Ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat,low-protein,low-carbohydrate diet that results in series of adaptive changes such as ketosis,fatty acid increasing and glycolysis depression.The mechanisms of the epilepsy correlated with the iron channel,neurotransmitter and neurocyte injury.The novel stresses the antiepileptic effects of above general changes in controlling the iron channels open or close,balancing the excitable and inhibitive neurotransmitters,increasing energy reserve,inhibiting free radical production and promoting neurocyte regeneration.

Objective:To report the clinical features of KCNQ2-associated epilepsy and the novel mutations and unreported clinical phenotype of KCNQ2 gene, so as to provide help for treatment selection and prognosis evaluation.Methods:Among 979 patients with epilepsy and developmental delay who were admitted to the Department of Neurology,Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Capital Institute of Pediatrics from July 2015 to October 2019, a total of 13 patients were selected from 12 families with KCNQ2 gene mutation by whole exome sequencing technology. Suspected mutations were verified by Sanger sequencing on the probands and their parents to identify the source. The clinical phenotype and genotype were analyzed according to these results.Results:Among the 13 patients with epilepsy, the onset age of four cases were older than six months [two cases in infancy (epilepsy encephalopathy), one case in early childhood (epilepsy encephalopathy) and one case in adolescence (benign epilepsy)]. Eight cases were treated with oxcarbazepine, of whom five cases were seizure free, and two cases showed partial response (>50%). Two cases treated with topiramate were seizure free. Five novel mutations were found in this research, including c.379T>G(p.Y127D), c.1A>C(initial codon mutation), c.708G>C(p.W236C), c.1027G>T(p.A343S) and c.1649T>G(p.V550G).Conclusions:Although it was rare in clinical work, the variation of KCNQ2 gene existed in patients with childhood-onset epilepsy and adolescent-onset epilepsy. Meanwhile, five novel mutations of KCNQ2 gene were reported, which further expanded its gene spectrum. This research supported that oxcarbazepine was the efficient medicine for the KCNQ2-associated epilepsy. Genetic testing showed great help to the treatment of epilepsy.

Given the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the risks of spread to other regions, a rapid, sensitive and simple method for the detection of the Ebola virus (EBOV) is of great significance for the prevention and control of Ebola. We developed a simple colorimetric isothermal multiple self-matching initiated amplification (IMSA) for rapid detection of the Zaire subtype of the Ebola virus (EBOV-Z). This method employed six primers that recognized seven sites of the EBOV-Z nucleoprotein gene for amplification of nucleic acids under isothermal conditions at 63 degrees C for 1 h. Amplification products were detected through visual inspection of color change by pre-addition of hydroxyl naphthol blue dye. Relative sensitivity was validated by detection of serial tenfold dilutions of virus-like particles containing the partial EBOV-Z nucleoprotein gene and mock clinical sample. Specificity of IMSA was validated by detection of the plasma of 30 healthy volunteers, the dengue virus, and Japanese encephalitis virus. IMSA had comparable sensitivity to Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and cross-reaction with human plasma or other viruses was not observed. Reverse transcription-isothermal multiple self-matching initiated amplification (RT-IMSA) was also evaluated and compared in parallel with the commercial RT-qPCR kit for detection of EBOV-suspected samples of human blood in Sierra Leone. Sensitivity and specificity of the RT-IMSA was 91.4% and 100%, respectively. These data suggest that RT-IMSA is a valuable tool for the detection of the EBOV with the distinct advantages of simplicity and low cost compared with RT-qPCR.
Colorimetry ; methods ; DNA Primers ; genetics ; Ebolavirus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola ; diagnosis ; virology ; Humans ; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ; methods

Infantile spasm (IS) is a common epileptic encephalopathy in infancy, characterized by typical epileptic spasm, developmental delay and hypsarrhythmia on interictal electroencephalogram (EEG). Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is the first-line treatment medicine for IS. Although ACTH has shown good response to IS and has been widely used, the regime is not identical and the mechanism is still unclear. This paper focuses on the clinical application of ACTH for IS and the anticonvulsant mechanisms of ACTH, in order to provide clinical and theoretical basis for ACTH application.

Objective To evaluate the application value of whole exome sequencing (WES) in diagnosis of NDDs (neuro-developmental disorders) children.Metheod WES was used for the diagnosis of 35 unexplained NDD children, which admitted to the outpatient and ward of Children′s hospital affiliated to Capital institute of pediatric from November 2015 to November 2016.These children′s clinical data was collected detailedly.Using bioinformatics software tools combining with patient′s phenotype, the candidate genetic/genomic variants of these patients were identified from WES data.The final pathogenicity of genetic/genomic variants was interpreted according to the guideline of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), meanwhile, the variants validation and co-separation analysis in the parents and their family members were performed by Sanger sequencing, real time-PCR and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA).Results 14 pathogenic single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and three pathogenic copy number variations (CNVs) were detected in the 35 NDD children, the detection rate in this study is 48.6%.Among the 14 pathogenic SNVs, 11 of them are the definite NDD-related genes according to OMIM database (such as CHARGE syndrome, Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome, Cockayne syndrome, etc.), and six of them are de novo (6/11, 54.6%).Three pathogenic CNVs were identified from WES data, including two microduplications and one microdeletion.Meanwhile, a female child carrying a frame shift mutation in MECP2 was found and the germline mosaicism with low-frequency mutation of this site (8.4%) was confirmed by his father's sperm.Conclusions The diagnosis rate of WES in NDDs children is 48.6% in our small-sample study.In addition to pathogenic/likely pathogenic SNVs, CNVs can be detected successfully from WES data, which effectively improved the diagnosis yield in NDDs children.

Objective To analyze the clinical and genetics characteristics in twin sisters with Cockayne syn-drome.Methods The identical twin sisters visited the Affiliated Children's Hospital of Capital Institute of Pediatrics in December 2016.The clinical presentations,course of treatment,blood biochemistry,metabolic screening and whole exon sanger sequencing were analyzed.Results These two patients were referred at 4 years and 5 months of age for growth failure and developmental delay.The younger sister manifested short stature(only 97 cm),low weight(14.0 kg)and little head circumference(43 cm),and the elder sister manifested short stature(only 98 cm),low weight(15.5 kg) and little head circumference(43 cm).They were born with out adverse event,and then they kept the head up at 8 months of age.They could sit at 10 months of age,but they had not acquired independent walking ability up till now. They spoke their first words at 2 year of age,and made little progress after that.They had a variety of abnormal clinical features including cognitive deficits,microcephaly,thin pointy nose,sunken eyes,small chin,photosensitive rash,hearing impairment,volitional tremor and hypermyotonia.They had been diagnosed as nephrotic syndrome at 4.5 years old,with little response to prednisone.The renal biopsy revealed minimal change nephropathy.Cerebrum and cerebellum atrophy was detected by magnetic resonance image scanning. Two heterozygous ERCC8 mutations in both patients,c.394_398delTTACA and large fragment deletion,were identified in the patient.The c.394_398delTTACA mutation originated from his father. The exon 4 deletion from his mother caused the defection of the protein. Conclusions Cockayne syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disease. It is not only characterized by developmental delay,microcephaly, sunken eyes,photosensitive rash and auditory abnormalities,but also can be involved in nephrotic syndrome.Cockayne syndrome can be caused by compound heterozygous mutation,including c.394_398delTTACA and a large fragment deletion of exon 4 in ERCC8.

Objective:To analyze the clinical manifestations, gene mutation characteristics and treatment effects of patients with GATOR1 complex-related epilepsy, and to explore the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.Methods:The medical history, electroencephalogram, brain imaging, genetic test results, treatment and follow-up data of patients with GATOR1 complex-related epilepsy who attended the Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, and Shanghai Deji Hospital from May 2017 to July 2022 were retrospectively analyzed.Results:A total of 16 patients with GATOR1 complex-related epilepsy were collected, including 7 males and 9 females. The age of onset of epilepsy was from 2 months to 14 years. Ten cases had focal seizures only, 2 cases had generalized seizures only, and 4 cases had coexistence of focal seizures and generalized seizures, of which generalized seizures included generalized tonic-clonic seizure, spastic seizure, and myoclonic seizure. Among the 16 patients, 2 had infantile spasms, 3 had familial focal epilepsy with variable focus, and 1 had sleep related hyperkinetic epilepsy. Electroencephalogram intervals suggested multiple brain areas discharge or diffuse discharge. A total of 13 DEPDC5 gene mutation sites, 1 NPRL2 gene mutation site, and 2 NPRL3 gene mutation sites were found; 4 sites of DEPDC5 gene were reported sites, the rest were unreported; all mutations had pathogenic significance; 8 cases had nonsense mutation, 1 case had large fragment deletion, 4 cases had frameshift mutation, 1 case had integer mutation, 2 cases had splicing mutation; 13 cases′ mutation was inherited from parents, 2 cases had new mutation, and 1 case had unverified mutation. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed 5 of the 16 patients were normal, and 11 had abnormal cerebral cortex structure, manifested as bottom-of-sulcus focal cortical dysplasia (FCD), abnormal formation of sulci and (or) gyri with or without ill-defined gray-white matter and malformation of cortical dysplasia of the bilateral brain. Seven patients underwent stereotactic electroencephalogram (SEEG) monitoring, and the SEEG showed low-amplitude fast rhythm at the beginning in 6 patients, of whom 5 cases started from the frontal lobe, and 1 case started from the parietal lobe. Eight patients were only treated with drugs, 1 with single-drug therapy and the rest with multi-drug combination therapy. Eight patients underwent surgery. Among them, 5 patients with DEPDC5 gene mutation underwent epileptogenic cortex excising after SEEG monitoring, and postoperative pathological examinations showed FCDⅡ, FCDⅢ or non-specific changes; 1 patient was waiting for surgery. One patient with NPRL3 gene mutation underwent epileptogenic foci resection and postoperative pathological examinations showed FCDⅡa; the other patient with NPRL3 gene mutation underwent radiofrequency thermocoagulation after SEEG monitoring. Follow-up showed that 3 patients were seizure-free with drug treatment, and 4 patients had fewer seizures after drug treatment. Six cases underwent epileptic foci resection. Five of them were assisted by SEEG to locate the epileptic foci before surgery and were seizure-free after the operation, but the range of surgical resection was wider than the abnormal range shown by MRI; whereas 1 case who was not assisted by SEEG showed no improvement. There was still 1 case who underwent SEEG-guided radiofrequency thermocoagulation and had no improvement after operation. Conclusions:GATOR1 complex-related epilepsy mostly manifests as focal seizures. SEEG shows that seizures originate from the frontal lobe more often, and cortical developmental abnormalities are often found. DEPDC5 gene mutations are the most common ones, mostly inherited from parents, with high incomplete penetrance rate. Therefore, genetic testing is recommended for non-acquired brain structural abnormalities. For those who are refractory to drugs, a radical cure can be obtained by resection of the epileptogenic foci after preoperative evaluation.

Objective To analyze the clinical manifestation and genetic testing in a patient with Adams-Oliver syndrome (AOS) and summarize clinical and genetic characteristics of the dedicator of cytokinesis (DOCK) 6 gene related AOS through reviewing related references.Methods Information of the proband who was hospitalized in Affiliated Children Hospital of Capital Institute of Pediatrics in October 2016 and her family members as well as their DNA samples were collected.The gene sequencing was performed using next generation sequencing technology.Using "Adams-Oliver syndrome"and "DOCK6" as key words,the relevant articles were searched from the Pubmed,China National Knowledge Internet and Wanfang databases and reports of 19 cases were reviewed.Results The proband is an eight months old girl.She presented with severe developmental delay,terminal transverse limb defects and visual loss after birth,and then suffered from tonic seizures and myoclonic seizures at two months old.By physical examination she was found to have esotropia and visual loss.The distal phalanx and nail of the right second-fourth fingers were absent,while the phalangette of the left second-fourth fingers and bilateral distal phalanges of toes were short with small nails attachment.Thyroid function test showed hypothyroidism.The ocular fundus examination showed the residual vitreous artery in the left eye and the retinal pigment degeneration in the right eye.CT scan showed multiple bilateral periventricular calcification and cranial magnetic resonance imaging showed bilateral periventricular lesion.Two heterozygous mutations were identified in DOCK6 gene:one was a known pathogenic mutation (p.L1064Vfs*60),and the other was a novel splice site mutation (c.873+ 1G＞A).By analyzing this case and reported 19 cases,the common performances of DOCK6 gene related AOS included terminal transverse limb defects (20/20),aplasia cutis congenita (18/20),ocular abnormalities (13/20),seizures (12/20),mental retardation (12/20),microcephaly (10/20),cardiovascular malformations (10/20),intrauterine growth retardation (6/20).The mutation of the DOCK6 gene was found to be dominated by frameshift mutation and splice site mutation.Conclusions If either terminal transverse limb defects or aplasia cutis congenita was detected in a patient,AOS should be under consideration.In addition,autosomal recessive inheritance,nervous system and eyes involvement will further indicate DOCK6 gene related AOS.

Objective: To investigate the pathogenic characteristics of viral encephalitis in children living in Hebei province. Methods: We randomly collected cerebrospinal fluid specimens from a total of 399 children diagnosed with viral encephalitis in Hebei Children′s Hospital from May to December 2017. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and Sanger sequencing were used to detect viral nucleic acids in cerebrospinal fluid by an automatic laboratory station. Statistical analysis was performed on the experimental data using SPSS 21.0 software and the clinical data were analyzed. Comparison of infection rates of EV encephalitis in different months, using line × column chi-square test. The MRI and EEG positive rates of different viral encephalitis and viral encephalitis patients not infected with the virus were analyzed by Fisher′s exact probability test. The positive rate of infection with different viruses and non-virus agents was analyzed by Fisher′s exact probability test. Results: The result showed that 80 of 399 samples were positive, and the positive rate was 20.05%. It included 22 cases of enterovirus, 4 cases of influenza A virus, 3 cases of mumps virus, 2 cases of herpes simplex virus type 1, 1 case of herpes simplex virus type 2, 4 cases of EB virus, 7 cases of cytomegalovirus, 7 cases of herpes zoster virus, 8 cases of adenovirus, 14 cases of human herpesvirus type 6. Eight cases had combined viral infection. Eight cases had concurrent infections: 3 cases had enterovirus and herpesvirus type 6 concurrent infection, 1 case had enterovirus and Japanese encephalitis virus concurrent infection and 1 case had herpes simplex virus type 2 and adenovirus, 1 case had influenza A virus herpesvirus type 6, 1 case had mumps virus and herpesvirus type 6, 1 case had mumps virus and herpesvirus type 6, 1 case had herpes simplex virus type 1 and herpes zoster virus concurrent infections. Children with EV viral encephalitis in Hebei Province were highly prevalent in May and June (P=0.016). HHV6 virus encephalitis was more susceptible to infection than non-HHV6 virus (P=0.016); The rate of MRI positive findings in patients with different viral encephalitis was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The result of EEG of different viral encephalitis were P>0.05, which was not statistically significant. Conclusions EV was the most common pathogen of children with viral encephalitis in Hebei province. Encephalitis caused by influenza A virus cannot be ignored in clinical practice.

Objective: To summarize the clinical and genetic features of β-propeller protein-associated neurodegeneration (BPAN). Methods: The clinical data of 17 patients with BPAN with WDR45 gene variants were retrospectively collected at Children’s Hospital of Fudan University, Peking University First Hospital, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University and Shanghai Children's Hospital from June 2016 to December 2018, and their clinical manifestations, electroencephalogram, neuroimaging and genetics were analyzed. Results: Seventeen cases (13 females, 4 males), aged 1.1-8.8 years, were included. The median age of seizure onset was 14.5 months, from 3 months to 24 months of age, manifested with epileptic spasm in 6 cases and focal seizures in 5 cases. Eight patients had only one seizure type and 8 patients had two or more seizure types. Nine patients had complete remission of seizures. All 16 patients with seizures had developmental delay before the seizure onset, of whom 13 patients had moderate to severe seizures. The brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was abnormal in 13 patients, including cerebral atrophy (10 cases) and thinning of the corpus callosum (9 cases). The brain magnetic susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) in preschool stage showed prominent T2 hypointense signals in bilateral globus pallidus and brainstem ventral in two cases. Five seizure types (spasm, focal, absence, myodonic and generalized tonic clonic seizures)were found on ictal electroencephalogram(EEG) recordings. Compared to female patients(17(6-24) months of ege), male cases had earlier seizure onset (3, 4, 5, 18 months of age) . All patients had de novo variations in WDR45(6 nonsense, 4 frameshift, 3 missense and 4 splicing variations), with hemizygous variants in 3 males, mosaic variants in a male and heterozygous variants in 13 females, within which 5 variations had not been reported (c.977-1C>T,c.976+1G>C,c.10C>T,c.806del and c.110T>C). Conclusions The patients with BPAN have profound developmental delay and are vulnerable to seizures. The male patients with BPAN tend to have more severer clinical phenotype than females. Early brain SWI could facilitate the timely diagnosis of this disease.