<b>OBJECTIVEb>To confirm the antioxidant protective effect of peroxiredoxin 6 (Prdx6) in acute lung injury in mice.

<b>METHODSb>Lung injury or lung alveolar type II epithelial cell (AEC II) injury models were induced in mice by 100% O2 exposure or H2O2 treatments. Mice and AEC II cell survival rate or BALF analysis were applied for evaluating the degree of acute lung injury. Western Blot assay was used to determine Prdx6 or Gpx1 protein expression in lung. Annexin V staining method was applied to detect cell apoptosis on cultured AEC II cell, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) measurement and diphenyl-1-pyrenyl phospholine (DPPP) assays were separately used to measure the level of lipid peroxidation in mice lung and AEC II cell membrane.

<b>RESULTSb>Under 100% O2 exposure, Prdx6-/- mice presented 24 h shorter survival time compared to wild type (WT) mice, on the contrary, Prdx6 gene over-expressed (Tg Prdx6) mice showed enhanced mice survival; meanwhile, the degree of AEC II cell injury had H2O2-dose dependent pattern with interactive relationship of Prdx6 protection. Under 100% O2 exposure for 72 h, it caused 7-fold decreased Gpx1 expression in Prdx6-/- mouse lung with no remarkable decrease of Prdx6 expression in Gpx1-/- mice. The percentage of apoptotic cells was significantly increased in AEC II cells from Prdx6-/- mice, and the percentage of AEC II apoptotic cells from Tg Prdx6 kept consistently around 10% under H2O treatments; also, the lipid peroxidation level of AEC II cell membrane was the highest in the group of Prdx6-/- mice, which was about 2 or 4-fold increased compared to the groups of WT or Tg Prdx6, separately; meanwhile, the lipid peroxidation level in Prdx6-/- mice, was also the highest compared to the other groups.

<b>CONCLUSIONSb>Prdx6 plays a critical role in defending acute oxidative lung injury and its function of defending cell apoptosis and cell membrane lipid peroxidation suggests its unique cell-based protective effect.

Acute Lung Injury ; metabolism ; prevention & control ; Animals ; Antioxidants ; metabolism ; Apoptosis ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; metabolism ; Lipid Peroxidation ; Lung ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Knockout ; Peroxiredoxin VI ; metabolism

INTRODUCTION: We evaluated the risk factors associated with Type 1 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants and compared ophthalmologic outcomes between cases with Type 1 ROP who received treatment and gestational age-matched controls with mild or no ROP not requiring treatment. METHODS: This was a retrospective case-control study of VLBW infants born in National University Hospital, Singapore, from January 2001 to December 2013. 17 cases with Type 1 ROP were each matched for gestational age with controls who had either mild (below Stage 2) or no ROP. Antenatal, perinatal and postnatal variables, as well as childhood ophthalmologic outcomes, were collected from their clinical records and analysed. RESULTS: The number of packed cell transfusions and highest fraction of inspired oxygen given at weeks 7-10 were found to be statistically significant on multivariate analysis (p = 0.045 and p = 0.049, respectively). None of the infants had blindness or retinal detachment, and there were no significant differences in refractive errors between the groups at 1-4 years of age. Strabismus at four years of age was more common in the group with Type 1 ROP (p = 0.023). CONCLUSION Increased episodes of blood transfusions and chronic lung disease requiring high oxygen supplementation at 7-10 weeks of life are significant risk factors associated with Type 1 ROP in VLBW infants in our study. Strabismus at four years is more common in this group of patients. This study highlights the importance of long-term ophthalmologic surveillance for these high-risk children.

Humans ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology* ; Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone/genetics* ; Ear, Middle/pathology* ; Poly-ADP-Ribose Binding Proteins ; Nuclear Proteins

<b>Objective:b> To investigate the clinicopathological features, and molecular genetic alterations of metaplastic thymoma (MT). <b>Methods:b> A total of ten MT cases, diagnosed from 2011 to 2021, were selected from the Department of Pathology of Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China for clinicopathological and immunohistochemical (IHC) examination and clinical follow-up. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), next-generation sequencing (NGS), and YAP1 C-terminus (YAP1-CT) IHC were performed to detect YAP1::MAML2 fusions. <b>Results:b> There were four males and six females, ranging in age from 29 to 60 years (mean 50 years, median 54 years). Microscopically, all tumors showed a typical biphasic morphology consisting of epithelial components and gradually or abruptly transitioning spindle cell components. The two components were present in varying proportions in different cases. Immunophenotypically, the epithelial cells were diffusely positive for CKpan, CK5/6 and p63. The spindle cells were diffusely positive for vimentin and focally positive for EMA. TdT was negative in the background lymphocytes. Ki-67 proliferation index was less than 5%. YAP1 and MAML2 break-apart FISH analyses showed that all ten cases had narrow split signals with a distance of nearly 2 signal diameters and may be considered false-negative. Using YAP1::MAML2 fusion FISH assays, abnormal fusion signals were observed in all the ten cases. NGS demonstrated YAP1::MAML2 fusions in all eight cases with adequate nucleic acids; in two cases the fusions were detected by DNA sequencing and in eight cases by RNA sequencing. All ten cases of MT demonstrated loss of YAP1 C-terminal expression in epithelioid cells. <b>Conclusions:b> MT is a rare and low-grade thymic tumor characterized by a biphasic pattern and YAP1::MAML2 fusions. Break-apart FISH assays may sometimes show false-negative results due to the proximity of YAP1 and MAML2, while YAP1 C-terminal IHC is a highly sensitive and specific marker for MT. Loss of YAP1 C-terminal expression can also be used to screen YAP1::MAML2 fusions for possible MT cases.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Thymoma/genetics* ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Transcription Factors/genetics* ; Mutation ; Thymus Neoplasms/genetics*

<b>Objective:b> To explore distribution of HIV gene subtypes among newly reported HIV/AIDS cases from China and Myanmar in Dehong Dai and Jingpo prefecture of Yunnan province in 2016. <b>Methods:b> We conducted DNA extractions from newly reported HIV/AIDS cases in 2016. The gag, env and pol genes were amplified by using reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and sequenced to identify HIV subtypes. <b>Results:b> A total of 1 112 newly diagnosed HIV cases were reported in Dehong in 2016, and the HIV subtypes were identified for 860 cases. Subtype C was predominant (33.6%), followed by unique recombinant forms (URFs) (28.4%), CRF01_AE (18.6%) and so on. URFs include four recombination, among which the recombination of CRF01_AE and C subtype were predominant. The HIV subtype distribution was associated with nationality and transmission route in HIV/AIDS cases from Myanmar. <b>Conclusions:b> The gene subtypes of C, URFs and CRF01_AE were mainly distributed; distribution of URFs remained complex and diverse among newly reported HIV/AIDS cases in Dehong in 2016.
Base Sequence ; China/epidemiology* ; Ethnicity/genetics* ; Genes, pol ; Genotype ; HIV Infections/genetics* ; HIV-1/genetics* ; Humans ; Male ; Phylogeny ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods* ; Serogroup

<b>Objective:b> To understand the characteristics on major strain subtypes of hepatitis C virus among HIV/HCV co-infected patients, so as to explore the molecular transmission clusters and related risk factors of HCV strains. <b>Methods:b> A total of 336 newly reported HIV-infected patients were diagnosed as HIV/HCV co-infection in Dehong Dai and Jingpo autonomous prefecture (Dehong) in 2016. We used Nested PCR to amplify CE1 and NS5B genes among 318 samples with plasma levels above 200 μl, before using the combining phylogenetic tree and constructing molecular propagation network method to analyze the related data. <b>Results:b> A total of 267 HIV/HCV co-infection patients who had met the HCV genotyping requirements were screened the gene subtypes were diversified. Among these genotypes, proportions of 3b, 6n, 6u, 1a, 3a and other subtypes appeared as 32.6% (87/267), 18.4% (49/267), 15.7%(42/267), 13.1%(35/267), 11.2%(30/267) and 9.0%(24/267) respectively. Molecular transmission network of five major HCV genotypes was constructed with a clustering rate of 39.1% (95/243). The clustering rate of subtype 1a was the highest, as 71.4% (25/35). Results from the multivariate logistic regression showed that ethnic minorities other than the Yi and Jingpo (vs. the Han, OR=0.17, 95%CI: 0.04-0.71), the married spouses (vs. the unmarried, OR=0.42, 95%CI: 0.18-0.94), the 6n and 3a subtype (vs. the 3b subtype, OR=0.34, 95%CI: 0.12-0.95; OR=0.22, 95%CI: 0.05-0.93) were more difficult to form transmission clusters. However, the 6u and 1a subtype (vs. the 3b subtype, OR=3.10, 95%CI: 1.21-7.94; OR=4.00, 95%CI: 1.32-12.11) seemed more likely to form the transmission clusters. <b>Conclusion:b> Ethnicity, marital status and genetic subtypes were factors significantly associated with the formation of transmission clusters related to the major HCV gene subtypes among newly reported HIV/HCV co-infection in Dehong.
AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/virology* ; Asian People ; China/epidemiology* ; Coinfection ; Genotype ; HIV Infections/virology* ; Hepacivirus/isolation & purification* ; Hepatitis C/virology* ; Humans ; Phylogeny ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

<b>Objective:b> To understand the seasonal distribution of patient hospitalization due to asthma exacerbation in 7 geographic areas in China. <b>Methods:b> This was a retrospective study which involved patients hospitalized for asthma exacerbation in 29 hospitals throughout 7 geographic areas in the mainland of China (northeast, north, central, east, south, northwest and southwest). The numbers of asthmatic patients and total inpatients of the respiratory department of each hospital were recorded. The monthly ratio of asthmatic patients to the total inpatients in every area was calculated and compared. <b>Results:b> During the study period, 6 480 patients were admitted for asthma exacerbation, accounting for 3.14% of all the 206 135 patients admitted to the respiratory departments in the 29 hospitals. The ratio of asthmatic patients to total inpatients in the northeast area (5.61%) was highest, and the ratio in east area was lowest (1.97%). Statistical analysis showed that the difference among different areas was significant (P<0.000 1). In most areas, both the number and proportion of hospitalized asthmatic patients peaked in spring (February-April) and autumn (September-October). In the northeast area, east area and south area, the peaks in spring were more obvious, while in the north area and southwest area, the peaks in autumn were more obvious. In the northwest area the peaks occurred in winter (December-January) and summer (June-August), respectively. The differences in hospitalization due to asthma among different months were significant in the northeast, north, and southwest areas (P<0.005). <b>Conclusion:b> The number of patients hospitalized for asthma exacerbation fluctuated with season in different areas in China. In most areas, more asthmatic patients were admitted to hospitals in spring and autumn.
Asthma ; China/epidemiology* ; Hospitalization/statistics & numerical data* ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Seasons