Preliminary study on the health status among the "left-behind" children in the Xiantao rural area of Hubei Province / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the health status of the primary school children who remain in their home villages (the "left-behind" children) in a rural area of Hubei Province, Central China, whilst their parents are migrant workers in the cities of China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 1000 pupils in the 4th to 6th grade from six rural primary schools in Xiantao City, Hubei Province were enrolled. All subjects were surveyed with questionnaires and received physical examinations. Pupils whose parents had no history of migrant work and who lived with both parents were defined as the control groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among the 875 valid questionnaires, there were 590 "left-behind" children and 285 controls. The mean body weight was significantly lower among the "left-behind" children (35.5 ± 7.1 kg) than the controls (36.3 ± 8.8 kg) (P<0.05). The weight/age z score of "left-behind" children (-0.9811 ± 0.54) was also significantly lower than that of the controls (-0.7012 ± 0.34) (P<0.05). However, the other physical indicators including body height, height/age z score, thickness of sebum, and body mass index and the common nutrition status showed no significant differences between the two groups. The "left-behind" children scored significantly higher in the Children's Depression Inventory than the controls (11.4 ± 7.2 vs 8.0 ± 5.8, P<0.01), and the incidence of depression was also significantly higher in "left-behind" children than in controls (15.3% vs 6.0%, P<0.01). Compared with the controls, the "left-behind" children had significantly higher incidences of antiadoncus (32.0% vs 23.2%; P<0.01), respiratory tract infections (14.6% vs 9.5%; P<0.05), and gastrointestinal infections (7.6% vs 3.9%; P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Although the "left-behind" children have normal nutrition status, they tend to have poor mental health and are more susceptible to infections.</p>

Effects of supernatant of cord blood CD3AK cells on proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis of HL-60 cells / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The study was to investigate the impact of cord blood CD(3)AK cell culture supernatant (CS) on proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis of HL-60 cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>HL-60 cells were treated with different concentrations of CS (10%, 15%, 20%) for 3 days, 6 days and 9 days, and the same cells of control group were not treated with CS. The growth of induced cells was assessed with Trypan blue staining and cell counting with cytometer. The differentiation marker CD(11b) on the cell surface and cell-cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM), cell morphology (Wright-Giemsa staining) and NBT test to determine the extent of differentiation. Meanwhile, the changes of the apoptosis of the cells induced by 20% CS at different time points (3, 6 and 9 days) were analyzed by TUNNEL-POD, and the apoptotic characteristics of cells were observed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The growth of HL-60 cell was inhibited as CS-inducing time and the dose of CS increased. At the same time, but HL-60 cell number in G(0)/G(1) phase of cell-cycle increased, but HL-60 cell number in S phase decreased compared with untreated group. The HL-60 cells induced by 20% CS for 9 days showed that (52.7 +/- 1.8)% of cells were at G(0)+G(1) phase and (43.8 +/- 1.1)% were at S phase (P < 0.05), which demonstrated that HL-60 cells induced by 20% CS underwent G(0)/G(1) phase cell-cycle arrest. The volume of the differentiated cells was enlarged gradually as CS-inducing time prolonged. After 3 days the differentiating cells began to express differentiating marker CD(11b) on the cell surface and the nuclei morphology of the differentiated cells was also changed and NBT-stained cells increased in number with the increased dose of CS increased. Three days after induction by 20% CS, the induced cells began to show signs of apoptosis and the apoptotic percentage of induced cells gradually increased with CS-induction time. The rate of apoptosis of cells was (33.3 +/- 2.3)% at 9 days (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>CS could not only inhibit the growth of HL-60 cells but also induce the differentiation and apoptosis in HL-60 cells.</p>