Dyslipidemia and Its Related Factors in Chinese Children and Adolescents with Turner Syndrome / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

[Objective] To analyze blood lipid and its related factors in Chinese children and adolescents with Turner syndrome.[Methods] The untreated TS patients were divided into two groups according to age (＜11 years old and 11～15 years old) and enrolled two groups of age-matched control girls,blood lipid and the incidence of dyslipidemia were compared between the four groups,the related factors of blood lipid were also analyzed.Moreover,TS patients were divided into two groups according to karyotype,including 45,XO karyotype (55 cases) and other karyotypes (53 cases),blood lipid and the incidence of dyslipidemia in two groups were compared.[Result] Compared to age-matched control girls,TS patients of age 11～15 years group had higher TG levels and higher incidence of hypertriglyceridemia and borderline-hypertriglyceridemia (P＜0.05) and the incidence of borderline-hypercholesterolemia was also significantly higher (P＜0.01).But there were no differences in blood lipid level,incidence of dyslipidemia and the incidence of borerline-dyslipidemia between TS patients who were less than 11 years old and age-matched control girls.Total cholesterol of TS patients was negatively related to bone age (P＜0.05).Triglyceride of TS patients was positively related to waist circumference (P＜0.01).TS patients of 45,XO karyotype had lower TG levels,higher HDL levels and lower incidence of low HDL,borderline-high non-HDL and borderline-hypertriglyceridemia compared with those of other karyotypes (P＜0.05).[Conclusions] Triglyceride in TS patients of age 11-15 years were higher than the control subjects,which may be related to estrogen deficiency and chromosome karyotype.

Effect of Letrozole on the Reproductive Function and Linear Growth in the Early and Mid Puberty Boys / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

[Objective] To investigate the effect of letrozole on the reproductive function and linear growth in the early and mid pubertal boys.[Methods] 43 early and middle pubertal boy with seriously damaged predict adult height,treated with letrozole 1.5 mg/m2/d Po ((＞)2.5mg/d) were enrolled as treatment group.48 cases of healthy pubertal boys were enrolled as control.Growth parameters,sex hormone profiles,IGF-1,AMH and Inhibin B (INHB) were elevated at the beginning and after letrozole treatment.[Results] At baseline,no significant differences appeared in age,bone age,observation time,height for chronological age,height for bone age,midparental target height,BMI,or testis volume between two groups.After intervention,treatment group of bone age delayed,predict adult height increased,testicular volume increased and BMI increased compared with the control group (P=0.001,0.018,0.002,and 0.027,respectively).The serum FSH,△FSH,LH,△LH,LH/FSH,T,and △T in the treatment groups were much higher (all P＜0.001),while the serum E2 and △ E2 levels were obviously lower than the control group (P=0.043 and P=0.033,respectively).17 cases of control group and 13 cases of treatment group had serum AMH,INHB level tested before and after letrozole treatment.Serum AMH level in the control group appeared with a decreasing trend with the progress of puberty,while the treatment group showed the opposite tendency.And the △ AMH was significant difference between control group and treatment group (P＜0.001).The serum INHB in the two groups increased in varying degrees after the intervention,the INHB level in control group increased more than the treatment group,but the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.517).[Conclusion] Letrozole treatment can elevated levels of serum T with E2 reduce,bone age delay,predict adult height improved,and can obviously promote the secondary sex characters development in adolescent boys.And the longer letrozole treatment time,the more obvious growth effect.As to the reproductive function,letrozole may have inhibitory effect on testis maturity and cannot deny testis sertoli cells function affected with letrozole exposure.

Genotypes and clinical features of 595 children with HbH disease in Guangxi, China / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the genotypes and clinical features of children with HbH disease in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 595 children from Guangxi were recruited. Single-tube multiplex polymerase chain reaction combined with agarose gel electrophoresis, as well as reverse dot blotting, were performed to detect the three α-globin gene deletion mutations (--(SEA), -α(3.7), and -α(4.2)) and three non-deletion mutations (Hb Westmead, Hb Constant Spring, and Hb Quong Sze) which are common in the Chinese population.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among the 595 cases, five common genotypes were identified, which were --(SEA)/-α(3.7) (232 cases), --(SEA)/α(CS)α (174 cases), --(SEA)/-α(4.2) (122 cases), --(SEA)/α(WS)α (35 cases), and --(SEA)/α(QS)α (24 cases). The genotype of THAI deletion associated with α-thalassemia-2 was detected in eight cases. Six β-mutations including CD41-42, CD17-28, CD26, IVS-II-654, IVS-I-1, and CD27-28 were identified in 23 cases. All children with HbH disease had microcytic hypochromic anemia; children with HbH-CS disease had the most severe anemia, and those with HbH-WS disease had the mildest anemia.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Deletional HbH disease is the main type in children with HbH disease in Guangxi, and some patients also have mild beta-thalassemia. Non-deletional HbH disease shows more severe phenotype than deletional HbH disease.</p>

Effect of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog combined with stanazolol on final height in girls with idiopathic central precocious puberty and apparent decrease of linear growth / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effect of combined use of stanazolol (ST) on the final adult height (FAH) in girls with idiopathic central precocious puberty (ICPP) and apparently decreased linear growth during gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog (GnRHa) therapy.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Sixty-three girls with ICPP and decreased velocity of growth of height (HV<4 cm/yr) during GnRHa therapy were divided into 3 groups based on the following types of interventions:group 1 (n = 20), GnRHa+ST [25-30 µg/(kg·d) every 3-month followed by 3-month discontinuation], group 2 (n = 21), GnRHa+recombinant human growth hormone [rhGH, 1-1.1 U/(kg·w)], group 3 (n = 22), GnRHa alone.HV, the advancement of bone age (BA) for chronological age (CA) (ΔBA/ΔCA) and FAH were compared among groups.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>(1)Total duration of ST combination therapy was (12.22 ± 3.62) months, while total duration of combination of rhGH was (13.22 ± 6.80) months. (2)HV increased significantly in both group 1 [ (2.79 ± 0.60) cm/yr vs. (6.27 ± 1.98) cm/yr, P < 0.01] and in group 2 [(2.80 ± 0.50) cm/yr vs. (6.25 ± 1.98) cm/yr, P < 0.01] during combined therapy, but maintained at low levels in group 3 [(3.95 ± 1.10) cm/yr vs. (3.34 ± 0.95) cm/yr, P > 0.05].No significant differences of ΔBA/ΔCA were found among the three groups [0.25(0.11∼0.28), 0.22(0.15∼0.31),0.19(0.10∼0.32), P > 0.05]. (3)FAH was significantly higher than predicted adult height (PAH) before combined therapy, as well as higher than target height (THt) in both group 1 [(156.25 ± 2.90) cm vs. (150.78 ± 3.70) cm, P < 0.01, (156.25 ± 2.90) cm vs. (153.94 ± 2.62) cm, P < 0.01], and in group2 [ (157.33 ± 4.69) cm vs. (152.61 ± 3.92) cm, P < 0.01, (157.33 ± 4.69) cm vs. (154.39 ± 4.72) cm, P = 0.01].In group 3, FAH was similar to PAH [(153.88 ± 2.6) cm vs. (152.54 ± 5.86) cm, P > 0.05], and was less than THt [(153.88 ± 2.6) cm vs. (155.60 ± 4.52) cm, P = 0.02]. (4)In girls treated with ST, no hirsutism, clitorism or hoarse voice was recorded.No polycystic ovary syndrome was found by B-mode ultrasound.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Intermittent combined use of low dose ST therapy can increase HV and thus improve FAH in girls with ICPP and apparently decreased linear growth during GnRHa therapy.</p>

Determination of serum steroids in monitoring therapy of congenital adrenal hyperplasia / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the utility of serum steroids measurement in monitoring the treatment of children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21OHD).</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Nineteen Patients with CAH 21OHD aged (3.67±1.54) years treated with hydrocortisone and fluorocortisone replacement were followed up at an intervals of 0.33 - 1.0 years over a period of (1.47±0.7) years. At each visit, roentgenograms of the hands and wrists were taken, fasting peripheral blood were collected to test serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP), androstenedione (Δ4-A), testosterone, free testosterone, estrone, and estradiol concentrations at 8 AM in the morning before the first dose of glucocorticoid. Then the patients were classified as being in "Good Control" or in "Poor Control" based on clinical criteria including signs of androgen excess, growth velocity and bone age increment at each interval. Comparisons were carried out between the serum steroid concentrations of the two groups. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the cut-off values for diagnosing "Poor Control".</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Both of serum Δ4-A and 17-OHP concentrations were higher in "Poor Control" group than those in "Good Control" group [5.95 (2.23-11.2) nmol/L versus 1.05 (1.05-9.89) nmol/L, t=2.19; 13.85 (6.06-20) µg/L versus 3.67 (0.42-21.1) µg/L, t=2.17; P<0.05, respectively]. The ROC curves for serum Δ4-A concentrations, serum 17-OHP concentrations, serum Δ4-A in combination with 17-OHP concentrations were constructed with areas under the ROC curves (95%CI) of 0.76 (0.62, 0.90), 0.75 (0.62, 0.88), 0.69 (0.54, 0.84), P<0.05, respectively. Serum Δ4-A of 3.9 nmol/L had 0.78 of sensitivity and 0.75 of specificity in diagnosing "Poor Control". Serum 17-OHP of 7.1 µg/L has 0.67 of sensitivity and 0.71 of specificity in diagnosing "Poor Control".</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Each of serum 17-OHP or/and Δ4-A concentration was of significance in diagnosing "Poor Control" during the glucocorticoid replacement treatment of CAH 21OHD, with the diagnostic efficacy being serum Δ4-A concentration, serum 17-OHP concentration and serum Δ4-A in combination with 17-OHP concentration in descending order. Serum Δ4-A and 17-OHP concentrations may be used as the biochemical indicators to monitor the therapy of CAH 21OHD.</p>

Construction, expression and immunogenicity analysis of a Tat N-terminus-deleted mutant fusion protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 / 病毒学报

In the study, a gene encoding Tat protein N terminal 1- 21 amino acid residues-deleted mutant (Tat22-101) was amplified by PCR from a full length Tat gene of human immunodeficiency virus type 1, and the prokaryotic expression plasmid pET32a-Tat22-101 was constructed. After identification by digestion with endonucleases and sequencing, the recombinant plasmid pET32a-Tat22-101 was transformed into E. coli BL21(DE3) and expressed with IPTG induction. The mutant fusion protein with deleted Tat N terminal was purified by an affinity chromatography column Ni(2+)-NTA and subsequently identified by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. The results showed that the molecular weight of the mutant protein was approximately 26.9kD. Furthermore, BALB/c mice were immunized with the mutant protein and the anti-sera were collected. ELISA results showed that the mutant protein preserved its immunogenicity, particularly it could improve the production of antibodies to other epitopes in addition to the N terminal epitope of Tat protein, which might provide some valuable information for the study of Tat functions as well as for development of potential novel HIV Tat vaccine.