Objective To monitor the susceptibility of clinical isolates to antimicrobial agents in tertiary hospitals in major regions of China in 2022.Methods Clinical isolates from 58 hospitals in China were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using a unified protocol based on disc diffusion method or automated testing systems.Results were interpreted using the 2022 Clinical &Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI)breakpoints.Results A total of 318 013 clinical isolates were collected from January 1,2022 to December 31,2022,of which 29.5％were gram-positive and 70.5％were gram-negative.The prevalence of methicillin-resistant strains in Staphylococcus aureus,Staphylococcus epidermidis and other coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species(excluding Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Staphylococcus schleiferi)was 28.3％,76.7％and 77.9％,respectively.Overall,94.0％of MRSA strains were susceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and 90.8％of MRSE strains were susceptible to rifampicin.No vancomycin-resistant strains were found.Enterococcus faecalis showed significantly lower resistance rates to most antimicrobial agents tested than Enterococcus faecium.A few vancomycin-resistant strains were identified in both E.faecalis and E.faecium.The prevalence of penicillin-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae was 94.2％in the isolates from children and 95.7％in the isolates from adults.The resistance rate to carbapenems was lower than 13.1％in most Enterobacterales species except for Klebsiella,21.7％-23.1％of which were resistant to carbapenems.Most Enterobacterales isolates were highly susceptible to tigecycline,colistin and polymyxin B,with resistance rates ranging from 0.1％to 13.3％.The prevalence of meropenem-resistant strains decreased from 23.5％in 2019 to 18.0％in 2022 in Pseudomonas aeruginosa,and decreased from 79.0％in 2019 to 72.5％in 2022 in Acinetobacter baumannii.Conclusions The resistance of clinical isolates to the commonly used antimicrobial agents is still increasing in tertiary hospitals.However,the prevalence of important carbapenem-resistant organisms such as carbapenem-resistant K.pneumoniae,P.aeruginosa,and A.baumannii showed a downward trend in recent years.This finding suggests that the strategy of combining antimicrobial resistance surveillance with multidisciplinary concerted action works well in curbing the spread of resistant bacteria.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and sexual development in Chinese children. Methods: A nationwide multicenter and population-based large cross-sectional study was conducted in 13 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities of China from January 2017 to December 2018. Data on sex, age, height, weight were collected, BMI was calculated and sexual characteristics were analyzed. The subjects were divided into four groups based on age, including ages 3-<6 years, 6-<10 years, 10-<15 years and 15-<18 years. Multiple Logistic regression models were used for evaluating the associations of BMI with sexual development in children. Dichotomous Logistic regression was used to compare the differences in the distribution of early and non-early puberty among normal weight, overweight and obese groups. Curves were drawn to analyze the relationship between the percentage of early puberty and BMI distribution in girls and boys at different Tanner stages. Results: A total of 208 179 healthy children (96 471 girls and 111 708 boys) were enrolled in this study. The OR values of B2, B3 and B4+ in overweight girls were 1.72 (95%CI: 1.56-1.89), 3.19 (95%CI: 2.86-3.57), 7.14 (95%CI: 6.33-8.05) and in obese girls were 2.05 (95%CI: 1.88-2.24), 4.98 (95%CI: 4.49-5.53), 11.21 (95%CI: 9.98-12.59), respectively; while the OR values of G2, G3, G4+ in overweight boys were 1.27 (95%CI: 1.17-1.38), 1.52 (95%CI: 1.36-1.70), 1.88 (95%CI: 1.66-2.14) and in obese boys were 1.27 (95%CI: 1.17-1.37), 1.59 (95%CI: 1.43-1.78), and 1.93 (95%CI: 1.70-2.18) (compared with normal weight Tanner 1 group,all P<0.01). Analysis in different age groups found that OR values of obese girls at B2 stage and boys at G2 stage were 2.02 (95%CI: 1.06-3.86) and 2.32 (95%CI:1.05-5.12) in preschool children aged 3-<6 years, respectively (both P<0.05). And in the age group of 6-10 years, overweight girls had a 5.45-fold risk and obese girls had a 12.54-fold risk of B3 stage compared to girls with normal BMI. Compared with normal weight children, the risk of early puberty was 2.67 times higher in overweight girls, 3.63 times higher in obese girls, and 1.22 times higher in overweight boys, 1.35 times higher in obese boys (all P<0.01). Among the children at each Tanner stages, the percentage of early puberty increased with the increase of BMI, from 5.7% (80/1 397), 16.1% (48/299), 13.8% (27/195) to 25.7% (198/769), 65.1% (209/321), 65.4% (157/240) in girls aged 8-<9, 10-<11 and 11-<12 years, and 6.6% (34/513), 18.7% (51/273), 21.6% (57/264) to 13.3% (96/722), 46.4% (140/302), 47.5% (105/221) in boys aged 9-<10, 12-<13 and 13-<14 years, respectively. Conclusions: BMI is positively correlated with sexual development in both Chinese boys and girls, and the correlation is stronger in girls. Obesity is a risk factor for precocious puberty in preschool children aged 3-<6 years, and 6-<10 years of age is a high risk period for early development in obese girls.
Adolescent ; Body Mass Index ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China/epidemiology* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Obesity/epidemiology* ; Overweight/epidemiology* ; Puberty ; Puberty, Precocious ; Sexual Development

Objective:To investigate the effect and mechanism of exosomes derived from human-induced pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells (iMSC-Exos) on alveolar macrophages (AM) pyroptosis.Methods:The exosomes in the culture supernatant of human-induced pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells (iMSC) were extracted by rotating ultrafiltration, and the extracted exosomes were identified by transmission electron microscopy, Western blotting and high-resolution adjustable resistance pulse. The rat alveolar macrophage cells (NR8383 cells) were cultured in vitro and the logarithmic growth phase cells were divided into three groups: the control group was added with an equal volume of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) in the AM supernatant; in LPS/ATP group AM cells were stimulated with 500 μg/L LPS for 23 hours and then 5 mmol/L ATP was added for 1 hour to induce pyrolysis; iMSC-Exos group was incubated with AM and 100 mg/L iMSC-Exos for 3 hours before giving LPS and ATP. The cytotoxic activity was detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) analysis, the apoptosis and the expression of caspase-1 were observed by immunofluorescence, the levels of inflammatory factors interleukins (IL-1β and IL-18) released by AM were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome pathway and the expression level of pyroptosis related protein gasdermin D (GSDMD) were detected by Western blotting. Results:The extracted exosomes were observed by transmission electron microscopy as round vesicles, expressing exosomal markers CD63 and CD9 showed by Western blotting, high-resolution adjustable resistance pulse showed the average diameter of the particles was 130 nm, and could be uptaken by AM. Compared with the control group, the cell activity decreased [(0.56±0.05)% vs. (1.06±0.07)%, P < 0.01], the release of necrotic substance LDH increased (U/L: 1 218.86±22.73 vs. 188.30±1.61, P < 0.01), the expression levels of inflammatory factors increased [IL-1β (ng/L): 958.91±32.78 vs. 194.63±5.14, IL-18 (ng/L): 870.89±21.86 vs. 288.85±24.48, both P < 0.01], and the apoptosis rate [(55.35±6.19)% vs. (12.01±1.32)%, P < 0.01] and caspase-1 expression (fluorescence intensity: 41.06±3.65 vs. 2.80±0.54, P < 0.01) elevated in the AM after LPS/ATP stimulation, suggesting that LPS combined with ATP successfully induced alveolar pyroptosis. Compared with the LPS/ATP group, AM pretreated with iMSC-Exos showed increased cell viability [(0.81±0.05)% vs. (0.56±0.05)%, P < 0.01], decreased LDH secretion (U/L: 535.05±42.55 vs. 1 218.86±22.73, P < 0.01), decreased expression of inflammatory factors [IL-1β (ng/L): 381.82±19.50 vs. 958.91±32.78, IL-18 (ng/L): 533.77±31.54 vs. 870.89±21.86, both P < 0.01], and decreased apoptosis rate [(19.74±2.96)% vs. (55.35±6.19)%, P < 0.01] and caspase-1 expression (fluorescence intensity: 12.16±1.31 vs. 41.06±3.65, P < 0.01). At the same time, the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome pathway [NLRP3 protein (NLRP3/β-actin): 0.62±0.06 vs. 1.89±0.11; cleaved caspase-1 protein (cleaved caspase-1/β-actin): 0.42±0.07 vs. 1.22±0.17, both P < 0.01] and pyrolysis-related protein was significantly inhibited [GSDMD protein (GSDMD/β-actin): 0.57±0.05 vs. 1.22±0.05, P < 0.01]. Conclusion:iMSC-Exos successfully reversed the AM pyroptosis and inflammatory factor expression induced by LPS/ATP, which may be due to the targeted inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome pathway, suggesting that iMSC-Exos can exert anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the pyrolysis of AM.

Objective: Several COVID-19 patients have overlapping comorbidities. The independent role of each component contributing to the risk of COVID-19 is unknown, and how some non-cardiometabolic comorbidities affect the risk of COVID-19 remains unclear. Methods: A retrospective follow-up design was adopted. A total of 1,160 laboratory-confirmed patients were enrolled from nine provinces in China. Data on comorbidities were obtained from the patients' medical records. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio ( Results: Overall, 158 (13.6%) patients were diagnosed with severe illness and 32 (2.7%) had unfavorable outcomes. Hypertension (2.87, 1.30-6.32), type 2 diabetes (T2DM) (3.57, 2.32-5.49), cardiovascular disease (CVD) (3.78, 1.81-7.89), fatty liver disease (7.53, 1.96-28.96), hyperlipidemia (2.15, 1.26-3.67), other lung diseases (6.00, 3.01-11.96), and electrolyte imbalance (10.40, 3.00-26.10) were independently linked to increased odds of being severely ill. T2DM (6.07, 2.89-12.75), CVD (8.47, 6.03-11.89), and electrolyte imbalance (19.44, 11.47-32.96) were also strong predictors of unfavorable outcomes. Women with comorbidities were more likely to have severe disease on admission (5.46, 3.25-9.19), while men with comorbidities were more likely to have unfavorable treatment outcomes (6.58, 1.46-29.64) within two weeks. Conclusion Besides hypertension, diabetes, and CVD, fatty liver disease, hyperlipidemia, other lung diseases, and electrolyte imbalance were independent risk factors for COVID-19 severity and poor treatment outcome. Women with comorbidities were more likely to have severe disease, while men with comorbidities were more likely to have unfavorable treatment outcomes.
Adult ; Aged ; COVID-19/virology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Comorbidity ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Severity of Illness Index ; Treatment Outcome

At the end of 2019, a new form of pneumonia disease known as the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapidly spread throughout most provinces of China, and the total global number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed 500 000 by Mar. 27, 2020 (WHO, 2020). On Jan. 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global health emergency (WHO, 2020). COVID-19 causes most damage to the respiratory system, leading to pneumonia or breathing difficulties. The confirmed case fatality risk (cCFR) was estimated to be 5% to 8% (Jung et al., 2020). Besides physical pain, COVID-19 also induces psychological distress, with depression, anxiety, and stress affecting the general population, quarantined population, medical staff, and patients at different levels (Kang et al., 2020; Xiang et al., 2020). Previous research on patients in isolation wards highlighted the risk of depressed mood, fear, loneliness, frustration, excessive worries, and insomnia (Abad et al., 2010).
Adult ; Anxiety ; therapy ; Betacoronavirus ; China ; Coronavirus Infections ; psychology ; therapy ; Depression ; therapy ; Dialectical Behavior Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; psychology ; therapy ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; psychology

Objective To explore the relationship between sleep duration and different ischemic stroke (IS) subtypes. Methods Participants in the study were recruited from rural communities in Beijing. The survey questionnaires, physical examination and biochemical tests were performed. Sleep duration was categorized into 5 groups, namely ≤5 hours/day, 6 hours/day (5.5-6.5 h/d), 7 hours/day (6.5-7.5 h/d), 8 hours/day (7.5-8.5 h/d) and ≥9 hours/day(≥8.5 h/d). Classification of ischemic stroke was based on Trial of org 10172 in acute stroke treatment(TOAST)classification. Logistic models were used to evaluate the associations between sleep duration and different IS subtypes. Results A total of 6 370 participants were recruited. The average age was (58.34±9.37) years old. Logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for age, sex, behavioral lifestyle, socioeconomic status and health status, compared to subjects with 7 hours/day, subjects with sleep duration ≤5 hours/day was significantly associated with increased risk of IS (OR=1.75, 95% CI: 1.42-2.15, P<0.001), large-artery atherosclerosis (OR=1.98, 95% CI:1.46-2.70, P<0.001), small-artery occlusion lacunar (OR=5.73, 95% CI:3.34-9.83, P<0.001) and stroke of undetermined etiology (OR=4.43, 95% CI:1.86-10.53, P=0.001). Subjects with sleep duration 8 hours/day and ≥9 hours/day was only found to be significantly associated with IS and large-artery atherosclerosis (P<0.05). Conclusions Short sleep duration is associated with increased risk of IS, large-artery atherosclerosis, small-artery occlusion lacunar and stroke of undetermined etiology. But long sleep duration is only associated with increased risk of IS and large-artery atherosclerosis.

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate associations of overall obesity (OO) and abdominal obesity (AO) with brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) among type 2 diabetes(T2DM) patients. Methods A community-based study for T2DM patients was conducted in rural communities in Beijing．Every patient completed a questionnaire to collect demography, lifestyle and diseases history, and underwent physical examinations, baPWV assessments and blood biochemical tests. Multivariate linear regression was used to assess the relationship between obesity index and baPWV. Abnormal baPWV was defined as patients with baPWV≥1,700 cm/s. Logistic regression model was performed to explore the risk of abnormal baPWV after adjusting for poetential confounders step by step. Results A total of 2 048 T2DM patients were recruited. The average age was (59.2±8.3) years and total prevalence of abnormal baPWV was 49.7%. After multivariable adjustment, linear regression showed that there was a negative correlation between body mass index(BMI) and baPWV and a positive correlation between waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and baPWV. Compared to normal weight group, those with BMI≥28 kg/m2 had lower risk of abnormal baPWV (OR=0.59, 95% CI: 0.44-0.78，P<0.001), but there was an increased risk of 46% among patients with obesity in WHR (OR=1.46, 95% CI:1.07-2.00，P=0.018). Compared to those without OO and AO, patients without OO but with AO had a 1.67-fold increasesd risk of abnormal baPWV (OR=1.67, 95% CI: 1.19-2.35，P=0.003). Conclusions Abdominal obesity is related with arterial stiffnening among T2DM patients, and it is critical to evaluate arterial stiffness of T2DM patients with abdmonal obesity and normal BMI in order to reduce future risk of cardiovascular diseases.

BackgroundChronic kidney disease (CKD) is closely related to the cardiovascular events in vascular calcification (VC). However, little has known about the characteristics of kidney injury caused by VC. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is an endocrine factor, which takes part in various metabolic actions with the potential to alleviate metabolic disorder diseases. Even FGF21 has been regarded as a biomarker in CKD, the role of FGF21 in CKD remains unclear. Therefore, in this study, we evaluate the FGF21 on the kidney injury in VC rats.

MethodsThe male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups: (1) control group, (2) Vitamin D3 plus nicotine (VDN)-induced VC group, (3) FGF21-treated VDN group. After 4 weeks, the rats were killed and the blood was collected for serum creatinine, urea nitrogen, calcium, and phosphate measurement. Moreover, the renal tissues were homogenized for alkaline phosphatases (ALPs) activity and calcium content. The levels of FGF21 protein were measured by radioimmunoassay. The levels of β-Klotho and FGF receptor 1 (FGFR1) protein were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The structural damage and calcifications in aortas were stained by Alizarin-red S. Moreover, the structure of kidney was observed by hematoxylin and eosin staining.

ResultsThe renal function impairment caused by VDN modeling was ameliorated by FGF21 treatment, inhibited the elevated serum creatinine and urea level by 20.5% (34.750 ± 4.334 μmol/L vs. 27.630 ± 2.387 μmol/L) and 4.0% (7.038 ± 0.590 mmol/L vs. 6.763 ± 0.374 mmol/L; P < 0.01), respectively, together with the structural damages of glomerular atrophy and renal interstitial fibrosis. FGF21 treatment downregulated the ALP activity, calcium content in the kidney of VC rats by 42.1% (P < 0.01) and 11.7% (P < 0.05) as well as ameliorated the aortic injury and calcification as compared with VDN treatment alone group, indicating an ameliorative effect on VC. ELISA assays showed that the expression of β-Klotho, a component of FGF21 receptor system, was increased in VDN-treated VC rats by 37.4% (6.588 ± 0.957 pg/mg vs. 9.054 ± 0.963 pg/mg; P < 0.01), indicating an FGF21-resistant state. Moreover, FGF21 treatment downregulated the level of β-Klotho in renal tissue by 16.7% (9.054 ± 0.963 pg/mg vs. 7.544 ± 1.362 pg/mg; P < 0.05). However, the level of FGFR1, the receptor of FGF21, kept unchanged under VDN and VDN plus FGF21 administration (0.191 ± 0.0376 ng/mg vs. 0.189 ± 0.032 ng/mg vs. 0.181 ± 0.034 ng/mg; P > 0.05).

ConclusionsIn the present study, FGF21 was observed to ameliorate the kidney injury in VDN-induced VC rats. FGF21 might be a potential therapeutic factor in CKD by cutting off the vicious circle between VC and kidney injury.

Objective To explore the inflammatory effect of exosomes derived from alveolar epithelial cells stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the alveolar macrophages (NR8383). Methods The alveolar epithelial cells disposed with different treatments were co-cultured with alveolar macrophages by using a Transwell system separately. Alveolar epithelial cells (RLE-6TN) were randomly divided into 4 groups: normal group, LPS-stimulated group, exosome inhibitor group, and exosome inhibitor pretreatment + LPS stimulation group. NR8383 cultured alone was considered as a blank control. After the 12-h co-culture, the real-time PCR (qPCR) was performed to examine the mRNA relative expression of IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β in NR8383 cells. To further explore the role of exosomes derived from RLE-6TN on alveolar macrophages mediated inflammationary response, the experimental exosomes (exosomes derived from LPS-induced RLE-6TN) and control exosomes exosomes derived from normal RLE-6TN were extracted by gradient ultracentrifugation. Transmission electron microscopy and Western blotting analyses was performed to identify the exosomes, and qNano particle diameter analyzer was conducted to measure the particle diameter of exosomes. In vitro, NR8383 cells were divided into 3 groups which were cultured with exosomes derived from LPS-stimulated RLE-6TN at a concentration of 10 μg/mL (experimental group), exosomes derived from untreated RLE-6TN at the same concentration of 10 μg/mL (control group), and the PBS at the same volume with experimental group (PBS group), respectively for 12 h. After the treatment, the phagocytosis of NR8383 cells was observed by laser confocal microscope and the release of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in supernatants of NR8383 was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ELISA Results (1)In the co-culture experiment, the mRNA relative expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine in the LPS group was significantly increased compared with the blank control group (P<0.01), however comparing the exosome inhibitor pretreatment+LPS group with the LPS group, the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine was decreased (P<0.01). (2) The extracted exosomes were observed as circular or elliptical vesicles with a diameter of 40-100 nm under the transmission electron microscopy. Western blotting analyses showed that the extracted exosomes express the protein marker, such as CD63 and CD9; After incubation with NR8383 cells for 5 h, laser scanning confocal microscope showed that the exosomes labeled with red fluorescent were uptaken by NR8383 cells. (3)After the exosomes derived from the LPS-disposed RLE-6TN and the normal RLE-6TN cells were incubated with NR8383 cells respectively. The ELISA test showed that treated the alveolar macrophages with LPS induced alveolar epithelial secreted exosomes led to a robustly increased release of pro-inflammatory cytokine (P<0.01), but there was no significant difference between the control group and PBS group (P>0.05). Conclusions Exosomes derived from LPS-disposed alveolar epithelial cells activate the alveolar macrophage-mediated inflammatory response.

OBJECTIVETo study the relationship of Blimp-1 hypoexpression with abnormality of Treg level and pathogenesis of aplastic anemia (AA).

METHODSThe mouse model with AA was established by adminis tration of IFN-γ combined with busulfan. The samples were collected at different day establishing AA model, and the spleen Treg number was detected, the Treg cells were sorted and expression level of prdm-1 was detected.

RESULTSThe number of Tregs in mice with AA was lower than that in control mice, moreover, the level of Treg decrease positively correlated with the AA severity (r=0.805), the higher the expression level of prdm-1, the higher the ratio of Treg/lymphocytes, showing positive correlation between them (r=0.548).

CONCLUSIONBlimp-1 expression may promote the proliferation and differentiation of Treg. The hypoexpression of Blimp-1 mediates the pathogenesis of AA and promotes progression of AA through reducing the proliferation of Treg, and decreacing the number of Treg.