AIM: To investigate the effects of octreotide (Oct) on the proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). METHODS: HSCs were isolated from normal male Sprague-Dawley rat liver by a combination of pronase-collagenase perfusion and density gradient centrifugation. The concentration of 2.5 ?g/L transforming growth factor ?1 (TGF?1) was used in all the experiment settings. Oct at concentrations of 0.01 mg/L ,0.1 mg/L,1 mg/L and 10 mg/L,respectively,or 0.01 mg/L Oct + TGF?1,0.1 mg/L Oct+TGF?1,1 mg/L Oct+TGF?1,10 mg/L Oct+TGF?1 were respectively added to the cultured HSCs. Effects of Oct on HSC proliferation and ECM synthesis were respectively determined by MTT method,-TdR and -proline incorporation,or radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Oct inhibited MTT intake by cultured hepatic stellate cells and down-regulated -TdR incorporation,compared with control group. The concentrations of hyaluronic acid,laminin,collagen type IV in the culture supernatant and -proline incorporation in HSCs were decreased by Oct. TGF?1 obviously up-regulated proliferation and ECM synthesis in cultured HSCs,and Oct significantly blocked these actions. CONCLUSION: Oct inhibited proliferation and ECM synthesis in cultured HSCs,and elicited the effects of anti-hepatofibrogenesis.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the therapeutic effects of antibacterial agents, glucocorticoid and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in treating Mycoplasma pneumoniae(MP) infections.

METHODThe literature was screened by the inclusion and exclusion criteria after searching at Cochrane Library, Pubmed, Wanfang, CNKI, and Weipu databases. According to JADAD evaluation system, the relevant information in each included report from the literature was evaluated. The evidence-based analysis was performed for the therapeutic effects of macrolides, glucocorticoid, and IVIG in treating MP infections. Meta-analysis was conducted on the suitable literature by RevMan 5.3 software supplied by Cochrane collaboration. Descriptive analysis was conducted on the literature unsuitable for meta-analysis.

RESULT(1) Seven foreign RCT reports and 7 domestic RCT reports were included in the analysis of the therapeutic effect of macrolides. There was a high heterogeneity among the 7 foreign reports. Five of these reports showed no significant difference in clinical effects between macrolides and non-macrolide antibacterial agents. The forest plot analysis of antipyretic timing and cough duration in the domestic literature with complete indicators suggested that for azithromycin sequential therapy vs. erythromycin intravenous therapy, the mean difference of antipyretic timing was-1.10 (95% CI: -1.60,-0.60) and the mean difference of cough duration was-1.56 (95% CI: -2.10,-1.03). (2) Three foreign RCT reports and 5 domestic RCT were included in the analysis of glucocorticoid therapy. The JADAD scores of all the reports were 1. The basic therapy drug was macrolides. The results of sub-group analysis suggested that for the patients who used glucocorticoid early vs. the patients who used non-glucocorticoid therapy, the mean difference of antipyretic time was-1.77(95% CI: -2.44,-1.10) and the mean difference of cough duration was-2.47 (95% CI: -2.86,-2.08); for the patients treated with glucocorticoid at 10 days after onset of diseases vs. the patients received non-glucocorticoid therapy, the mean difference of antipyretic time was-3.41 (95% CI: -4.10,-2.73) and the mean difference of cough duration was-2.25 (95%CI: -4.38,-0.12). (3) Regarding IVIG, all the included reports were case study or case report. Most of the literature focused on severe Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection and those with extrapulmonary complications. The limited results suggested a trend of the shortening of disease process and improvement of clinical symptoms by IVIG.

CONCLUSIONThere was no exact evidence of the therapeutic effects of antibacterial agents in Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections. A trend of better therapeutic effect was inferred in macrolide antibiotics, especially azithromycin. The improvement of clinical symptoms was suggested with the usage of glucocorticoid as adjuvant therapy. IVIG as an adjuvant therapy is at an exploration stage.

Anti-Bacterial Agents ; therapeutic use ; Azithromycin ; therapeutic use ; Child ; Cough ; Erythromycin ; therapeutic use ; Glucocorticoids ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous ; therapeutic use ; Macrolides ; therapeutic use ; Mycoplasma Infections ; drug therapy ; Mycoplasma pneumoniae ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

Objective:To evaluate the role of lactate dehydrogenase in diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP) and the relationship with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α) in mice.Methods:SPF-grade healthy male C57BL/6J mice, aged 6-8 weeks, weighing 18-22 g, were used to establish diabetes mellitus model by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) 120 mg/kg. Twenty-four mice with diabetes mellitus were divided into 2 groups ( n=12 each) using a random number table method: DNP group and DNP + oxamate group (OXA group). Another 12 SPF-grade healthy male C57BL/6J mice were selected as control group (C group). In OXA group, oxamate 750 mg/kg was intraperitoneally injected once a day for 28 consecutive days. The equal volume of normal saline was given instead in C group and DNP group. The mechanical paw withdrawal threshold (MWT), blood glucose and body weight were measured at 3 days before STZ injection and at 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks after STZ injection (T 0-4). After the last behavioural test was completed, blood samples were collected from the posterior orbits of anesthetized mice for determination of serum lactate concentrations. The animals were then sacrificed and the tissues from the prefrontal cortex of the brain were taken for determination of lactate content, mitochondrial membrane potential (by the JC-1), content of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (using dihydroethidium probes), and level of histone lactylation and expression of PGC-1α (by Western blot). Results:Compared with C group, the MWT was significantly decreased at T 2-4, the serum lactate concentrations, contents of lactate and ROS and level of histone lactylation were increased, the mitochondrial membrane potential was decreased, and the expression of PGC-1α was down-regulated in DNP and OXA groups ( P<0.05). Compared with DNP group, no significant change was found in blood glucose and body weight ( P>0.05), the MWT was significantly increased at T 2-4, the serum lactate concentrations, contents of lactate and ROS and level of histone lactylation were decreased, the mitochondrial membrane potential was increased, and the expression of PGC-1α was up-regulated in OXA group ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Lactate dehydrogenase promotes the development of DNP, and the mechanism is related to promotion of increase in histone lactfication and down-regulation of PGC-1α expression in the prefrontal cortex of mice.

Objective:To analyze the status of respiratory pathogen detection and the clinical features in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP). Methods:A prospective, multicenter study was conducted to collect clinical data, including medical history, laboratory examinations and multiplex PCR tests of children diagnosed with MPP from 4 hospitals in China between November 15 th and December 20 th, 2023. The multiplex PCR results and clinical characteristics of MPP children in different regions were analyzed. The children were divided into severe and mild groups according to the severity of the disease. Patients in the severe group were further divided into Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) alone and Multi-pathogen co-detection groups based on whether other pathogens were detected besides MP, to analyze the influence of respiratory pathogen co-detection rate on the severity of the disease. Mann-Whitney rank sum test and Chi-square test were used to compare data between independent groups. Results:A total of 298 children, 136 males and 162 females, were enrolled in this study, including 204 children in the severe group with an onset age of 7.0 (6.0, 8.0) years, and 94 children in the mild group with an onset age of 6.5 (4.0, 7.8) years. The level of C-reactive protein, D-dimer, lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) were significantly higher (10.0 (5.0, 18.0) vs. 5.0 (5.0, 7.5) mg/L, 0.6 (0.4, 1.1) vs. 0.5 (0.3, 0.6) mg/L, 337 (286, 431) vs. 314 (271, 393) U/L, Z=2.02, 2.50, 3.05, all P<0.05), and the length of hospitalization was significantly longer in the severe group compared with those in mild group (6.0 (6.0, 7.0) vs. 5.0 (4.0, 6.0) d, Z=4.37, P<0.05). The time from onset to admission in severe MPP children was significantly shorter than that in mild MPP children (6.0 (5.0, 9.5) vs. 9.0 (7.0, 13.0) d, Z=2.23, P=0.026). All patients completed the multiplex PCR test, with 142 cases (47.7%) MPP children detected with 21 pathogens including adenovirus 25 cases (8.4%), human coronavirus 23 cases (7.7%), rhinovirus 21 cases (7.0%), Streptococcus pneumoniae 21 cases (7.0%), influenza A virus 18 cases (6.0%). The pathogens with the highest detection rates in Tianjin, Shanghai, Wenzhou and Chengdu were Staphylococcus aureus at 10.7% (8/75), adenovirus at 13.0% (10/77), adenovirus at 15.3% (9/59), and both rhinovirus and Haemophilus influenzae at 11.5% (10/87) each. The multi-pathogen co-detection rate in severe MPP children was significantly higher than that in mild MPP group (52.9% (108/204) vs. 36.2% (34/94), χ2=10.62, P=0.005). Among severe MPP children, there are 89 cases in the multi-pathogen co-detection group and 73 cases in the simple MPP group. The levels of LDH, D-dimer and neutrophil counts in the multi-pathogen co-detection group were significantly higher than those in the simple MPP group (348 (284, 422) vs. 307 (270, 358) U/L, 0.8 (0.5, 1.5) vs. 0.6 (0.4, 1.0) mg/L, 4.99 (3.66, 6.89)×10 9vs. 4.06 (2.91, 5.65)×10 9/L, Z=5.17, 4.99, 6.11, all P<0.05). Conclusions:The co-detection rate of respiratory pathogens, LDH and D-dimer in children with severe MPP were higher than those with mild MPP. Among severe MPP children the stress response of children in co-detection group was more serious than that of children with simple MPP.

Hypoxemia is a common complication of pneumonia, asthma, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia in children.Rapid identification of hypoxemia is of great significance for the disposal and management of critical children.Pulse oximetry is recognized by the World Health Organization as the best way to monitor hypoxemia in children, and it can monitor pulse oxygen saturation noninvasively and continuously.Based on the related literature at home and abroad, combined with the clinical needs of pediatrics, the " Expert consensus on clinical application of pulse oximetry in children" is formulated to improve the understanding of pediatricians and nurses on the application in pediatric clinical practice, principle, operation techniques, and limitations of pulse oximetry.

Objective:To observe the role of Huaiqihuang Granules (HQ) in the long-term management of bronchial asthma in young children, and the effective effect on concomitant rhinitis.Methods:A prospective real-world multicenter study was conducted in children aged 2-5 years with asthma diagnosed in the outpatient department (from April 2016 to March 2019)who received either inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)/leukotriene receptor antagonist (LTRA)(control group); inhaled ICS/LTRA plus HQ(combination group), or HQ alone(HQ group). All patients were followed up at week 4, 8, 12 after treatment. The number of days with asthma symptoms, the frequency of severe asthma attacks, the level of asthma control, and the days with rhinitis symptoms in the last 4 weeks were recorded. Differences before and after treatment, and those among groups after treatment were compared using Kruskal- Wallis H test or Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Results:A total of 2 234 eligible patients were recruited, and 2 147 cases completed followed-up visits, including 477, 1 374 and 296 cases in the control group, combination group, and HQ group, respectively. After the treatment, all 3 groups showed significant declines in the days with asthma symptoms, frequency of severe asthma attack and the days with rhinitis symptoms (all P<0.01), and the rate of well-controlled asthma increased significantly ( P<0.01). It lasted until the end of follow-up. Among groups, patients in the combination group showed significantly less days of asthma symptoms than those of the other 2 group at week 8 and 12[0(0, 0.9) d vs.0(0, 0.3) d, P<0.05; 0(0, 0.1) d vs. 0(0, 1.0) d, P<0.01]. Patients in the combination group and HQ group showed a significantly lower rate of severe asthma attacks than that of the control group at week 12 [0(0, 1), 0(0, 1), 0(0, 2), all P<0.05]. The well-controlled rate of asthma in the combination group was significantly higher than that of the control group and HQ group at week 8 and 12 (89.6% vs. 85.9% vs.82.1%, H=15.28; 90.9% vs. 84.1% vs. 81.8%, χ2=29.32, all P<0.01). Conclusions:HQ can significantly alleviate symptoms of asthma and rhinitis, severe attack of asthma, and increase the control rate of asthma when used as an additional treatment or used alone.

Objective:To explore the consistency of peripheral whole blood and venous serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels, and the value of peripheral whole blood PCT in evaluating pediatric bacterial infection.Methods:This multicenter cross-sectional parallel control study was conducted in 11 children′s hospital. All the 1 898 patients older than 28 days admitted to these hospitals from March 2018 to February 2019 had their peripheral whole blood and venous serum PCT detected simultaneously with unified equipment, reagent and method. According to the venous serum PCT level, the patients were stratified to subgroups. Analysis of variance and chi-square test were used to compare the demographic characteristics among groups. And the correlation between the peripheral blood and venous serum PCT level was investigated by quantitative Pearson correlation analysis.The PCT resultes were also converted into ranked data to further test the consistency between the two sampling methods by Spearman′s rank correlation test. Furthermore, the ranked data were converted into binary data to evaluate the consistency and investigate the best cut-off of peripheral blood PCT level in predicting bacterial infection.Results:A total of 1 898 valid samples were included (1 098 males, 800 females),age 27.4(12.2,56.7) months. There was a good correlation between PCT values of peripheral whole blood and venous serum ( r=0.97 , P<0.01). The linear regression equation was PCT?venous serum=0.135+0.929×PCT peripheral whole blood. However, when stratified to 5 levels, PCT results showed diverse and unsatisfied consistency between the two sampling methods ( r=0.51-0.92, all P<0.01). But after PCT was converted to ordinal categorical variables, the stratified analysis showed that the coincidence rate of the measured values by the two sampling methods in each boundary area was 84.9%-97.1%. The dichotomous variables also showed a good consistency (coincidence rate 96.8%-99.3%, Youden index 0.82-0.89). According to the severity of disease, the serum PCT value was classified into 4 intervals（<0.5、0.5-<2.0、2.0-<10.0、≥10.0 μg/L）, and the peripheral blood PCT value also showed a good predictive value (AUC value was 0.991 2-0.997 9). The optimal cut points of peripheral whole blood PCT value 0.5、1.0、2.0、10.0 μg/L corresponding to venous serum PCT values were 0.395, 0.595, 1.175 and 3.545 μg/L, respectively. Conclusions:There is a good correlation between peripheral whole blood PCT value and the venous serum PCT value, which means that the peripheral whole blood PCT could facilitate the identification of infection and clinical severity. Besides, the sampling of peripheral whole blood is simple and easy to repeat.

On the basis of real-world clinical data, the study aimed to explore the effect and mechanisms of the treatment plan of "traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) regulating liver regeneration." A total of 457 patients with HBV-related liver failure were retrospectively collected. The patients were divided into three groups: the modern medicine control group (MMC group), patients treated with routine medical treatment; the control group combining traditional Chinese and Western medicine (CTW), patients treated with routine medical treatment plus the common TCM formula; and the treatment group of "TCM regulating liver regeneration" (RLR), patients treated with both routine medical treatment and the special TCM formula of RLR. After 8 weeks of treatment, the mortality of patients in the RLR group (12.31%) was significantly lower than those in the MMC (50%) and CTW (29.11%) groups. Total bilirubin level significantly decreased and albumin increased in the RLR group when compared with the MMC and CTW groups (P < 0.05). In addition, there were significant differences in the expression of several cytokines related to liver regeneration in the RLR group compared with the MMC group. RLR treatment can decrease jaundice, improve liver function, and significantly reduce the mortality in patients with HBV-related liver failure. The mechanism may be related to the role of RLR treatment in influencing cytokines related to liver regeneration.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Hepatitis B/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Liver Failure ; Liver Regeneration ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Retrospective Studies

Objective:To investigate the etiology of necrotizing pneumonia (NP) in children and the clinical characteristics of NP caused by different pathogens in China.Methods:A retrospective, case-control study was performed in children with NP who were admitted to 13 hospitals in China from January 2008 to December 2019. The demographic and clinical information, laboratory data, etiological and radiological findings were analyzed. The data were divided into three groups based on the following years: 2008-2011, 2012-2015 and 2016-2019, and the distribution characteristics of the pathogens in different period were compared. Meanwhile, the pathogens of pediatric NP in the southern and northern China were compared. And the clinical characteristics of the Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) NP and the bacterial NP were also compared. T-test or Mann-Whitney nonparametric test was used for comparison of numerical variables, and χ 2 test was used for categorical variables. Results:A total of 494 children with NP were enrolled, the median ages were 4.7 (0.1-15.3) years, including 272 boys and 222 girls. Among these patients, pathogens were identified in 347 cases and the pathogen was unclear in the remaining 147 cases. The main pathogens were MP (238 cases), Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) (61 cases), Staphylococcus aureus (SA) (51 cases), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (13 cases), Haemophilus influenzae (10 cases), adenovirus (10 cases), and influenza virus A (7 cases), respectively. MP was the most common pathogen in all three periods and the proportion increased yearly. The proportion of MP in 2016-2019 was significantly higher than that in 2012-2015 (52.1% (197/378) vs. 36.8% (32/87), χ 2= 6.654, P=0.010), while there was no significant difference in the proportion of MP in 2012-2015 and that in 2008-2011 (36.8% (32/87) vs. 31.0% (9/29), χ2=0.314, P=0.575).Regarding the regional distribution, 342 cases were in the southern China and 152 in the northern China. Also, MP was the most common pathogen in both regions, but the proportion of MP was higher and the proportion of SP was lower in the north than those in the south (60.5% (92/152) vs. 42.7% (146/342), χ 2=13.409, P<0.010; 7.9% (12/152) vs. 14.3% (49/342), χ 2= 4.023, P=0.045). Comparing the clinical characteristics of different pathogens, we found that fever and cough were the common symptoms in both single MP and single bacterial groups, but chest pain was more common (17.0% (34/200) vs. 6.1% (6/98), χ 2=6.697, P=0.010) while shortness of breath and wheezing were less common in MP group (16.0% (32/200) vs. 60.2% (59/98), χ 2=60.688, P<0.01; 4.5% (9/200) vs. 21.4% (21/98), χ 2=20.819, P<0.01, respectively). The white blood cell count, C-reactive protein and procalcitonin in the bacterial group were significantly higher than those in the MP group (14.7 (1.0-67.1)×10 9/L vs. 10.5 (2.5-32.2)×10 9/L, 122.5 (0.5-277.3) mg/L vs. 51.4 (0.5-200.0) g/L, 2.13 (0.05-100.00) μg/L vs. 0.24 (0.01-18.85) μg/L, Z=-3.719, -5.901 and -7.765, all P<0.01). Conclusions:The prevalence of pediatric NP in China shows an increasing trend during the past years. MP, SP and SA are the main pathogens of NP, and the most common clinical symptoms are fever and cough. The WBC count, C-reactive protein and procalcitonin in bacterial NP are significantly higher than those caused by MP.

Acute respiratory tract infection is the most common infectious disease in children, which seriously threatens children′s health.Rapid and accurate etiological diagnosis is of great significance for the clinical treatment and control of these diseases.Pathogen nucleic acid test was applied and became the main method of respiratory tract infection diagnosis for its high sensitivity and specificity.To regulate the application of pathogen nucleic acid amplification test in respiratory tract infection in children, improve the diagnosis level, expert consensus on nucleic acid amplification test of respiratory pathogens in children was prepared to guide the application and promote pathogens diagnosis ability.