Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics and genetic cause of a child with gastrointestinal hemorrhage and Cerebroretinal microangiopathy with calcifications and cysts (CRMCC) and to review the literatuve.Methods:Clinical data of a child with gastrointestinal hemorrhage with CRMCC(patient 1, proband) admitted to the Hepatology Department of Hunan Children′s Hospital in September 2019 were collected, and peripheral blood DNA of the child and his parents were analyzed by whol-exome sequencing. Candidate variants were validated by Sanger sequencing, followed by bioinformatics analysis, American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) Standards and Guidelines for the Interpretation of Sequence Variants pathogenicity classification, and protein structure prediction. A literature search with " Coats Plus syndrome" or " Cerebroretinal microangiopathy with calcifications and cysts" as keywords was conducted at PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang databases to include recently published studies (up to December 2023). This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Hunan Children′s Hospital (Ethics No. KY2020-07). Informed consent for clinical research was obtained from one guardian of the child.Results:The proband was a 10-year-10-month-old boy. The clinical manifestations were intrauterine and postnatal growth retardation, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, liver fibrosis, panhemopenia, bilateral exudative retinopathy, intracranial lesions and facial pigmentation. WES and Sanger sequencing revealed two novel heterozygous variants in the CTC1 gene of the patient: c. 787G>A (p.Val263Met) in exon 5 and c. 2930C>G (p.Ser977Cys) in exon 17, inherited from the mother and father, respectively. According to ACMG pathogenicity classification, both missense variants were classified as variants of uncertain significance (VUS). Protein structure prediction showed the absence of LIG_SH3_3 motif and LIG_SH3_3 motif, and the p. Ser977Cys mutation may affect the binding between CST (CTC1-STN1-TEN)complex and DNA strand. In this study, the child had continued to experience recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding episodes despite propranolol treatment, but the condition was successfully controlled after liver transplantation. According to the predefined literature search strategy of this study, a total of 10 relevant articles on pediatric CRMCC patients were retrieved, involving 11 children with gastrointestinal bleeding. Current Pharmacological and endoscopic therapies play a certain role in the management of CRMCC children complicated with gastrointestinal bleeding. Conclusions:The CTC1 gene c. 787G>A and c. 2930C>G variants probably underlay CRMCC in this child. This study had broadened the variation spectrum of CTC1-related diseases and provided a basis for genetic counseling. Liver transplantation may be an important treatment for gastrointestinal hemorrhage in children who do not respond well to medication and endoscopic therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical characteristics and genetic cause of a child with gastrointestinal hemorrhage and Cerebroretinal microangiopathy with calcifications and cysts (CRMCC) and to review the literature. METHODS: Clinical data of a child with gastrointestinal hemorrhage with CRMCC admitted to the Hepatology Department of Hunan Children's Hospital in September 2019 were collected, and peripheral blood DNA of the child and his parents were analyzed by whole exome sequencing. Candidate variants were validated by Sanger sequencing, followed by bioinformatics analysis, American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) Standards and Guidelines for the Interpretation of Sequence Variants pathogenicity classification, and protein structure prediction. A literature search with "Coats Plus syndrome" or "Cerebroretinal microangiopathy with calcifications and cysts" as keywords was conducted at PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang databases to include recently published studies (up to December 2023). This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Hunan Children's Hospital (Ethics No. KY2020-07). Informed consent for clinical research was obtained from the guardian of the child. RESULTS: The proband was a 10-year-10-month-old boy. The clinical manifestations were intrauterine and postnatal growth retardation, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, liver fibrosis, panhemopenia, bilateral exudative retinopathy, intracranial lesions and facial pigmentation. WES and Sanger sequencing revealed two novel heterozygous variants in the CTC1 gene: c.787G>A (p.Val263Met) in exon 5 and c.2930C>G (p.Ser977Cys) in exon 17, which were inherited from his mother and father, respectively. According to ACMG pathogenicity classification, both missense variants were classified as variants of uncertain significance (VUS). Protein structure prediction showed the absence of LIG_SH3_3 motif and LIG_SH3_3 motif, and the p.Ser977Cys mutation may affect the binding between CST (CTC1-STN1-TEN) complex and DNA strand. The child had continued to experience recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding episodes despite propranolol treatment, but the condition was controlled after liver transplantation. According to the predefined literature search strategy of this study, a total of 10 relevant articles on pediatric CRMCC patients were retrieved, involving 11 children with gastrointestinal bleeding. Pharmacological and endoscopic therapies play a certain role in the management of CRMCC children complicated with gastrointestinal bleeding. CONCLUSION The CTC1 gene c.787G>A and c.2930C>G variants probably underlay CRMCC in this child. This study has broadened the variation spectrum of CTC1-related diseases and provided a basis for genetic counseling. Liver transplantation may be an important treatment for gastrointestinal hemorrhage in children who do not respond well to medication and endoscopic therapy.
Humans ; Male ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage/genetics* ; Child ; Calcinosis/genetics* ; Cysts/genetics* ; Central Nervous System Cysts/genetics* ; Mutation ; Exome Sequencing ; Leukoencephalopathies ; Retinal Diseases ; Seizures ; Muscle Spasticity ; Brain Neoplasms ; Ataxia

Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics and genetic cause of a child with gastrointestinal hemorrhage and Cerebroretinal microangiopathy with calcifications and cysts (CRMCC) and to review the literatuve.Methods:Clinical data of a child with gastrointestinal hemorrhage with CRMCC(patient 1, proband) admitted to the Hepatology Department of Hunan Children′s Hospital in September 2019 were collected, and peripheral blood DNA of the child and his parents were analyzed by whol-exome sequencing. Candidate variants were validated by Sanger sequencing, followed by bioinformatics analysis, American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) Standards and Guidelines for the Interpretation of Sequence Variants pathogenicity classification, and protein structure prediction. A literature search with " Coats Plus syndrome" or " Cerebroretinal microangiopathy with calcifications and cysts" as keywords was conducted at PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang databases to include recently published studies (up to December 2023). This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Hunan Children′s Hospital (Ethics No. KY2020-07). Informed consent for clinical research was obtained from one guardian of the child.Results:The proband was a 10-year-10-month-old boy. The clinical manifestations were intrauterine and postnatal growth retardation, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, liver fibrosis, panhemopenia, bilateral exudative retinopathy, intracranial lesions and facial pigmentation. WES and Sanger sequencing revealed two novel heterozygous variants in the CTC1 gene of the patient: c. 787G>A (p.Val263Met) in exon 5 and c. 2930C>G (p.Ser977Cys) in exon 17, inherited from the mother and father, respectively. According to ACMG pathogenicity classification, both missense variants were classified as variants of uncertain significance (VUS). Protein structure prediction showed the absence of LIG_SH3_3 motif and LIG_SH3_3 motif, and the p. Ser977Cys mutation may affect the binding between CST (CTC1-STN1-TEN)complex and DNA strand. In this study, the child had continued to experience recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding episodes despite propranolol treatment, but the condition was successfully controlled after liver transplantation. According to the predefined literature search strategy of this study, a total of 10 relevant articles on pediatric CRMCC patients were retrieved, involving 11 children with gastrointestinal bleeding. Current Pharmacological and endoscopic therapies play a certain role in the management of CRMCC children complicated with gastrointestinal bleeding. Conclusions:The CTC1 gene c. 787G>A and c. 2930C>G variants probably underlay CRMCC in this child. This study had broadened the variation spectrum of CTC1-related diseases and provided a basis for genetic counseling. Liver transplantation may be an important treatment for gastrointestinal hemorrhage in children who do not respond well to medication and endoscopic therapy.

Objective:To explore the characteristics of SLCO1B1/ SLCO1B3 gene variants among children with Rotor syndrome (RS). Methods:Four children who were admitted to the Department of Hepatology of Hunan Children′s Hospital between January 2019 and January 2022 were selected as the study subjects. Trio-whole exome sequencing was carried out for the four families, and gel electrophoresis was used to verify an insertional variant of long-interspersed element-1 (LINE-1).Results:Genetic testing has identified three variants of the SLCO1B1 gene, including c. 1738C>T (p.R580*), c. 757C>T (p.R253*) and c. 1622A>C (p.Q541P), and two variants of the SLCO1B3 gene, including c. 481+ 22insLINE-1 and c. 1747+ 1G>A among the children. Three of them were found to harbor homozygous variants of the SLCO1B1/ SLCO1B3 genes, and one has harbored compound heterozygous variants. Sanger sequencing confirmed the existence of all variants, and gel electrophoresis has confirmed the existence of the LINE-1 insertional variant of about 6 kb within intron 6 of the SLCO1B3 gene in all children. Conclusion:The pathogenesis of the RS among the four children may be attributed to the variants of the SLCO1B1/ SLCO1B3 genes. The LINE-1 insertion variant of the SLCO1B3 gene may be common among Chinese RS patients.

Objective:To understand the clinical and genetic characteristics of hereditary spherocytosis (HS) combined with cholestasis among pediatric patients.Methods:12 cases of HS children accompanied by cholestasis at Hunan Children's Hospital were selected as the research subjects between January 2013 and December 2022. Clinical data were collected. Whole-exome sequencing was performed by second-generation sequencing. Suspected pathogenic mutation sites were verified by Sanger sequencing.Results:All pediatric patients were admitted to the hospital due to their yellow skin tone. Eight cases (66.67%) had a positive family history. The clinical manifestations were jaundice, splenomegaly (12/12), abdominal pain, anemia (4/12), and hepatomegaly (5/12). All pediatric patients had decreased hemoglobin, an increased reticulocyte ratio, total bilirubin and direct bilirubin, a positive erythrocyte fragility test, and remarkable spherical erythrocytes in their peripheral blood. Seven cases had elevated aminotransferase; four cases had severely elevated aminotransferase and bilirubin; eight cases had biliary calculi; and two cases had a dilated biliary tract. Liver pathological examination showed mild damage to the liver cells (G1S1) in three pediatric cases. Five children had a total of six unreported mutations: SPTB gene c.2431_2450del, c.4974-2A > G, c.2575G > A, and exon 22-35 deletion; ANK1 gene: c.2379-2380delC; and c .6dupC. Children still had abnormal bilirubin levels following treatment. Two pediatric cases underwent splenectomy. Bilirubin and hemoglobin levels returned to normal after surgery. Conclusion:Children with HS may experience cholestasis, and those with poor treatment results may consider undergoing a splenectomy. Six new types of variants have expanded the HS gene mutation spectrum.

Objective To investigate the change in mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) lymphocytes in peripheral blood of children with metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and its clinical significance. Methods A total of 18 children with MAFLD who attended Hunan Children's Hospital from March to May, 2022, were enrolled as MAFLD group, and 20 normal children who attended the hospital during the same period of time were enrolled as control group. Peripheral blood samples were collected, and flow cytometry was used to measure the percentages of MAIT lymphocytes (CD3 + CDl61 + TCRVα7.2 + cells), different MAIT lymphocyte subsets (CD4 + CD8 - MAIT cells, CD4 - CD8 - MAIT lymphocytes, CD4 - CD8 + MAIT lymphocytes, and CD4 + CD8 + MAIT lymphocytes), and MAIT lymphocytes expressing PD-1, CD69, perforin, CD107α, CXCR3, CXCR6, and CCR6. The correlation of MAIT lymphocyte frequency with liver inflammation, fat content, and fibrosis degree was analyzed. The t -test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups. The Spearman correlation analysis was used for correlation analysis. Results Compared with the control group, the MAFLD group had significant increases in the percentage of MAIT lymphocytes in peripheral blood, the percentages of MAIT cells expressing PD-1, CD69, CD107α, CXCR3, CXCR6 and CCR6, and the percentages of CD4 + CD8 - MAIT cells and CD4 + CD8 + MAIT lymphocytes among MAIT cell subsets (all P < 0.05), as well as a significant reduction in the percentage of CD4 - CD8 + MAIT cells among MAIT cell subsets ( P < 0.001). The percentages of CD4 + CD8 + MAIT lymphocytes and CD107α-positive MAIT lymphocytes were negatively correlated with alanine aminotransferase ( r =-0.474 and -0.550, P =0.047 and 0.018). Conclusion The migration of peripheral blood MAIT lymphocytes to the liver plays a protective role against liver inflammation in children with MAFLD.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic basis for a child with infantile liver failure syndrome type 2 (ILFS type 2). METHODS: Clinical features of the child were analyzed. Next generation sequencing was also carried out for him. RESULTS: The child was found to harbor compound heterozygous variants of the NBAS gene, which included a novel nonsense c.2746A>T (p.R916X, 1456) variant in exon 24 and a missense c.3596G>A (p.C1199Y) mutation in exon 31, which has been associated with ILFS type 2. The two variants were respectively inherited from his father and mother. CONCLUSION The compound heterozygous variants of c.3596G>A and c.2746A>T of the NBAS gene probably underlay the ILFS type 2 in this child.
Child ; Exons/genetics* ; Genetic Testing ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Humans ; Liver Failure ; Male ; Mutation

Objective:To investigate the etiology, prognosis and prognostic factors of pediatric acute liver failure(PALF), in order to provide the basis for clinical treatment of PALF.Methods:The clinical data of children with PALF hospitalized at Hunan Children′s Hospital from May 2008 to May 2018 were collected, and the causes and prognosis were analyzed.According to the prognosis, the patients were divided into the death group and the survival group, whose biochemical indexes were then compared.After that, the statistical analysis of different data were carried out by using t-test, Wilcoxon test and χ2 test separately. Results:In 120 PALF cases, there were 68 males and 52 females, and there were 36 infants, 34 toddlers, 22 preschoolers and 28 school-age children.Twenty cases (16.7%) were caused by sepsis, 19 cases (15.8%) by genetic metabolic diseases, 18 cases (15.0%) by poisoning, 12 cases (10.0%) by viral infection, 6 cases (5.0%) by drugs, 1 case (0.8%) by bile polyp, and 1 case (0.8%) by tumor disease.Besides, the etiology of 43 cases (35.9%) was unknown.Among the cases with known etiologies, genetic metabolic and infectious diseases were the main cause of disease in infants, toddler patients were mostly caused by infectious diseases and drug/toxicants, and drug/toxicants and hereditary metabolic diseases were the dominant cause of disease in school-age children and preschoolers.Mortality rate of children with PALF was 50.0%.Among them, the mortality of Epstein-Barr virus-associated hemophagocytic syndrome, sepsis, Citrin deficiency and Tyrosinemia was higher than that of other diseases.Compared with the survival group, the total bilirubin (TB)[159.00(73.05, 274.00) μmol/L vs.62.75(2.65, 221.75)μmol/L], direct bilirubin(DB)[83.00(41.43, 160.00) μmol/L vs.38.74(10.98, 128.75) μmol/L], prothrombin time (PT)[39.60(24.93, 62.60) s vs.24.65(21.43, 29.83) s], international standardized ratio (INR)[3.40(2.30, 6.74) vs.2.09(1.85, 2.84)], and blood ammonia (NH 3) levels [109.50(85.25, 149.75) μmol/L vs.80.00(60.25, 102.75) μmol/L] in the death group were significantly increased, and the diffe-rences were statistically significant(all P<0.05); while the levels of albumin[(28.72±5.88) g/L vs.(33.69±4.96) g/L], alanine aminotransferase (ALT) [586.50(223.25, 1 082.00) U/L vs.1 434.00(615.00, 3 334.50) U/L]and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) [827.50(545.00, 2 024.00) U/L vs.1 663.50(821.00, 4 886.75) U/L]in the death group were significantly decreased, and the differences were statistically significant(all P<0.05). However, the blood glucose and cholesterol levels in both groups had no statistically significant difference. Conclusion:The mortality of children with PALF is high, and different age groups have different etiologies.The increase of TB, DB, PT, INR, NH3 and the ratio of hepatic encephalopathy, and the decrease of albumin, AST and ALT suggest poor prognosis.

Objective To investigate the dynamic changes in intestinal alpha-defensin-5 (RD-5),beta-defensin-2 (BD-2) mRNA after acute liver failure(ALF),and to explore their role in ALF.Methods A total of 60 C57BL5 mice were divided into 4 groups by means of random number table method:normal control group,ALF group,E.coli via gavage group and ALF + E.coli via gavage group.Intraperitoneal injection of D-galactosamine (500 mg/kg) and lipopolysaccharide(10 μg/kg) to make the model,in addition,ALF mice were fed with E.coli,and the observation time was 6 hours,12 hours,and 24 hours after modeling,and each time point had 6 specimens.Real-time PCR was used to test the RD-5 mRNA and BD-2 mRNA levels in the ileum tissue.Results The levels of RD-5 and BD-2 showed dynamic change in the experiment of ALF.Compared with the levels of RD-5 and BD-2(11.25 ±0.74,23.86 ±0.39) of the normal control group,the levels of RD-5 and BD-2 in ALF group and E.coli via gavage group increased at 6 hours after modeling(14.19 ±0.39,26.79 ± 0.36 and 12.57 ± 0.68,26.45 ± 0.85),and the differences were significant(all P＜0.05);at 12 hours after modeling,the RD-5 and BD-2 reached to the maximum concentration(15.76 ±0.33,29.10 ± 0.61 and 12.90 ± 0.96,27.42 ± 0.71),and the differences were statistically signi-ficant (all P ＜ 0.05).The degree of elevation of BD-2 was higher than RD-5.Later,they gradually declined.Conclusions RD-5 and BD-2 may play an important role in the pathogenesis of intestinal endotoxemia in experimental ALF.