) was significantly higher than that in the 30s age group (median 2.18 mIU/L for females versus median 1.85 mIU/L for males). Conclusions In accord with increasing TSH values during aging, females and older adults have lower FT3 values and lower FT3/FT4 ratios, while the FT4 values remain stable.

Early- and mid-term outcomes of surgical repair of persistent truncus arteriosus in children / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@#Objective To evaluate the early- and mid-term outcomes of surgical repair of persistent truncus arteriosus in children in a single institution of China. Methods The clinical data of 27 consecutive patients with persistent truncus arteriosus undergoing surgical repair in Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center from November 2009 to May 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. There were 14 males and 13 females. Median age was 3.0 months (range: 13 days -11 years), of whom 10 (37.0%) were older than 6 months. Results There were three early deaths with a mortality of 11.1%. The main complications included VSD partial repair in 2 patients, complete atrioventricular block in one patient. The mean follow-up time was 24.5±19.3 months (range: 1–76 months). There were three late deaths, and two patients lost follow. Echocardiology showed seven patients of right heart outflow tract obstruction, including three in pulmonary artery trunk, and four of pulmonary artery branches. One patient showed moderate aortic valve regurgitation. None required re-intervention during the follow-up. Survival estimates for the entire cohort following surgery were both 76.1% (95%CI 59.2% to 92.9%) at 1 year and 5 years. Conclusion The surgical repair of persistent truncus arteriosus (PTA) remains challenges. The early- and mid-term outcomes of surgical repair of persistent truncus arteriosus are acceptable. For older children with severe pulmonary artery hypertension and/or trunk valve regurgitation, the risk of death is still higher. Some children have the higher risk of late right heart obstructive lesions.

Effects of Xingpi Yang'er granule on serum gastrin, plasma motilin, and somatostatin contents in children patients with pneumonia induced diarrhea / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effects of Xingpi Yang'er Granule (XYG) on serum gastrin (GAS), plasma motilin (MOT), and somatostatin (SS) in children patients with pneumonia induced diarrhea.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Recruited were 120 children inpatients with pneumonia induced diarrhea at the Department of Pediatrics, Liaocheng People's Hospital from June 2011 to June 2012. They were randomly assigned to two groups, the treatment group and the control group, 60 in each group. Those in the treatment group were treated with XYG, while those in the control group were treated with Live Combined Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus Tablets. Besides, 30 healthy children who received physical examinations at our hospital were recruited as the healthy control group. The clinical efficacy, changes of GAS, MOT, and SS contents were observed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total effective rate was 95.0% in the treatment group and 93.3% in the control group, showing no statistical difference (P > 0.05). Compared with healthy control group, the GAS and MOT contents increased, and SS decreased before treatment in the other two groups (P < 0.05). Compared with the same group before treatment, GAS and MOT contents obviously decreased, and SS increased in the other two groups after treatment (P<0.05). Compared with the control group at the same time point, GAS and MOT decreased, and SS increased in the treatment group after treatment, showing statistical differences (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The levels of GAS, MOT, and SS were obviously changed in children patients with pneumonia induced diarrhea. XYG had obvious regulation on their GAS, MOT and SS contents.</p>

Value of Golgi protein 73 monoclonal antibody in diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma / 中国医学科学院学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the sensitivity and specificity of Golgi protein 73 (GP73) monoclonal antibody in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Self-prepared GP73 monoclonal antibody was used as the primary antibody for detecting the serum GP73 levels in healthy controls(n=31)and HCC patients (n=59). The baseline level of the healthy controls was determined by semiquantitative analysis. The results were compared with those from GP73 polyclonal antibody and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The GP73 level of healthy controls was 1.2 (0.9-1.7) relative unit (RU), which was significantly lower than that of HCC patients [5.7 (2.5-7.8) RU] (P<0.001) with monoclonal antibody. Using polyclonal antibody, the GP73 level of HCC patients was also significantly higher than healthy controls [7.8 (3.0-12.4) RU vs. 1.1 (1.0-2.0) RU, P<0.001]. The sensitivity and specificity of GP73 monoclonal antibody in diagnosis of HCC were 84.7% and 93.5%; on the contrary, those of GP73 polyclonal antibody were 78.0% and 93.5%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of AFP (67.8% and 74.2%, respectively) in the HCC patients were markedly lower than those of GP73. Logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratio (OR) of GP73 monoclonal antibody was 7.18 and that of GP73 polyclonal antibody was 1.51.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Our self-prepared monoclonal antibody can effectively detect GP73 serum level in HCC patients, and has higher sensitivity and specificity than AFP. It may be superior to the currently used GP73 polyclonal antibody. The results lay the foundation for the further development of ELISA methods by using this monoclonal antibody.</p>