1.Development of screening checklist of brief interview for autism spectrum disorder and its reliability and validity evaluation
Lili ZHANG ; Ruixuan ZHENG ; Zaohuo CHENG ; Ziyun ZHOU ; Jiayan CAO ; Xing ZHOU ; Yuqian QIAN ; Feiyu DU
Chinese Journal of Behavioral Medicine and Brain Science 2021;30(12):1134-1139
Objective:To develop the screening checklist of brief interview for autism disorder suitable for Chinese children and evaluate its reliability and validity.Methods:Based on existed research results and diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder of DSM-5, the screening checklist of brief interview for autism spectrum disorder(SCAD) was developed. A sample of 238 children were selected for investigation and 28 of them were retested for test-retest reliability with 2-4 weeks interval. Cronbach's α coefficient, split-half correlation coefficient, test-retest reliability, and evaluator consistency were used to test the reliability of the scale. Content validity, construct validity and empirical validity were used to test the validity of the scale.All statistical analysis were conducted by SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 17.0.Results:The SCAD contains two components and six dimensions, with a total of 25 items. The Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.936 for the total scale and were 0.938, 0.771 for the two components. The split-half coefficient for the total scale and the two components were 0.962, 0.938 and 0.794. The test-retest reliability for the total scale and the two components were 0.806, 0.795 and 0.766. The Kendall coefficient for the total scale and the two components were 0.968, 0.982 and 0.950. The SCAD item-level content validity index (I-CVI) ranged from 0.66 to 0.98 and the Kappa value ranged from 0.66 to 0.98. The scale-level content validity S-CVI/UA and S-CVI/Ave were 0.89 and 0.94. The correlations between SCAD and calibration tests such as ABC, CARS and M-CHAT were 0.54, 0.53 and 0.87, and the correlation coefficients with the M-CHAT-R/F between the two components were 0.87 and 0.76 respectively (both P<0.01). The result of CFA demonstrated that the model fitted the data with well construct validity(χ 2/ df=0.910, RMR=0.049, AGFI=0.974, RMSEA=0.010, PNFI=0.530, PCFI=0.533, NFI=0.994, RFI=0.988, CFI=1.000). The correlation coefficient of the two components was 0.88 and that with the total scale were 0.97 and 0.90, each dimensions with the total scale ranged from 0.72 to 0.93. Conclusion:The SCAD has a good reliability and validity, and it can be used as a clinical screening tool for children with autism spectrum disorder.
2.Expression levels of complement regulatory proteins CD55 and CD59 in the peripheral blood of patients with Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis
Ruixuan CHENG ; Chunlan ZHANG ; Dawei DUAN ; Dandan ZANG ; Xin DU ; Feng WANG
Chinese Journal of Dermatology 2024;57(8):715-720
Objective:To detect expression levels of complement regulatory proteins CD55 and CD59 in the peripheral blood of patients with Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) /toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), and to preliminarily analyze their potential roles in the occurrence of SJS/TEN.Methods:Hospitalized patients with SJS/TEN (SJS/TEN group) were collected from the Department of Dermatology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from December 2017 to December 2022. Meanwhile, patients with maculopapular exanthema (MPE) and healthy physical examinees were also collected and served as the mild group and healthy control group, respectively. Flow cytometry was performed to determine the proportions of CD4 + T lymphocytes and CD8 + T lymphocytes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The expression levels of inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF) -α, interleukin (IL) -6, IL-17, IL-10, interferon (IFN) -γ, IL-2, and IL-4 were detected using flow cytometric bead array technology. The mRNA expression levels of CD55 and CD59 in PBMCs were detected by real-time fluorescence-based quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR). Flow cytometry was also performed to determine the protein expression of CD55 and CD59 on the surface of CD8 + T lymphocytes. Statistical analyses were carried out using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey's test. Results:Totally, 13 patients with SJS/TEN, 27 patients with MPE, and 40 healthy controls were collected. Among the SJS/TEN patients, there were 8 males and 5 females, with their age being 18 to 84 (47.15 ± 19.99) years, and disease duration being 7.74 ± 2.63 days. No significant differences were observed in the gender distribution or age among the 3 groups (both P > 0.05). The proportions of CD4 + T lymphocytes did not differ among the 3 groups ( F = 3.84, P = 0.051). The proportions of CD8 + T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood were significantly higher in the SJS/TEN group (25.60% ± 4.57%) than in the healthy control group (16.20% ± 6.28%; q = 4.59, P = 0.018). The expression levels of inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, and IFN-γ were significantly higher in the SJS/TEN group than in the healthy control group and mild group (all P < 0.001). In addition, the mRNA expression of CD55 ( F = 9.46, P < 0.001) and CD59 in PBMCs ( F = 15.14, P < 0.001) was significantly lower in the SJS/TEN group than in the mild group and healthy control group. The protein expression levels of CD55 ( F = 51.51, P < 0.001) and CD59 ( F = 31.59, P < 0.001) on the surface of CD8 + T lymphocytes were also significantly lower in the SJS/TEN group than in the other two groups and the healthy control group, respectively. Conclusion:Complement regulatory proteins CD55 and CD59 were downregulated in SJS/TEN patients, which may be associated with the activation of CD8 + T lymphocytes and excessive inflammatory responses.