Characteristics of amino acid metabolism in preterm infants in Guangxi, China / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To study the characteristics of amino acid metabolism in preterm infants in Guangxi, China.@*METHODS@#A retrospective analysis was performed on the medical data of 30 757 neonates who underwent the screening for inherited metabolic diseases and had negative results in Guangxi Neonatal Disease Screening Center from 2018 to 2020. Among these neonates, there were 28 611 normal full-term infants (control group) and 2 146 preterm infants (preterm birth group). According to gestational age, the preterm infants were further divided into four groups: very preterm (n=209), moderately preterm (n=307), and late preterm group (n=1 630). According to birth weight, they were divided into three groups: very low birth weight group (n=161), low birth weight group (n=1 085), and normal birth weight group (n=900). According to blood collection time, they were divided into three groups: 3-7 days group (n=1 664), 8-14 days group (n=314) and 15-28 days group (n=168). Tandem mass spectrometry was performed to measure the levels of 11 amino acids in dried blood spots, which were then compared between groups.@*RESULTS@#After adjustment for confounding factors, there were significant differences in the levels of 11 amino acids among different gestational age groups (P<0.05), and significant differences were observed in the levels of the 11 amino acids between the control group and the various preterm groups (except for citrulline and methionine in the late preterm group). There were significant differences in the levels of 11 amino acids among different birth weight groups (P<0.05). Except for ornithine, there were significant differences in the levels of other amino acids among the different blood collection time groups (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Gestational age, birth weight and blood collection time all affect amino acid metabolism in preterm infants in Guangxi, China. This provides a basis for the laboratory to establish the reference standard and clinical interpretation of blood amino acid levels in preterm infants, and to improve the nutritional metabolism of preterm infants.

Relationship between body mass index and sexual development in Chinese children / 中华儿科杂志

Objective: To investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and sexual development in Chinese children. Methods: A nationwide multicenter and population-based large cross-sectional study was conducted in 13 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities of China from January 2017 to December 2018. Data on sex, age, height, weight were collected, BMI was calculated and sexual characteristics were analyzed. The subjects were divided into four groups based on age, including ages 3-<6 years, 6-<10 years, 10-<15 years and 15-<18 years. Multiple Logistic regression models were used for evaluating the associations of BMI with sexual development in children. Dichotomous Logistic regression was used to compare the differences in the distribution of early and non-early puberty among normal weight, overweight and obese groups. Curves were drawn to analyze the relationship between the percentage of early puberty and BMI distribution in girls and boys at different Tanner stages. Results: A total of 208 179 healthy children (96 471 girls and 111 708 boys) were enrolled in this study. The OR values of B2, B3 and B4+ in overweight girls were 1.72 (95%CI: 1.56-1.89), 3.19 (95%CI: 2.86-3.57), 7.14 (95%CI: 6.33-8.05) and in obese girls were 2.05 (95%CI: 1.88-2.24), 4.98 (95%CI: 4.49-5.53), 11.21 (95%CI: 9.98-12.59), respectively; while the OR values of G2, G3, G4+ in overweight boys were 1.27 (95%CI: 1.17-1.38), 1.52 (95%CI: 1.36-1.70), 1.88 (95%CI: 1.66-2.14) and in obese boys were 1.27 (95%CI: 1.17-1.37), 1.59 (95%CI: 1.43-1.78), and 1.93 (95%CI: 1.70-2.18) (compared with normal weight Tanner 1 group,all P<0.01). Analysis in different age groups found that OR values of obese girls at B2 stage and boys at G2 stage were 2.02 (95%CI: 1.06-3.86) and 2.32 (95%CI:1.05-5.12) in preschool children aged 3-<6 years, respectively (both P<0.05). And in the age group of 6-10 years, overweight girls had a 5.45-fold risk and obese girls had a 12.54-fold risk of B3 stage compared to girls with normal BMI. Compared with normal weight children, the risk of early puberty was 2.67 times higher in overweight girls, 3.63 times higher in obese girls, and 1.22 times higher in overweight boys, 1.35 times higher in obese boys (all P<0.01). Among the children at each Tanner stages, the percentage of early puberty increased with the increase of BMI, from 5.7% (80/1 397), 16.1% (48/299), 13.8% (27/195) to 25.7% (198/769), 65.1% (209/321), 65.4% (157/240) in girls aged 8-<9, 10-<11 and 11-<12 years, and 6.6% (34/513), 18.7% (51/273), 21.6% (57/264) to 13.3% (96/722), 46.4% (140/302), 47.5% (105/221) in boys aged 9-<10, 12-<13 and 13-<14 years, respectively. Conclusions: BMI is positively correlated with sexual development in both Chinese boys and girls, and the correlation is stronger in girls. Obesity is a risk factor for precocious puberty in preschool children aged 3-<6 years, and 6-<10 years of age is a high risk period for early development in obese girls.

Effect of Danggui Shaoyaosan on Copper Ion-mediated Aβ Aggregation in AD Cell Model / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To investigate the effect of copper ion(Cu2+) on the aggregation and neurotoxicity of Aβ, and affirm the role of Danggui Shaoyaosan in vitro,the Neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells treated with β-amyloid 1-42 (Aβ1-42) and Cu2+ were used as a vitro models of Alzheimer's disease(AD). Method:Aβ 1-42 (20 μmol·L-1) was reacted with different concentrations of copper sulfate (CuSO4,20,40 μmol·L-1), and then the thioflavine T (ThT) staining method was used to detect the Aβ aggregation state. The Aβ aggregation status was also detected by ThT staining in the Aβ1-42-Cu2+ group(20+20 μmol·L-1), and Danggui Shaoyaosan groups(1.6,3.2,6.4 mg·L-1).The SH-SY5Y cells were cultured and incubated with different concentrations of Aβ1-42(1.25,2.5,5,10,20,40 μmol·L-1) and Danggui Shaoyaosan(1.6, 3.2, 6.4,12.8 mg·L-1) for 24 h. Subsequently, SH-SY5Y cells were incubated with Aβ1-42 (20 μmol·L-1) and CuSO4(20 μmol·L-1) in the Aβ1-42-Cu2+ group, and incubated with Aβ1-42 (20 μmol·L-1), Danggui Shaoyaosan (1.6 mg·L-1) and CuSO4 (20 μmol·L-1) in Danggui Shaoyaosan group. Control group was added with the medium. After 24 h of co-action, the cell viability was detected by the methylthiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay. The morphology of the cells was photographed by microscopy. The intracellular extracellular Aβ1-42 aggregation was detected by Western blot. Result:Cu2+ and Aβ1-42 bound to more and larger Aβ aggregates compared with the Aβ1-42 group. Compared with the normal group, cell viability was significantly reduced (PPβ1-42 aggregation was increased(PPβ-Cu2+ (PPβ1-42 protein (PPConclusion:Cu2+ can increase the aggregation and toxicity of Aβ; Danggui Shaoyaosan can significantly reduce the damage of SH-SY5Y cells induced by Cu2+-mediated Aβ aggregation, promote Aβ endocytosis, reduce extracellular Aβ aggregation and increase cell viability.

The glucocerebrosidase gene and Parkinson's disease / 中华老年医学杂志

Parkinson's disease(PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease afflicting many older individuals.To date,mutations in the GBA gene is considered as a major risk factor for PD,but the underlying mechanism is still unclear.Glucocerebrosidase (GCase) encoded by GBA may work as a biomarker for the early diagnosis of PD associated with GBA mutations (PD-GBA).Increasing GCase enzyme activity or reducing its substrate availability may protect the neuron and slow the progression of PD-GBA.

The Status and Associated Factors of Successful Aging among Older Adults Residing in Longevity Areas in China / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This study aims to assess the status of successful aging (SA) in longevity areas in China and explore multiple factors associated with SA among the young-old and oldest-old.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 2296 elderly people aged 65 and older were interviewed in the longevity areas sub-sample of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) in 2012. Baseline assessments included a researcher-administered questionnaire, physical examination, and laboratory testing. A logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with SA.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The prevalence of SA was 38.81% in the CLHLS in 2012. There were significant differences between ages groups, with SA compromising 56.85% among ⋝65 years group and 20.31% among ⋝100 years group (χ2trend=126.73, P<0.01). The prevalence of SA among females was 33.59%, which was significantly lower than that among males (45.58%) (χ2gender=33.65, P<0.05). In the regression analysis, having anemia (OR=0.744, 95% CI: 0.609-0.910), poor lifestyle (OR=0.697, 95% CI: 0.568-0.854), poor sleep quality (OR=0.558, 95% CI: 0.456-0.682), and central obesity (OR=0.684, 95% CI: 0.556-0.841) were the main factors associated with SA. The promoting SA rate decreased as age increased, and the group of 65-79 years had higher odds than the other age group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Preventing central obesity, improving sleep quality and promoting healthy lifestyle may contribute to achieve SA among the elderly.</p>

Prevalence of hypertension and relationship between hypertension and obesity in children and adolescents in Nanning of Guangxi Province / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the prevalence of hypertension and the relationship between hypertension and obesity in children and adolescents aged 6-18 years in Nanning, Guangxi Province, China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A stratified cluster random sampling method was adopted in Nanning to select 7 893 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years as research subjects. Questionnaire surveys were conducted, and blood pressure, height, weight, and other indicators of growth and development were measured.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>An increasing trend with age for both systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was observed. Detection rates of hypertension, high SBP (HSBP) and high DBP (HDBP) were 6.58%, 4.02% and 3.81%, respectively. The detection rates of hypertension and HSBP in boys were significantly higher than in girls (P<0.05). The detection rates of hypertension in normal, overweight and obesity groups were 3.87%, 9.84% and 19.23%, respectively. The obesity group showed the highest detection rates for hypertension, HSBP and HDBP, followed by the overweight group and normal group. Compared with that in the normal group, the odds ratios (95% CI) for hypertension in the overweight and obesity groups were 2.71 (1.69-5.96) and 5.91 (3.46-7.63), respectively. Blood pressure showed a positive correlation with age, height, weight and BMI (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The present study provides with the current information and characteristics of blood pressure of children and adolescents aged 6-18 years in Nanning, Guangxi. Blood pressure is correlated with gender, age, height, weight and BMI. Obesity is positively correlated with the prevalence of hypertension and the risk of hypertension increases with body weight.</p>

Visual detection of H1 subtype and identification of N1, N2 subtype of avian influenza virus by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay / 病毒学报

In order to visually detect H1, N1 and N2 subtype of avian influenza virus (AIV), three reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assays were developed. According to the sequences of AIV gene available in GenBank, three degenerate primer sets specific to HA gene of H1 subtype AIV, NA gene of N1 and N2 subtype AIV were designed, and the reaction conditions were optimized. The results showed that all the assays had no cross-reaction with other subtype AIV and other avian respiratory pathogens, and the detection limit was higher than that of conventional RT-PCR. These assays were performed in water bath within 50 minutes. Without opening tube, the amplification result could be directly determined by inspecting the color change of reaction system as long as these assays were fin-ished. Fourteen specimens of H1N1 subtype and eight specimens of H1N2 subtype of AIV were identified from the 120 clinical samples by RT-LAMP assays developed, which was consistent with that of virus isolation. These results suggested that the three newly developed RT-LAMEP assays were simple, specific and sensitive and had potential for visual detection of H1, N1 and N2 subtype of AIV in field.

Development of a GeXP assay for simultaneous differentiation of six chicken respiratory viruses / 病毒学报

A GeXP based multiplex PCR assay was developed to simultaneously detect six different chicken respiratory viruses including H5, H7, H9 subtypes of avian influenza virus(AIV), new castle disease virus (NDV), infectious bronchitis virus(IBV) and infectious laryngotracheitis virus(ILTV). According to the conserved sequences of genes of each pathogen, seven pairs of specific primers were designed, and the reaction conditions were optimized. The specificity and accuracy of GeXP were examined using samples of single and mixed infections of virus. The sensitivity was evaluated by performing the assay on serial 10-fold dilutions of cloned plasmids. To further evaluate the reliability, thirty-four clinical samples were detected by GeXP. The corresponding specific fragments of genes were amplified. The detection limit of GeXP was 10(2) copies/microL when all of 7 pre-mixed plasmids containing target genes of six chicken respiratory viruses were present. In the detection of thirty-four clinical samples, the results of GeXP were accorded with the viral isolation completely. In conclusion, this GeXP assay is a rapid, specific, sensitive and high-throughput method for the detection of chicken respiratory virus infections. It can be applied in rapid differential diagnosis for clinical samples, and also provide an effective tool to prevent and control chicken respiratory diseases with similar clinical symptoms.

Pulmonary surfactant associated gene variants in mixed ethnic population of Han and Zhuang / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the prevalence of pulmonary surfactant associated pathway genes functional variants in Chinese population.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Using a cohort of 258 mixed ethnic population of Han and Zhuang, we pooled DNA samples from 146 term male infants and 112 term female infants and then used an Ill umina next generation sequencing platform to perform the complete exonic resequencing in 6 target genes:surfactant protein-B (SFTPB), surfactant protein-C (SFTPC), ATP-binding cassette transporter A3 (ABCA3), lysophospholipid acyltransferase 1 (LPCAT1), choline phosphotransferase 1 (CHPT1), phosphate cytidylyltransferase 1, choline, beta (PCYT1B). Collapsing methods was used to determine the functional allele frequency.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>(1) Altogether, 128 variants were found, including 44 synonymous variants, 66 nonsynonymous variants and 18 insertions-deletions. Of these, 28 variants were predicted to alter protein function. Two of these variants were seen twice, the rest variants were only seen once, for a total of 30 functional alleles; (2) ABCA3 had the most functional variants in both male and female groups with the minor allele frequencies of 0.014 (1.4%) and 0.04 (4%), respectively. The total functional allele frequencies of 6 genes were 0.041 (4.1%) and 0.08 (8%) in the two groups, respectively (P = 0.06).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>(1) Functional variants in pulmonary surfactant associated pathway genes are present in the mixed Han-Zhuang population. (2) ABCA3 contained the most functional variants suggesting that ABCA3 could contribute significantly to neonatal respiratory distress syndrome and other lung disease.</p>

Relationship between alanine aminotransferase and overweight or obesity in children / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the association of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) with overweight or obesity in children.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 2889 healthy children and 702 overweight or obese children aged from 7 to 18 years who had received a physical examination were enrolled. Height, body weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure were measured, and the biochemical indicators including blood glucose, blood lipids, ALT, and insulin were detected. The insulin resistance index were calculated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The ALT level was significantly higher in boys than in girls. Along with the increase of BMI, the ALT level increased in the normal, overweight, and obese groups in both boys and girls. ALT was correlated with BMI, waist circumference, triglyceride, and insulin resistance index. Among the overweight or obese children, the boys with the increased ALT level had higher BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein and insulin resistance index than the boys with normal ALT level (P<0.05); the girls with the increased ALT level had higher waist circumference, blood pressure and insulin resistance index and lower high density lipoprotein than the girls with normal ALT level (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>ALT is correlated with overweight and obesity and metabolic disorders caused by overweight and obesity such as dyslipidemia and insulin resistance.</p>

Epidemiological study on the association between obesity with metabolic syndrome in obese children and adolescents of Nanning city, Guangxi / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To investigate the association between obesity and prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) with its associated risk factors,in children and adolescents.Methods A stratified random sampling method was used to select 7893 students from 6 to 18 years of age from 14 out of 396 primary and secondary schools in Nanning city.All the students had undergone physical examination and blood tests including the following risk factors related to metabolic syndrome:fasting blood glucose (FBG),total cholesterol (TC),triglycerides (TG),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C),low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C),alanine amino shift enzyme (ALT),aspartic acid amine shift enzyme (AST) and fasting insulin (FINS).The homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) was also measured.Results (1) The prevalence rate of MS in normal group was 0.57％.In both the overweight and obesity groups,the prevalence rates of MS were 4.53％ and 26.80％,respectively.(2) These indices in obesity group were higher than other two groups (P＜0.05).The result of overweight group was higher than normal group (P＜0.05).(3) Waist circumference(OR=1.087,95％CI:1.033-1.143 ),SBP ( OR=1.073,95％CI:1.032-1.116),FBG (OR=1.394,95％CI:1.568-3.423),TG (OR=3.213,95％CI:1.410-7.319) and HDL-C (OR=0.001,95％CI:0.000-0.012)were detecting indices which had statistically significant with MS in binary logistic regression analysis.Conclusion Metabolic syndrome and obesity were closely related in children and adolescents while its prevalence and risk factors increased with the severity of obesity.

Mechanism of angiostatin induced reduction of vascular leakage in retina and iris of rats with retinopathy of prematurity / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

·AIM: To study the effect of an intravitreal injection of angiostatin on vascular leakage in the retina and iris of oxygen-induced retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).·METHODS: Brown Norway rats at postnatal day 7 (P7) were exposed to hyperoxia (750mL/L O2 )for 5 days (P7-12) and then returned to normoxia to induce retinopathy. Angiostatin was reconstituted in sterile Phosphate Buffered Saline(PBS) and diluted to desired different concentrations. Angiostatin solution was injected into the vitreous of the right eye of the ROP rats at P14 and the age-matched normal rats through pars plana using a glass capillary, and the left eye received the same volume of sterile PBS as the control. Vascular permeability was quantified at 1, 2 and 3 days after the injection by measuring albumin leakage from blood vessels into the retina and iris using the Evans blue method and normalized by total protein concentrations. The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in retina was evaluated using the Western Blot analysis and immuno-histochemistry 24 hours following the injection.·RESULTS: ROP rats showed significant increases of vascular permeability in the retina and iris (P<0.01). Angio-statin reduces vascular permeability in a dose-dependent manner in the retina of ROP rats. The reduction showed a time course trend. [Angiostatin injection reduced retinal vascular permeability by approximately 1.5 and 2-fold at P15 (P<0.05) and P16 (P<0.01), respectively.] Angiostatin injection significantly reduced VEGF levels in the retina of ROP rats but did not affect retinal VEGF levels in normal rats.·CONCLUSION: Angiostatin significantly decreases pa-thological vascular permeability in the retina and iris of ROP rats but not in normal rats. Angiostatin down-regulates VEGF expression in retina of ROP rats. These results suggest that angiostatin may have a therapeutic potential in the treatment of ROP and other diseases with vascular leakage.

Expression of human HSF in E. coli and its effects on mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells in rhesus monkeys / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the expression of hHSF in E. coli and its effect on the mobilization of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The hHSF gene was obtained by overlapping PCR and cloned into the vector pET30a to yield pET30a-hHSF, which was transformed into E. coli BL21(DE3) and expressed with IPTG induction. Subsequently, rhHSF was purified by gel filtration and cation exchange chromatography and subjected to refolding. Molecular weight of hHSF was measured by MALDI-TOF Mass Spectroscopy. The N terminal amino acid sequence rhHSF was determined by protein sequencing. rhHSF was profiled in rhesus monkey for mobilization of peripheral blood stem cells. Eight rhesus monkeys were equally divided into two groups. The first group was administered single subcutaneous injection of 500 microg/kg hHSF, while the other one was administered 10 microg.kg(-1).d(-1) G-CSF for 4 days followed by a single subcutaneous injection of 500 microg/kg rhHSF.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The sequence coding hHSF was confirmed by sequencing and the induced-expression level was about 30% of total cell proteins. The purity of target protein was over 95%. The sequence of N terminal 10 amino acids and the amino acid composition were consistent with the theoretical parameters; molecular weight of rhHSF was 7540. The peripheral CD34(+) cells, CFU-GM yields, and neutrophils peaked at 3 h (16.3-folds increase compared with baseline), 1 h (1.9-folds increase) and 45 min (4.4-folds increase) respectively after the single injection of rhHSF. The addition of rhHSF after the last dose of G-CSF boosted these levels to 25.8-folds, 8.7-folds and 8.3-folds respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>hHSF is highly expressed in E. coli and rapidly mobilizes the hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells and neutrophils in rhesus monkeys. hHSF shows distinct synergistic effect with G-CSF.</p>