Cytomegalovirus(CMV) is an important pathogen of congenital and postnatal infections in children,which causes a series of acute and chronic infectious diseases and nervous system sequelaes.Early and accurate diagnosis of pediatric CMV infection is an effective way to improve health in children.This paper will introduce the types,laboratory techniques and diagnostic strategies of CMV infection based on the diagnostic standards at home and abroad,and also focus on current progress in diagnosis of pediatric CMV infection.

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Clinical Laboratory Techniques ; DNA, Fungal ; genetics ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; Fungi ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Infant ; Mycological Typing Techniques ; Mycoses ; diagnosis ; microbiology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Serologic Tests ; Specimen Handling

In this study, 101 strains of bacteria were isolated from arct ic water and sediment samples. The methanol extracts of the fermented broth prod uced by these strains were screened in vitro for anti-tumor activity on mou se tsFT210 cells using the method of flow cytometry, and screened for antibacter ial activity by the method of paper disk diffusion. The result showed that one strain exhibited anti-tumor activity and eight strains had antibacterial activ ity. The stability of the antibacterial components produced by strain AR084 an d its optimum medium were also studied. The research indicated that arctic bac teria had potential application in pharmaceutics.

Objective To compare MR,CT,and radiography in the detection of arthropathies in patients with hemophilia.Methods Forty-one symptomic joint images in the 14 patients with hemophilia, aged from 11 to 24 years,were used in this study.Each joint had the examinations of radiography,CT and MR within one day.The severity of each joint was staged using conventional radiographic classification. Severe HA patients with stage 5 were excluded from the study.Imaging findings of soft tissue swelling, osteoporosis,epiphyseal overgrowth,joint erosion,cyst,joint space narrowing,bone marrow,joint effusion, hemorrhage,synovial hypertrophy,widened intercondylar notch as well as anterior and posterior crueiate ligaments(only for knee joint)were used for the all imaging comparison.Results The 41 symptomatic joints in 14 patients with hemophilia were classified by radiographic criteria into stage 0(n=5),stage 1(n=7),stage 2(n=6),stage 3(n=8)and stage 4(n=15).Soft tissue swelling or joint effusion was observed in 33 joints by radiographs,in 34 joints by both CT and MR.Joint erosions were demonstrated in 34 joints by MR,in 33 joints by CT and 20 joints by radiographs.Joint cysts were shown in 21 joints by MR,in 18 joints by CT and 9 joints by radiographs.Significant differences in detection of erosion and cyst were found between radiography with either CT(P0.05).MR showed improvement for detecting nlore loci of both erosion and cyst than CT and radiography,and also CT showed the improvement than radiography.Bone marrow edema 14 joints, hemon'hage in 34 joints and synovial hypertrophy in 27 joints were revealed on MR images.Conclusion MRI is superior to CT and conventional radiography in detecting the abnormal changes and should be considered as the first choice among the imaging modafities in evaluating hemophilic arthropathies.

Objective To observe effect of arginine on wound healing of diabetic rats.Meth- ods Forty male Lewis rats were equally and randomly divided into diabetic group and normal control group.The diabetic group were rendered with diabetic by using intraperitoneal(IP)streptozotocin seven days prior to surgery and underwent a dorsal skin incision with implantation of polyvinyl-alcohol sponges. Either of two groups were subdivided into arginine treatment group and saline treatment group,10 rats in each group,of which the arginine treatment group received arginine at 1 g/kg per day by IP injection, while the saline treatment group received saline injection only.Animals were sacrificed 10 days post wound to observe antibreakage tension,hydroxyproline content and mRNA expression of procollagenⅠandⅢ.Results Diabetic wounds had greatly decreased breaking strengths compared with controls. Arginine significantly enhanced wound breaking strengths,increased wound hydroxyproline levels and ele- vated mRNA for procollagenⅠandⅢin both diabetic and control animals as compared to their saline-trea- ted counterparts.Conclusion Arginine can effectively promote healing of diabetic wounds in rats.

Antigens, Bacterial ; genetics ; metabolism ; Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; DNA, Bacterial ; genetics ; Gastritis ; pathology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial ; Helicobacter Infections ; microbiology ; pathology ; Helicobacter pylori ; genetics ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Peptic Ulcer ; microbiology ; pathology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

OBJECTIVETo study the pathogenic bacteria of lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), and age and gender distribution and drug resistance of the pathogenic bacteria in children.

METHODSSputum specimens for bacterial cultures were collected in sterile tubes from all of the children with LRTI who had been admitted to the Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University between August 2001 and July 2002. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed using the Vitek system, the Kirby-Bauer diffuse method and the Etest method after bacteria were identified.

RESULTSAmong the 4,238 patients with LRTI during the study period, 1,181 patients were bacteria-positive, with a positive rate of 27.9%. Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) was the most common (222 strains), followed by Haemophilus influenzae (H. influenzae) (216 strains), Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) (216 strains), Escherichia coil (E. coli) (169 strains) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (89 strains). The isolation rate of S. pneumoniae in females was significantly higher than in males (6.2% vs 4.7%; P < 0.05). However, the isolation rates of K. pneumoniae and S. aureus in males were higher than in females (5.1% vs 4.1% and 2.5% vs 1.5%, respectively; P < 0.05). A higher incidence of LRTI due to S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae was found in the 1-3 years group, while the incidence of LRTI due to K. pneumoniae, E. coli, S. aureus and E. cloacae was higher in patients under 1 year of age. Antibiotic susceptibility tests showed that rates of penicillin non-susceptible S. pneumoniae, ampicillin resistant H. influenzae, oxacillin-resistant S. aureus and ESBL-positive K. pneumoniae and E. coli were 55.0%, 16.5%, 41.2%, 42.6% and 4.5%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSS. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, K. pneumoniae, E. coli and S. aureus were common pathogens of LRTI in children. The infection rate varied with age and gender. Antibiotics for treating LRTI should be selected based on the drug susceptibility test.

Adolescent ; Bacteria ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; microbiology ; Seasons

OBJECTIVEHuman herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) isolates are classified into two variants, HHV-6A and HHV-6B, based on distinct genetic, antigenic and biological characteristics. HHV-6 has been associated with encephalitis in children recently. This study aimed to establish a real time PCR assay for simultaneous detection of the two subtypes of HHV-6, and apply this new assay to children with suspected encephalitis, then analyze the relationship between the infection with HHV-6 and encephalitis in children.

METHODThe universal primers and variant-specific TaqMan probes were designed based on the highly conserved sequences of the DNA polymerase gene (U38) of HHV-6. The 5' end of the probes for HHV-6A and HHV-6B was labeled with the fluorescein reporter tetrachloro-6-carboxyfluorescein and 6-carboxyfluorescein (6-FAM), separately, while the 3' end were quenched with 6-carboxy-tetramethylrhodamine. The real time PCR assay for simultaneous detection of HHV-6A and HHV-6B was established. Then, the plasmids of HHV-6A and -6B which were diluted by a 10-fold series from 10(9) to 10(0) copies/microl, together with controls were used for testing both sensitivity and specificity of the real time PCR assay. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens from 445 cases of suspected encephalitis were tested with this real time PCR and positive samples were then sequenced.

RESULTBoth HHV-6A (strain ZJ-159) and HHV-6B (strain GS) were positive on the real time PCR assay. There were no cross-reaction with herpes simplex virus type 1, type 2 (HSV-1, HSV-2), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), hepatitis B virus, Staphylococcus aureus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and human DNA. A linear regression curve was obtained when plotting Ct values against the log10 of the viral DNA input for both subtypes of HHV-6. The sensitivity threshold was 10 copies/microl for the real time PCR. HHV-6 positive rate by the real time PCR assay was 4.72% (21/445), including 4 cases with HHV-6A infection, 16 cases of HHV-6B infection and 1 case with mixed HHV-6A and HHV-6B infection. The new PCR assay usually took 2 to 3 hours to provide results.

CONCLUSIONThis new real time PCR assay can simultaneously detect both subtypes of HHV-6, and have high specificity and sensitivity. It will provide an early and sensitive diagnosis of HHV-6 encephalitis in children.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; DNA Fingerprinting ; DNA Primers ; DNA, Viral ; Encephalitis, Viral ; cerebrospinal fluid ; diagnosis ; virology ; Female ; Fluorometry ; Genotype ; Herpesvirus 6, Human ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is an ubiquitous pathogen that infects a majority of the world's population. The virus can establish lifelong infection once the human body is infected by HCMV and virus can be reactivated from a latent state in immune suppressed individuals. HCMV has developed several strategies to evade host immune surveillance after millions of years of co-evolution with mankind. One of the classical tricks is encoding homologous to human immune factors or stealing host cellular genes that have significant functions in immune system. Virus encoded immune modulators which participate in regulating the major histocompatibility complex, cellular immunity, humoral immunity, cytokines and chemokines are supposed to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of HCMV. Evaluation of "mutually assured survival" relationship between virus and host provides important insights into viral immunopathogenesis and study of viral immunomodulatory proteins might help us to uncover new human genes that control immunity.
Animals ; Chemokines ; physiology ; Cytokines ; physiology ; Cytomegalovirus ; pathogenicity ; Cytomegalovirus Infections ; immunology ; Game Theory ; Humans ; Immunity, Humoral ; Killer Cells, Natural ; immunology