OBJECTIVE: To carry out genetic testing for a pregnant woman with mild mental retardation, facial dysmorphism, and a history of adverse pregnancies and provide prenatal diagnosis for her. METHODS: Routine G-banded karyotyping and single nucleotide polymorphism microarray (SNP-array) analysis were performed on the couple and amniotic fluid sample. RESULTS: No karyotypic abnormality was found with the couple and amniotic fluid sample. SNP-array analysis showed that the woman has carried a 7.801 Mb microdeletion in 10q22.3q23.2, which involved 18 OMIM genes including CDHR1, BMPR1A, NRG3, GRID1 and LDB3, which are associated with facial abnormalities, developmental retardation, mental retardation and autism. The fetus also carried a 7.819 Mb deletion in the same region, while the father showed no abnormality. CONCLUSION Both the pregnant woman and her fetus have carried a 10q22.3q23.2 microdeletion, which has provided guidance for her subsequent pregnancy.
Cadherins ; Chromosome Banding ; Chromosome Deletion ; Female ; Fetus ; Genetic Testing ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; Nerve Tissue Proteins ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic basis for a Chinese pedigree affected with recurrent fetal hydrocephalus. METHODS: A couple who had presented at the Affiliated Hospital of Putian College on March 3, 2021 was selected as the study subject. Following elective abortion, fetal tissue and peripheral blood samples were respectively obtained from the abortus and the couple, and were subjected to whole exome sequencing. Candidate variants were verified by Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: The fetus was found to harbor compound heterozygous variants of the B3GALNT2 gene, namely c.261-2A>G and c.536T>C (p.Leu179Pro), which were inherited from its father and mother, respectively.According to the guidelines of American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, both variants were classified as pathogenic (PVS1+PM2_Supporting; PM3+PM2_Supporting+PP3+PP4). CONCLUSION The compound heterozygous variants of the B3GALNT2 gene probably underlay the α-dystroglycanopathy in this fetus. Above results have provided a basis for genetic counseling of this pedigree.
Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Aborted Fetus ; Asian People/genetics* ; East Asian People ; Fetus ; Genetic Counseling ; Mutation ; N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferases ; Pedigree ; Walker-Warburg Syndrome/genetics*

Objective To explore the nursing undergraduates' learning experience on the application of formative assessment in 'Basic Nursing Skills of Fundamental Nursing'. Methods A total of 362 nursing undergraduates for the class of 2014 from School of Nursing in University of South China were selected as study subjects by the method of purposive sampling. The formative assessment was used in the course 'Basic Nursing Skills of Fundamental Nursing'. The satisfaction of student nurses with learning this course and learning self-assessment were investigated with the self-designed learning experience questionnaire in the term end. Results The degree of satisfaction of student nurses with course teaching was high. A total 83.7% of them were satisfied with formative assessment. However,49.7% of them were satisfied with personal learning management. The highest degree of learning self-assessment was finding their own shortcomings(84.3%). The second was consolidating what they had learned(83.5%),and the lowest was promoting autonomic learning(71.5%). Conclusions Most of the student nurses recognise the formative assessment of this course with high satisfaction with the course learning and a good learning self-assessment. Teachers should pay attention to improving the independent learning ability of students in teaching.

Objective: Currently, parathyroid hormone (PTH) is mainly measured by the second generation intact PTH (iPTH) assay which detects both full-length (1-84)PTH and (7-84)PTH fragments. The third generation whole PTH (wPTH) assay however has turned out to be specific for (1-84) PTH. The aim of this study is to investigate the features of plasma iPTH, (1-84)PTH, (7-84)PTH levels in patients with stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD), and evaluate the effects of parathyroidectomy (PTX) on above markers in severe secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study including 90 controls and 233 stage 5 CKD patients, and a prospective follow-up study in 31 severe SHPT patients were conducted. Plasma iPTH and (1-84)PTH levels were measured by the second and third generation assay, respectively. Circulating (7-84)PTH level was calculated by subtracting the (1-84)PTH value from the iPTH value. Results: Plasma levels of iPTH, (1-84)PTH, (7-84)PTH were higher (P<0.01), and (1-84)PTH/iPTH was lower (P<0.01) in stage 5 CKD patients than in controls. For severe SHPT patients with PTX (n=74), plasma iPTH, (1-84)PTH and (7-84)PTH concentrations were significantly increased compared to non-PTX group (n=159) (P<0.01), and the increase of (7-84)PTH level was more striking than (1-84)PTH. Meanwhile, the value of (1-84)PTH/iPTH was decreased (P<0.01). Plasma iPTH level was strongly correlated with (1-84)PTH level (r=0.980, P<0.01) in stage 5 CKD patients. Also, both iPTH and (1-84)PTH levels were positively correlated with serum alkaline phosphatase, dialysis vintage and serum phosphorus (P<0.01). After PTX (median interval of follow-up: 7.1 months), plasma iPTH, (1-84)PTH, (7-84)PTH concentrations were decreased (by 92.9%, 89.7%, 95.8%, P<0.01, respectively) greatly and (1-84)PTH/iPTH was increased (P<0.01). Conclusions In stage 5 CKD patients, plasma iPTH, (1-84)PTH, (7-84)PTH levels are greatly increased while (1-84)PTH/iPTH is decreased, and PTX can significantly improve abnormality of above markers in severe SHPT patients. The second generation PTH assay overestimates the severity of SHPT, and the accurate measurement of (1-84)PTH by the third assays is more conducive to diagnosis and treatment of CKD and SHPT patients.

Objective To prepare silymarin phospholipids complex（SM-PC） and investigate its physicochemical properties. Methods On the basis of single-factor tests, the drug-lipid ratio, drug concentration and reaction temperature were selected as the factors of the central composite design and response surface methodology in the preparation of SM-PC by solvent volatilization, and the best process was optimized with the compound rate as the index. And its in vitro dissolution was measured. Results The optimum preparation technology of SM-PC was as follows: acetone was used as compound solvent, the concentration of SM was 8.0 mg/ml, the mass ratio of SM to phospholipid was 1∶1.8, the reaction temperature was 56 ℃ and the recombination rate was（95.15±1.55）% with deviation of less than 3%. The in vitro dissolution test showed that the dissolution of SM-PC was close to 90% in 60 min. The dissolution behavior of main component of silybin was similar to that of silymarin capsules（Legalon ^®）, which was higher than SM-API. Conclusion SM-PC was successfully prepared by central composite design response surface method, which significantly improved the dissolution and laid a foundation for the study of subsequent preparations.