Objective:To observe the etiological distribution, clinical presentations and imaging features of pulmonary mycosis that is diagnosed by pathology.Methods:The etiological distribution, clinical presentations and imaging features of patients with pulmonary mycosis, who were collected in the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University from January 2018 to July 2020, were retrospectively analyzed. The diagnosis of all the patients were confirmed by pathological examination, of lung or bronchi tissue that were obtained through operation, bronchoscope or percutaneous lung puncture biopsy.Results:There were 26 patients' (60.47%, 26/43) pathological specimens were obtained by operation, 14 cases (32.56%, 14/43) were obtained by bronchoscope, and 3 cases (6.98%, 3/43) were obtained by percutaneous lung puncture biopsy. Of the 43 patients who were diagnosed pulmonary mycosis by pathology, 27 patients (62.79%, 27/43) suffered from pulmonary aspergillosis, 11 patients (25.58%, 11/43) suffered from pulmonary cryptococcosis, 3 patients (6.98%, 3/43) suffered from pulmonary mucormycosis, and 2 patients (4.65%, 2/43) suffered from pulmonary candidiasis. There were 27 patients (62.79%, 27/43) with pulmonary fungal disease complicating risk factors of fungal infection, including diabetes mellitus (23.26%,10/43), malignant tumor (16.28%, 7/43), bronchiectasis (9.30%, 4/43), hepatitis B virus (HBV) carrier (6.98%, 3/43), taking glucocorticoids (4.65%, 2/43), pulmonary tuberculosis (4.65%, 2/43), and chemotherapy following colon carcinoma operation (2.33%, 1/43). The common clinical presentations included cough (55.81%, 24/43), expectoration (48.84%, 21/43), hemoptysis (37.21%, 16/43), fever (20.93%, 9/43), gasping (18.60%, 8/43), chest pain (16.28%, 7/43), and hoarseness (3.13%, 1/43). Imaging features of chest included lung nodes in 20 cases (46.51%, 20/43), vascular welt sign in 12 cases (27.91%, 12/43), exudative process in 10 cases (23.26%, 10/43), lung mass or consolidation in 8 cases (18.60%, 8/43), cavitary lesions in 7 cases (16.28%, 7/43), thicken bronchus wall and narrow lumina in 6 cases (13.95%, 6/43), air crescent in 5 cases (11.63%, 5/43).Conclusions:The pulmonary aspergillosis and cryptococcosis are mainly in pulmonary mycosis diagnosed by pathology. The common complications are diabetes mellitus and malignant tumor. The common clinical presentations are cough, expectoration, and hemoptysis. The main imaging features of chest are lung nodes and vascular welt sign can be found in most of pulmonary cryptococcosis.

The clinical data of 9 patients with exogenous lipid pneumonia confirmed by pathology were retrospectively analyzed. There were 4 males and 5 females, aged 57-79 years, with a history of intestinal obstruction and oral administration of liquid paraffin. The main clinical symptoms were cough, expectoration and fever (8 cases), and combined with wheezing (5 case); and crackles and rhonchi were revealed on chest auscultation in all patients. The right lung lower lobe was involved in all 9 cases, the left lower lobe, right middle and lower lobe were also involved in 6 case. The CT scan showed that infiltration (7 case) and consolidation (6 case) were the most common imaging features, followed by the septal thickening (5 case) and pleural effusion (4 case); the low density fat-like changes within the consolidative opacities was a specific feature of lipid pneumonia (3 case). The lung biopsy was performed in the target site through bronchoscope, and pathology showed the interstitial fibrous tissue hyperplasia with chronic inflammatory cell infiltration and adipocyte-like cells. Six patients were treated with glucocorticoid and repeated bronchoalveolar lavage with good response, one cases died and two cases discharged automatically. The clinical manifestation and imaging features of exogenous lipid pneumonia are lack of specificity; transbronchial lung biopsy is an effective method for the diagnosis. The repeated bronchoalveolar lavage with saline combined with medication of glucocorticoids are effective for the treatment of exogenous lipid pneumonia.

Objective:To investigate the clinical and genetic characteristics of developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) caused by syntaxin-binding protein 1 (STXBP1) gene mutation.Methods:The clinical data, gene variation and treatment outcome of 15 children with STXBP1 encephalopathy admitted to Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Capital Institute of Pediatrics from January 2014 to June 2019 were analyzed retrospectively.Results:Among 15 patients, 11 were male and 4 were female, age ranged from 2 months to 69 months. The clinical manifestations of 14 children were epilepsy and developmental delay (DD) and the remaining one showed developmental delay without seizure. The onset age of epilepsy ranged from two days to 19 months and 11 of them experienced the first attack before 1 year of age. The common seizure types were epileptic spasms and tonic seizures. Seven patients were diagnosed with Ohtahara syndrome or West syndrome. Epileptic form discharges were observed in the interictal electroencephalograms (EEG) of 11 patients, including multifocal discharges, suppression-burst and hypsarrhythmia. The brain magnetic resonance imaging of 7 children were abnormal, including myelin dysplasia, less white matter, lack of corpus callosum or hypoplasia. The follow-up time ranged from 2 months to 57 months, after the last follow-up, 3 cases were seizure free, 6 children showed partial response and the other 5 patients had no response on multitherapy. Six of 8 patients showed good responses to levetiracetam (LEV) monotherapy or in combination with other antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Vigabatrin (VGB) was applied to 5 patients with epileptic spasms and 4 of them showed response. All patients showed different degrees of developmental delay while four of them showed autistic features. STXBP1 gene mutations were identified in all cases and there were 15 types of gene variations, including 8 missense mutations, 1 nonsense mutation, 5 frame shift mutations and 1 complex mutation. Five novel mutations were unreported before, including c.1193A>G, c.172delG, c.1769C>T, c.1038_1039delCC, c.348_351dupTGAA.Conclusions:Development delay and epilepsy are the major and independent clinical phenotypes in children with STXBP1 encephalopathy. The variation of STXBP1 gene is mainly de novo. Levetiracetam and vigabatrin may be more effective in epilepsy control than other AEDs.

To obtain specific antibodies against nsp4 protein of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), nsp4 gene was amplified by RT-PCR and cloned into pET-28a(+) vector, designated pET28a-nsp4. pET28a-nsp4 was transformed into Escherichia coli Trasseta (DE3) cells and expressed after induction of IPTG. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that the recombinant protein was expressed in soluble form with the molecular weight of 26 kDa. The soluble fusion protein in the supernatant was purified using Ni+-NTA affinity chromatography. New Zealand rabbits were immunized by the purified nsp4 and anti-sera against nsp4 were obtained. The titer of polyclonal antibodies was about 106 and showed good specificity and sensitivity in the immunofluorescence assay and Western blotting analysis. The polyclonal antibodies also recognized native nsp4 form PRRSV infected Marc-145 cells, providing a useful tool in PRRSV replication mechanism study.