Clinical characteristics of children infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant combined with allergic disease / 中华儿科杂志

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics of children with allergic diseases suffering from SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant strains. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 43 pediatric patients with allergic diseases infected by SARS-CoV-2 from April 25, 2022 to June 8, 2022 in Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine were selected as the allergic disease group, while 114 cases without underlying diseases and 16 cases with other underlying diseases were selected as control groups diagnosed at the same period. Clinical data including clinical features, laboratory tests, duration of hospitalization, and the time to negative turn of novel coronavirus nucleic acid were collected and analysed. Kruskal-Wallis H test, chi-square test or Fisher exact test were used for comparison among three groups. Results: Among the 43 patients with allergic diseases, 28 were males and 15 were females, with an age of 4.4 (2.1, 8.2) years on admission, including 32 mild cases and 11 common cases. The allergic disease group included 20 cases (46.5%) of atopic dermatitis and eczema, followed by 14 cases (32.6%) of rhinitis, 8 cases (18.6%) of food allergies, 7 cases (16.3%) of asthma, 4 cases (9.3%) of allergic conjunctivitis and 2 cases (4.7%) of drug allergy. Among the 114 cases without underlying diseases, 57 were males and 57 were females, with an age of 2.8 (1.2, 5.6) years on admission, including 93 mild cases and 21 common cases. Among the 16 cases with other underlying diseases, 9 were males and 7 were females, with an age of 3.0 (2.6, 10.8) years on admission, including 13 cases mild and 3 cases common cases. Children with allergic diseases had higher frequency of sore throat and vomiting than those without underlying diseases (10 cases (23.3%) vs.9 cases (7.9%), 14 cases (32.6%) vs. 11 cases (9.6%), χ²=6.93, 12.24, both P<0.05). The lymphocyte count of patients with allergic disease was lower than those without underlying disease (1.1 (0.7,1.7)×109 vs. 1.6 (1.1,2.7)×109/L, H=-28.00,P=0.005). There were no significant differences in age, gender, typing of SARS-CoV-2, the duration of hospitalization, cycle threshold values of SARS-CoV-2 and the time to negative turn of novel coronavirus nucleic acid among the three groups (all P>0.05). Conclusions: Children with allergic diseases may suffer from sore throat and vomiting more frequently when infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. The combination of allergic diseases hardly influenced the disease course of SARS-CoV-2 in children.

Ghrelin Relieves Obesity-Induced Myocardial Injury by Regulating the Epigenetic Suppression of miR-196b Mediated by lncRNA HOTAIR.

INTRODUCTION: Obesity has been believed to be closely linked with many kinds of diseases including atherosclerosis, hypertension, cerebrovascular thrombosis, and diabetes. Ghrelin and Homeobox transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) were believed to be involved in the regulation of myocardial injury. METHODS: The obesity mice model was established through feeding mice (C57BL/6J, male, eight-week-old) with high-fat diet and palmitate (PA)-induced cardiomyocyte injury. RNA and protein levels were detected with Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting. The levels of TG, TCH, LDL, CK-MB, cTnl, and BNP in the serum or cell medium supernatant were measured using ELISA kits. The ROS level was detected with the DCFH-DA method. Binding sites between different targets were identified using detection of dual luciferase reporter assay. Cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry. RNA-binding protein immunoprecipitation and chromatin immunoprecipitation were used to detect the binding of DNMT3B with HOTAIR or miR-196b promoter. RESULTS: The expression of HOTAIR was downregulated, and miR-196b was upregulated in the obese myocardial injury. Ghrelin attenuated PA-induced cardiomyocyte injury by increasing HOTAIR. HOTAIR regulated the expression of miR-196b by recruiting DNMT3B to induce methylation of the miR-196b gene promoter. The binding site between miR-196b and IGF-1 was identified. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that ghrelin attenuated PA-induced cardiomyocyte injury by regulating the HOTAIR/miR-196b/IGF-1 signaling pathway. Our findings might provide novel thought for the prevention and treatment of obesity-induced myocardial injury by targeting HOTAIR/miR-196b.

Application of fractional exhaled nitric oxide and nasal nitric oxide in control evaluation of bronchial asthma and diagnosis of allergic rhinitis in children / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To study the association of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and nasal nitric oxide (nNO) with asthma control and their value in the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis in children.@*METHODS@#A total of 186 children aged 5-12 years, who attended the outpatient service of the Department of Respiration, Shanghai Children's Hospital due to bronchial asthma and/or allergic rhinitis or who underwent physical examination, were enrolled as subjects, with 52 children in the asthma group, 60 children in the asthma+allergic rhinitis group, 36 children in the allergic rhinitis group, and 38 children in the control group. FeNO, nNO, and pulmonary function were compared between groups.@*RESULTS@#The asthma+allergic rhinitis, asthma, and allergic rhinitis groups had a significantly higher level of FeNO than the control group (P<0.05). The asthma+allergic rhinitis and allergic rhinitis groups had a significantly higher level of nNO than the asthma and control groups (P<0.05). The uncontrolled asthma and partially controlled asthma groups had significantly higher levels of FeNO and nNO than the completely controlled asthma group (P<0.05). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that nNO had an area under the ROC curve of 0.91, with a sensitivity of 80.0% and a specificity of 89.5% in the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis in children with asthma (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The combined measurement of nNO and FeNO can be used to evaluate the control of asthma, and the measurement of nNO can help with the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis in children with bronchial asthma.

Cryptogenic hemoptysis caused by isolated aortopulmonary collateral artery formation: a case report.

Hemoptysis in children is caused by various factors, the most common of which is basic lung disease or heart disease. Aortopulmonary collateral arteries (APCAs) are blood vessels that originate from the aorta or its branches and provide blood flow to the pulmonary tissues. We herein report a rare case of APCAs without abnormal structures in the heart. The patient was a previously healthy boy with APCAs originating from the descending aorta. He had no history of congenital heart disease and developed repeated episodes of cryptogenic hemoptysis during his school-age years. Arteriography examination facilitated the diagnosis of APCAs. After embolization, the patient developed no further hemoptysis during 10 months of follow-up. Arteriography is of great significance in determining the cause of recurrent cryptogenic hemoptysis.

Ghrelin protects against obesity-induced myocardial injury by regulating the lncRNA H19/miR-29a/IGF-1 signalling axis.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is associated with the impairment of cardiac fitness and consequent ventricular dysfunction and heart failure. Ghrelin has been largely documented to be cardioprotective against ischaemia/reperfusion injury. However, the role of ghrelin in obesity-induced myocardial injury is largely unknown. This study sought to determine the cardiac effect of ghrelin against obesity-induced injury and the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: The effect of ghrelin was evaluated in a mouse model of obesity and a palmitic acid (PA)-treated cardiomyocyte cell line with or without ghrelin transfection. Gene and protein expression levels were determined by real-time PCR and western blot, respectively. Cell apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry analysis. RESULTS: In the present study, we found that both a high-fat diet (HFD) and PA treatment caused myocardial injury by increasing apoptosis and the expression of inflammatory cytokines. Overexpression of ghrelin reversed the effects induced by HFD or PA treatment. Knockdown of lncRNA H19 or overexpression of miR-29a abrogated the cardioprotective effects of ghrelin against apoptosis and inflammation. We also found that IGF-1 was a target gene of miR-29a and that H19 regulated IGF-1 expression via miR-29a. Overexpression of IGF-1 partially reversed the apoptosis and inflammation promoting effects of miR-29a. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggested that ghrelin protected against obesity-induced myocardial injury by regulating the H19/miR-29a/IGF-1 signalling axis, providing further evidence for the clinical application of ghrelin.

Status quo of stroke rehabilitation care development in our country:a bibliometrics analysis / 中国实用护理杂志

Objective To analyze the present research situation of stroke rehabilitation nursing in China, find out the defects and shortcomings existing in the development, and lay a good foundation for the development of stroke rehabilitation nursing. Methods The documentation published in Chinese core journals was searched in Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP database (VIP), Wanfang database by computer retrieval. The publishing year, journal name, scientific research funds, the method of literature research, research objects and research contents were analyzed by bibliometrics. Results A total of 253 articles were included with an increasing trend. These literature distributed in 34 kinds of Chinese core journals, fund rate was relatively good, but very few national fund, the experimental research was given priority to, and the research content was wide. Conclusions In order to better promote the rehabilitation of brain stroke patients, community rehabilitation care needs to be vigorously promoted, emphasis should be paid to the importance of patients family members, at the same time, great importance should also be attached to the combination between disciplines, in order to find better, more effective and easy methods to promote the rehabilitation nursing.

Progress in CRELD1 gene on atrioventricular septal defect / 国际儿科学杂志

Congenital heart disease(CHD) is a series of birth defect that can actually or potentially impact heart function , occurring 4‰～ 12‰ of live birth. Atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) is a frequently CHD affecting the atrioventricular valves and septa. AVSD refers to a clinical spectrum of defects ranging from a complete AVSD to cleft mitral valve. AVSD occurs most frequently in Trisomy 21 syndrome. Research shows that the development defect of endocardial cushion caused by heredity and environment during different period of heart development leads to all kinds of AVSD. CRELD1 is the first identified gene associated with morbidity of AVSD.The research on this gene has important significance to find out the pathogenesis of AVSD and provide better prevention and cure methods.

Mutation analysis of GATA4 gene in Han Chinese patients with atrioventricular septal defect / 临床儿科杂志

Objective To analyze the mutations of GATA4 gene in Han Chinese patients with atrioventricular septal defect(AVSD)and investigate the association between GATA4 gene and pathogenesis. Methods Ninety-four Han Chinese patients with AVSD were recruited,including 23 patients with Down syndrome and 71 patients without. One hundred healthy age-matched Han children were used as the control. Blood samples were drawn. Encoding region and flanking introns of GATA4 gene were amplified using polymerase chain reaction. The mutations were detected by DNA fragment sequences analysis. Results Three novel missense mutations(c.106C ＞ G,p.P36A;c.259C ＞ T, p.P87S;c.504C ＞ A,p.D168E)of the GATA4 gene were identified in three patients with complete AVSD without Down syndrome,and a fourth novel missense mutation(c.1079A ＞ G,p.E360G)was noted in a patient with complete AVSD and Down syndrome. A polymorphism of the GATA4 gene(c.G99T,p.A33A)from six patients was detected. Conclusions The GATA4 gene might be involved in the etiology of AVSD by functional changes resulting from gene mutation. The low incidence of GATA4 gene mutations in patients with AVSD with or without Down syndrome might suggest that AVSD is a polygenetic disorder.

Modulation of orphan nuclear receptor Nur77-mediated apoptotic pathway by acetylshikonin and analogues.

Shikonin derivatives, which are the active components of the medicinal plant Lithospermum erythrorhizon, exhibit many biological effects including apoptosis induction through undefined mechanisms. We recently discovered that orphan nuclear receptor Nur77 migrates from the nucleus to the mitochondria, where it binds to Bcl-2 to induce apoptosis. Here, we report that certain shikonin derivatives could modulate the Nur77/Bcl-2 apoptotic pathway by increasing levels of Nur77 protein and promoting its mitochondrial targeting in cancer cells. Structural modification of acetylshikonin resulted in the identification of a derivative 5,8-diacetoxyl-6-(1'-acetoxyl-4'-methyl-3'-pentenyl)-1,4-naphthaquinones (SK07) that exhibited improved efficacy and specificity in activating the pathway. Unlike other Nur77 modulators, shikonins increased the levels of Nur77 protein through their posttranscriptional regulation. The apoptotic effect of SK07 was impaired in Nur77 knockout cells and suppressed by cotreatment with leptomycin B that inhibited Nur77 cytoplasmic localization. Furthermore, SK07 induced apoptosis in cells expressing the COOH-terminal half of Nur77 protein but not its NH(2)-terminal region. Our data also showed that SK07-induced apoptosis was associated with a Bcl-2 conformational change and Bax activation. Together, our results show that certain shikonin derivatives act as modulators of the Nur77-mediated apoptotic pathway and identify a new shikonin-based lead that targets Nur77 for apoptosis induction.