Objective To observe the efficacy and safety of Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides in the continuation treatment of mild and moderate depression.Methods An open,single-arm,multi-center design was adopted in our study.Adult patients with mild and moderate depression who had received acute treatment of Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides were enrolled and continue to receive Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides capsules for 24 weeks,the dose remained unchanged during continuation treatment.The remission rate,recurrence rate,recurrence time,and the change from baseline to endpoint of Hamilton Depression Scale(HAMD),Hamilton Anxiety Scale(HAMA),Clinical Global Impression-Severity(CGI-S)and Arizona Sexual Experience Scale(ASEX)were evaluated.The incidence of treatment-related adverse events was reported.Results The scores of HAMD-17 at baseline and after treatment were 6.60±1.87 and 5.85±4.18,scores of HAMA were 6.36±3.02 and 4.93±3.09,scores of CGI-S were 1.49±0.56 and 1.29±0.81,scores of ASEX were 15.92±4.72 and 15.57±5.26,with significant difference(P＜0.05).After continuation treatment,the remission rate was 54.59％(202 cases/370 cases),and the recurrence rate was 6.49％(24 cases/370 cases),the recurrence time was(64.67±42.47)days.The incidence of treatment-related adverse events was 15.35％(64 cases/417 cases).Conclusion Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides capsules can be effectively used for the continuation treatment of mild and moderate depression,and are well tolerated and safe.

Objective To investigate the effects of total flavones from Oxytropis falcata Bunge on hepatic fibrosis(HF)induced by carbon tetrachloride and liver transforming growth factor(TGF-β)/Smad signaling pathway.Methods Forty-eight male rats were randomly divided into normal group(intraperitoneal injection of peanut oil,intragastric administration of 0.9％NaCl),model group(intraperitoneal injection of 40％CC14 peanut oil solution induced HF model,intragastric administration of 0.9％NaCl),positive control group(modeling,intragastric administration of 0.2 mg·kg-1 of colchicine),experimental-L,-M,-H groups(modeling,intragastric administration of 100,200 and 400 mg·kg-1 of total flavonoid extract of Oxytropis falcata Bunge),8 individuals in each group,for 4 consecutive weeks.The histopathological changes were observed by hematoxylin-eosin and Masson staining.Serum liver function and liver fibrosis were measured;erum inflammatory factors were detected;fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR)was used to determine gene expression in liver.Results The pathological injury of liver tissue in the model group was serious,and a large number of inflammatory factors and collagen fibers were accumulated,while the rest of the treatment groups had different degrees of remission.In normal group,model group,positive control group,experimental-L,-M,-H groups,glutamic-pyruvic transaminase levels were(49.28±12.44),(5 885.42±948.37),(4 454.60±489.27),(4 650.47±843.53),(3 761.75±887.30)and(3 544.90±1 066.75)μg·L-1;glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase levels were(186.90±46.89),(5 936.23±793.81),(3 971.37±780.28),(4 360.30±863.35),(3 943.10±439.47)and(3 971.38±631.08)μg·L-1;hyaluronic acid levels were(45.08±17.16),(104.32±36.06),(66.83±20.09),(70.30±21.07),(60.00±9.68)and(59.02±10.73)μg·L-1;laminin levels were(23.13±3.89),(60.85±13.66),(35.67±9.92),(39.98±9.39),(36.55±12.21)and(34.68±24.83)μg·L-1;type Ⅲ procollagen level were(24.98±5.34),(82.58±30.14),(40.70±16.14),(51.08±23.21),(43.60±12.48)and(44.20±11.66)p±g·L-1;interleukin(IL)-1β levels were(37.63±1.24),(46.10±3.23),(39.22±2.36),(41.33±0.93),(40.25±2.04)and(39.18±2.23)pg·mL-1;tumor necrosis factor-α levels were(314.58±20.56),(383.71±16.97),(349.00±7.93),(348.88±25.11),(325.75±27.84)and(335.07±21.33)pg·mL-1;TGF-β1 mRNA expression of relative quantity respectively were 1.00±0.00,60.99±15.70,9.61±1.59,7.37±1.09,6.41±0.64,6.87±1.09;Smad7 mRNA relative expression were 1.00±0.00,0.34±0.05,0.21±0.03,0.35±0.02,0.38±0.02,0.42±0.03.The above indexes in the model group were compared with the normal group,and the above indexes in the experimental-M,-H groups were compared with the model group,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05,P＜0.01,P＜0.001).Conclusion Total flavonoids of Oxytropis falcata Bunge have protective effects on CC14-induced liver fibrosis in rats,and the mechanism may be related to the regulation of TGF-β/Smad pathway.

Objective: To analyze the trends of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents aged 7-18 in Hainan Province from 2005 to 2019, in order to provide a scientific basis for prevention strategies. Methods: Data were sourced from a total of 42 811 students in Hainan Province in 2005, 2010, 2014 and 2019 for physical fitness and health investigation, according to the criteria of Screening for Overweight and Obesity among School aged Children and Adolescents. The linear trend of overweight and obesity was compared by using the χ 2 test and χ 2 trend test, and with 2005 as the base period, the dynamic analysis was conducted to compare the growth and development rates of overweight and obesity. Results: The detection rates of overweight in children and adolescents aged 7-18 in Hainan Province were 4.7%, 5.1%, 6.7% and 10.8% in 2005, 2010, 2014 and 2019, respectively, while the detection rates of obesity were 2.7%, 2.4%, 2.5% and 6.8%, which showed an overall upward trend by year ( χ 2 trend =370.57 , 313.55, P <0.01). All differences in overweight and obesity detection rates across gender, ethnicity, and age groups were statistically significant for each year ( χ 2=9.56-290.95, P <0.01). And the detection rates of overweight and obesity increased linearly over year in different characteristic groups ( χ 2 trend =29.92-280.11, P <0.01). The annual growth rate of overweight detection rate was higher for girls (6.4%) than for boys (6.1%), higher for ethnic minorities (7.1%) than for Han (5.7%), and higher for the 16- 18 age group (8.4%) than for the 7-9 (3.6%), 10-12 (6.2%), and 13-15 age groups (7.7%). And the annual growth rate of obesity detection rate was higher for boys (8.1%) than for girls ( 5.7% ), higher for ethnic minorities (7.1%) than for Han ( 6.8% ), and higher for the 16-18 age group (77.2%) than for the 7-9 (2.8%), 10-12 (8.2%), and 13-15 (18.7%) age groups. Conclusions The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents aged 7-18 in Hainan Province continues to increase from 2005 to 2019, with differences in genders, ethnic and ages. Interventions should be implemented to reduce the incidence of overweight obesity in children and adolescents.

Based upon the underlying mechanism and pathological evidence of tissue injury of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) , four etiological and symptomatic therapies were proposed for managing AMR, including etiological treatment of AMR including antibody-targeting, B cell or plasma cell-targeting therapies; strategies for preventing antibody-mediated endothelial damage: an inhibition of complement/antibody dependent cell-mediated pathways; anticoagulant & thrombolytic therapies for thrombotic microangiopathy secondary to endothelial damage ; anti-inflammatory therapies for acute/chronic vascular inflammation secondary to endothelial damage. Etiological treatment is essential for preventing and treating AMR while symptomatic measures, such as anticoagulant, thrombolytic and antiinflammatory therapies, are stressed. Finally the authors devised therapeutic strategies for AMR in 4 different patient groups of non-sensitized allograft recipients, sensitized allograft recipients, individuals with active AMR and those with chronic active AMR.

The outer membrane composed predominantly of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an essential biological barrier for most Gram-negative (G^-) bacteria. Lipopolysaccharide transport protein (Lpt) complex LptDE is responsible for the critical final stage of LPS transport and outer membrane assembly. The structure and function of LptDE are highly conserved in most G^- bacteria but absent in mammalian cells, and thus LptDE complex is regarded as an attractive antibacterial target. In recent 10 years, the deciphering of the three-dimensional structure of LptDE protein facilities the drug discovery based on such "non-enzyme" proteins. Murepavadin, a peptidomimetic compound, was reported to be the first compound able to target LptD, enlightening a new class of antibacterial molecules with novel mechanisms of action. This article is devoted to summarize the molecular characteristics, structure-function of LptDE protein complex and review the development of murepavadin and related peptidomimetic compounds, in order to provide references for relevant researches.

Objective Recombinase-aided polymerase chain reaction(RAP)is a sensitive,single-tube,two-stage nucleic acid amplification method.This study aimed to develop an assay that can be used for the early diagnosis of three types of bacteremia caused by Staphylococcus aureus(SA),Pseudomonas aeruginosa(PA),and Acinetobacter baumannii(AB)in the bloodstream based on recombinant human mannan-binding lectin protein(M1 protein)-conjugated magnetic bead(M1 bead)enrichment of pathogens combined with RAP. Methods Recombinant plasmids were used to evaluate the assay sensitivity.Common blood influenza bacteria were used for the specific detection.Simulated and clinical plasma samples were enriched with M1 beads and then subjected to multiple recombinase-aided PCR(M-RAP)and quantitative PCR(qPCR)assays.Kappa analysis was used to evaluate the consistency between the two assays. Results The M-RAP method had sensitivity rates of 1,10,and 1 copies/μL for the detection of SA,PA,and AB plasmids,respectively,without cross-reaction to other bacterial species.The M-RAP assay obtained results for<10 CFU/mL pathogens in the blood within 4 h,with higher sensitivity than qPCR.M-RAP and qPCR for SA,PA,and AB yielded Kappa values of 0.839,0.815,and 0.856,respectively(P<0.05). Conclusion An M-RAP assay for SA,PA,and AB in blood samples utilizing M1 bead enrichment has been developed and can be potentially used for the early detection of bacteremia.

Objective To investigate the application value of combining the Demirjian's method with ma-chine learning algorithms for dental age estimation in northern Chinese Han children and adolescents.Methods Oral panoramic images of 10 256 Han individuals aged 5 to 24 years in northern China were collected.The development of eight permanent teeth in the left mandibular was classified into different stages using the Demirjian's method.Various machine learning algorithms,including support vector re-gression(SVR),gradient boosting regression(GBR),linear regression(LR),random forest regression(RFR),and decision tree regression(DTR)were employed.Age estimation models were constructed based on total,female,and male samples respectively using these algorithms.The fitting performance of different machine learning algorithms in these three groups was evaluated.Results SVR demonstrated superior estimation efficiency among all machine learning models in both total and female samples,while GBR showed the best performance in male samples.The mean absolute error(MAE)of the op-timal age estimation model was 1.246 3,1.281 8 and 1.153 8 years in the total,female and male samples,respectively.The optimal age estimation model exhibited varying levels of accuracy across dif-ferent age ranges,which provided relatively accurate age estimations in individuals under 18 years old.Conclusion The machine learning model developed in this study exhibits good age estimation effi-ciency in northern Chinese Han children and adolescents.However,its performance is not ideal when applied to adult population.To improve the accuracy in age estimation,the other variables can be con-sidered.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of pneumococcal meningitis(PM),and drug sensitivity of Streptococcus pneumoniae(SP)isolates in Chinese children.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical information,laboratory data,and microbiological data of 160 hospitalized children under 15 years old with PM from January 2019 to December 2020 in 33 tertiary hospitals across the country.Results Among the 160 children with PM,there were 103 males and 57 females.The age ranged from 15 days to 15 years,with 109 cases(68.1% )aged 3 months to under 3 years.SP strains were isolated from 95 cases(59.4% )in cerebrospinal fluid cultures and from 57 cases(35.6% )in blood cultures.The positive rates of SP detection by cerebrospinal fluid metagenomic next-generation sequencing and cerebrospinal fluid SP antigen testing were 40% (35/87)and 27% (21/78),respectively.Fifty-five cases(34.4% )had one or more risk factors for purulent meningitis,113 cases(70.6% )had one or more extra-cranial infectious foci,and 18 cases(11.3% )had underlying diseases.The most common clinical symptoms were fever(147 cases,91.9% ),followed by lethargy(98 cases,61.3% )and vomiting(61 cases,38.1% ).Sixty-nine cases(43.1% )experienced intracranial complications during hospitalization,with subdural effusion and/or empyema being the most common complication[43 cases(26.9% )],followed by hydrocephalus in 24 cases(15.0% ),brain abscess in 23 cases(14.4% ),and cerebral hemorrhage in 8 cases(5.0% ).Subdural effusion and/or empyema and hydrocephalus mainly occurred in children under 1 year old,with rates of 91% (39/43)and 83% (20/24),respectively.SP strains exhibited complete sensitivity to vancomycin(100% ,75/75),linezolid(100% ,56/56),and meropenem(100% ,6/6).High sensitivity rates were also observed for levofloxacin(81% ,22/27),moxifloxacin(82% ,14/17),rifampicin(96% ,25/26),and chloramphenicol(91% ,21/23).However,low sensitivity rates were found for penicillin(16% ,11/68)and clindamycin(6% ,1/17),and SP strains were completely resistant to erythromycin(100% ,31/31).The rates of discharge with cure and improvement were 22.5% (36/160)and 66.2% (106/160),respectively,while 18 cases(11.3% )had adverse outcomes.Conclusions Pediatric PM is more common in children aged 3 months to under 3 years.Intracranial complications are more frequently observed in children under 1 year old.Fever is the most common clinical manifestation of PM,and subdural effusion/emphysema and hydrocephalus are the most frequent complications.Non-culture detection methods for cerebrospinal fluid can improve pathogen detection rates.Adverse outcomes can be noted in more than 10% of PM cases.SP strains are high sensitivity to vancomycin,linezolid,meropenem,levofloxacin,moxifloxacin,rifampicin,and chloramphenicol.[Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics,2024,26(2):131-138]

A 5-year-old girl was admitted due to one episode of melena and one episode of hematemesis.Upon admission,gastroscopy revealed esophageal and gastric varices.Abdominal CT scan,MRI,and color Doppler ultrasound suggested cirrhosis,intrahepatic bile duct dilation,and bilateral kidney enlargement.Genetic testing identified compound heterozygous mutations in the PKHD1 gene:c.2264C>T(p.Pro755Leu)and c.1886T>C(p.Val629Ala).The c.2264C>T(p.Pro755Leu)mutation is a known pathogenic variant with previous reports,while c.1886T>C(p.Val629Ala)is a novel mutation predicted to have pathogenic potential according to Mutation Taster and PolyPhen2.The child was diagnosed with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease.In children presenting with gastrointestinal bleeding without obvious causes,particularly those with liver or kidney disease,consideration should be given to the possibility of autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease,and genetic testing should be conducted for definitive diagnosis when necessary.

A boy,aged 14 years,was admitted due to recurrent cough and expectoration for more than 1 month,with aggravation and fever for 2 days. After admission,he presented with tachypnea and a significant reduction in transcutaneous oxygen saturation,and emergency chest CT examination showed large patchy exudation and consolidation of both lungs. The boy was given tracheal intubation and invasive mechanical ventilation immediately,and his condition was improved after active symptomatic treatment. On the 10th day of hospitalization,the boy experienced fever again,and the laboratory tests showed positive results for Epstein-Barr virus and Mycoplasma antibody IgM,along with pancytopenia,elevated triglycerides,decreased fibrinogen,and increased levels of ferritin and soluble CD25. The boy was diagnosed with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. Bone marrow biopsy showed the presence of atypical lymphocytes,and aggressive natural killer cell leukemia was considered according to clinical manifestations and flow cytometry immunophenotype. Therefore,the possibility of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis should be suspected in case of severe infection with pancytopenia and rapid disease progression,and hematological malignancies should also be ruled out. Bone marrow biopsy should be performed as early as possible to make a confirmed diagnosis and perform timely treatment.