Objective To explore the instructive role of pulmonary function monitoring in diagnosis and treatment of infants with asthma.Methods Spirometry was used to determine respiratory physiologic parameters respectively both in period of acute episode and remission.Results 45 cases were found to be with obstructive ventilation dysfunction out of 62 cases with mild to moderate acute episode,while 10 cases out of 15 with severe acute episode were found to be with mixed ventilation dysfunction,15 cases in period of remission showed mild to moderate obstructive ventilation dysunction.Conclusion Tidal breath pulmonary function monitoring may play a very important role in judging the state of asthma,deciding curative effects and following up.

Objective:To investigate the normal range of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in 6-18-year-old children in China, so as to provide a data base for the establishment of FeNO standards for Chinese children.Methods:A multi-center study was conducted on 5 949 children aged 6-18 (3 101 males and 2 848 females) in 16 pro-vinces of 7 administrative districts in China.According to the technical standard recommended by American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Association, FeNO was measured, and the relationship of FeNO with the sex, age, height, weight, body mass index and region was discussed.Results:The geometric mean FeNO value of Chinese children aged 6-18 was 14.1 ppb, and its 95% confidence interval (skewness distribution) was 1.0-38.2 ppb.The geometric mean FeNO values of children aged 6-11 and 12-18 were 13.1 ppb and 15.7 ppb, respectively, and their 95% confidence intervals (skewness distribution) were 1.0-38.1 ppb and 2.0-38.2 ppb.For children at and under 11 years old, FeNO decreased with age, with a mean decline of 1 ppb per year.The multiple linear regression results suggested that there was a significant correlation between FeNO and age for children aged 6-11, and FeNO of children aged 12-18 was significantly correlated with the gender, height, and region(all P<0.01). Conclusions:FeNO values of Chinese children and adolescents in this study are higher than those obtained by the previous study conducted from 2010 to 2012.For children aged 12-18, 16 ppb is recommended as the clinical cut-off point.For children at or under 11 years old, the influence of age on FeNO should be considered, and the cut-off point of FeNO decreases by 1 ppb as the age is reduced by one year.

Inflammation-driven endothelial dysfunction is the major initiating factor in atherosclerosis, while the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here, we report that the non-canonical stimulator of interferon genes (STING)-PKR-like ER kinase (PERK) pathway was significantly activated in both human and mice atherosclerotic arteries. Typically, STING activation leads to the activation of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB)/p65, thereby facilitating IFN signals and inflammation. In contrast, our study reveals the activated non-canonical STING-PERK pathway increases scaffold protein bromodomain protein 4 (BRD4) expression, which encourages the formation of super-enhancers on the proximal promoter regions of the proinflammatory cytokines, thereby enabling the transactivation of these cytokines by integrating activated IRF3 and NF-κB via a condensation process. Endothelium-specific STING and BRD4 deficiency significantly decreased the plaque area and inflammation. Mechanistically, this pathway is triggered by leaked mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) via mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP), formed by voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1) oligomer interaction with oxidized mtDNA upon cholesterol oxidation stimulation. Especially, compared to macrophages, endothelial STING activation plays a more pronounced role in atherosclerosis. We propose a non-canonical STING-PERK pathway-dependent epigenetic paradigm in atherosclerosis that integrates IRF3, NF-κB and BRD4 in inflammatory responses, which provides emerging therapeutic modalities for vascular endothelial dysfunction.