Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics and nutritional treatment of malnutrition in infants with botulism.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on 25 infant botulism patients admitted to Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University，from May 1，2019 to October 31，2024.The nutritional risk and malnutrition incidence were assessed，nutritional therapy methods，formulations，tolerance status, energy intake rate, secondary infections and prognosis were analyzed.Results:A total of 25 pediatric patients were included, 19 males and 6 females, with a median age of 5(4,6) months. Twenty-five cases (100%) showed reduced food intake, with a weight of 7.3 (7.0, 9.0) kg upon admission. Twenty-four cases (96%) were assessed as high-risk for nutrition screening, and one case was diagnosed with malnutrition. Twenty-four cases (96%) received nasogastric tube feeding, with an early enteral nutrition implementation rate of 84% (21 cases) and intermittent infusion in 25 cases (100%). Fourteen cases used whole protein formula milk,eight cases used hydrolyzed protein formula milk and three cases were given 5% sugar solution. Nine cases were treated with intravenous nutrition, with a duration of 9 (5, 12) days. Five cases (20%) developed enteral feeding intolerance, and all five cases had secondary infections and were treated with parenteral nutrition. All 25 patients had good prognosis. At discharge, 17 cases (68%) were fed orally, and eight cases (32%) were fed through nasogastric tubes, with a median weight of 7.5 (7.0, 9.0) kg. Fifteen patients (60%) had weight gain, and the nutritional screening assessment was all low-risk.Conclusion:Infants with botulism are mostly in a state of high nutritional risk when they are admitted to hospital. Early enteral nutrition through a gastric tube has a high implementation rate. Some children may experience feeding intolerance,combined with timely use of parenteral nutrition replacement and symptomatic treatment can improve prognosis.

Objective:To analyze the application of antitoxin therapy in severe infant botulism.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on 14 cases of severe infant botulism treated at 3 pediatric medical centers from July 2020 to August 2024. This study investigated antitoxin dosage, treatment duration, discontinuation criteria and adverse reactions.Results:A total of 14 cases (12 males and 2 females) were included, with an age of 5.0 (3.8, 7.0) months. Botulinum toxin typing revealed 10 cases of Type B, 2 cases of Type A and 2 untyped cases. The interval from symptom onset to antitoxin administration was 9.0 (6.0, 11.5) d. The initial dosage of type A antitoxin was 12 500 (10 000, 22 500) U, while type B was 5 000 (5 000, 5 000) U. The dosage was tapered in some cases after symptom improvement, the duration of treatment was 16.5 (9.8, 25.3) d. In total, 11 infants discontinued medications after improvement in muscle strength, while 3 infants discontinued treatment after obtaining negative results from fecal mouse bioassays. Adverse events were reported in 2 cases, both of which resulted in rash, and 1 case was complicated with anaphylactic shock. All the patients survived upon discharge with a follow-up period of 11 d to 3 years and 8 months. Totally 12 infants had fully recovered, while 2 infants were still recovering after discharge.Conclusion:Antitoxin therapy is a feasible and safe approach which showed favorable prognosis in severe infant botulism.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics and nutritional treatment of malnutrition in infants with botulism.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on 25 infant botulism patients admitted to Beijing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University，from May 1，2019 to October 31，2024.The nutritional risk and malnutrition incidence were assessed，nutritional therapy methods，formulations，tolerance status, energy intake rate, secondary infections and prognosis were analyzed.Results:A total of 25 pediatric patients were included, 19 males and 6 females, with a median age of 5(4,6) months. Twenty-five cases (100%) showed reduced food intake, with a weight of 7.3 (7.0, 9.0) kg upon admission. Twenty-four cases (96%) were assessed as high-risk for nutrition screening, and one case was diagnosed with malnutrition. Twenty-four cases (96%) received nasogastric tube feeding, with an early enteral nutrition implementation rate of 84% (21 cases) and intermittent infusion in 25 cases (100%). Fourteen cases used whole protein formula milk,eight cases used hydrolyzed protein formula milk and three cases were given 5% sugar solution. Nine cases were treated with intravenous nutrition, with a duration of 9 (5, 12) days. Five cases (20%) developed enteral feeding intolerance, and all five cases had secondary infections and were treated with parenteral nutrition. All 25 patients had good prognosis. At discharge, 17 cases (68%) were fed orally, and eight cases (32%) were fed through nasogastric tubes, with a median weight of 7.5 (7.0, 9.0) kg. Fifteen patients (60%) had weight gain, and the nutritional screening assessment was all low-risk.Conclusion:Infants with botulism are mostly in a state of high nutritional risk when they are admitted to hospital. Early enteral nutrition through a gastric tube has a high implementation rate. Some children may experience feeding intolerance,combined with timely use of parenteral nutrition replacement and symptomatic treatment can improve prognosis.

Objective:To analyze the application of antitoxin therapy in severe infant botulism.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on 14 cases of severe infant botulism treated at 3 pediatric medical centers from July 2020 to August 2024. This study investigated antitoxin dosage, treatment duration, discontinuation criteria and adverse reactions.Results:A total of 14 cases (12 males and 2 females) were included, with an age of 5.0 (3.8, 7.0) months. Botulinum toxin typing revealed 10 cases of Type B, 2 cases of Type A and 2 untyped cases. The interval from symptom onset to antitoxin administration was 9.0 (6.0, 11.5) d. The initial dosage of type A antitoxin was 12 500 (10 000, 22 500) U, while type B was 5 000 (5 000, 5 000) U. The dosage was tapered in some cases after symptom improvement, the duration of treatment was 16.5 (9.8, 25.3) d. In total, 11 infants discontinued medications after improvement in muscle strength, while 3 infants discontinued treatment after obtaining negative results from fecal mouse bioassays. Adverse events were reported in 2 cases, both of which resulted in rash, and 1 case was complicated with anaphylactic shock. All the patients survived upon discharge with a follow-up period of 11 d to 3 years and 8 months. Totally 12 infants had fully recovered, while 2 infants were still recovering after discharge.Conclusion:Antitoxin therapy is a feasible and safe approach which showed favorable prognosis in severe infant botulism.

Objective:To summarize the clinical characteristics and prognosis of severe infant botulism and evaluate the therapeutic effect of botulinum antitoxin in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).Methods:The clinical data of 8 cases diagnosed with infantile botulism were retrospectively analyzed in the PICU of Beijing Children′s Hospital from October 2019 to August 2023. Data of basic demographic information, clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, treatment and prognosis of each child were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistical methods.Results:Eight laboratory-confirmed cases of infant botulism were included in this study, all of which were male infants with an age of 6.0 (3.3,6.8) months. Three of the children were from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, 2 of them were from Hebei, and the other 3 were from Beijing, Shandong and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, respectively. All the patients were previously healthy. In 4 of these cases, the possible cause was the ingestion of either honey and its products or sealed pickled food by the mother or child before the onset of the disease. The first symptom was poor milk intake (4 cases), followed by shallow shortness of breath (7 cases), limb weakness (7 cases) and so on. The typical signs were bilateral dilated pupils (8 cases) and decreased limb muscle strength (8 cases). The main subtype was type B (7 cases), and only 1 case was classified as type A. Six of the children were treated with antitoxin therapy for a duration of 24 (19, 49) d. Seven of them had invasive mechanical ventilation. All the patients survived upon discharge with a follow-up period of 29 d to 3 years and 8 months. Six patients had fully recovered, and 2 recently discharged patients were gradually recovering.Conclusions:For infants with suspected contact or ingestion of botulinum and presented with bilateral pupillary paralysis, muscle weakness and clear consciousness, the stool should be collected for diagnostic testing using a mouse bioassay as soon as possible. Type B was the most common type. The antitoxin treatment was effectiveness and the prognosis was well.

Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of Zhike Pingchuan Formula on reducing airway inflammation in mice with bronchial asthma(BA).Methods A total of 84 BALB/c mice were randomly separated into the control group,the BA group,the low-dose Zhike Pingchuan Formula group,the high-dose Zhike Pingchuan Formula group,the dexamethasone group,the lipopolysaccharide(LPS)group and the high-dose Zhike Pingchuan Formula+LPS group,with 12 mice in each group.The BA model was constructed in all groups of mice except the control group.After successful modeling,mice were treated with drug administration once a day for 3 weeks.Serum immunoglobulin E(IgE)concentration and levels of interleukin-17(IL-17)and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)in alveolar lavage fluid were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Pathological changes in lung tissue was detected by HE staining.The bronchial epithelium goblet cell proliferation and mucus secretion were determined by PAS staining.Flow cytometry was used to detect levels of T helper cell 17(Th17)and regulatory T(Treg)cell in mouse spleen tissue.Western blot assay was used to detect toll-like receptor 4(TLR4)/tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6(TRAF6)/nuclear factor kappa-B(NF-κB)pathway-related protein expression in lung tissue.Results Compared with the control group,damage of lung tissue was serious,the proliferation of bronchial epithelial goblet cells and the secretion of mucus increased,IgE concentration,TNF-α,IL-17 levels,Th17 cell proportion,Th17/Treg ratio,and TLR4,TRAF6,p-NF-κB p65 protein expression increased,while Treg cell proportion decreased in the BA group(P＜0.05).Compared with the BA group,the bronchial epithelial cupular cell proliferation and mucus secretion were reduced in the low-dose Zhike Pingchuan Formula group,the high-dose Zhike Pingchuan Formula group and the dexamethasone group,the lung tissue damage was improved,the concentration of IgE,levels of TNF-α,IL-17,the proportion of Th17 cells,the ratio of Th17/Treg and expression of protein levels of TLR4,TRAF6 and p-NF-κB p65 were reduced,and the proportion of Treg cell was elevated(P＜0.05).The trend of corresponding indexes in the LPS group was opposite to the above(P＜0.05).Compared with the high-dose Zhike Pingchuan Formula group,the pathological damage of lung tissue increased in the high-dose Zhike Pingchuan Formula+LPS group.The proliferation of bronchial epithelial goblet cells and the secretion of mucus increased,the IgE concentration,TNF-α,IL-17 levels,Th17 cell proportion,Th17/Treg ratio and TLR4,TRAF6,p-NF-κB p65 protein expression increased,while the Treg cell proportion decreased(P＜0.05).Conclusion Zhike Pingchuan Formula may reduce airway inflammation in BA mice by inhibiting TLR4/TRAF6/NF-κB pathway.

Objective To explore the effect of ephedrine on airway remodeling and its regulation effect on transfor-ming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1)/Smads pathway in asthmatic mice.Methods All mice were randomly separated into control group,model group,dexamethasone group,ephedrine low-dose group,ephedrine high-dose group,and ephedrine high-dose+TGF-β1 activator group,with 12 mice in each group.Except for the control group,mice in other groups were intraperitoneally injected with 40 μg ovalbumin(OVA)and 2 mg 10％aluminium hydroxide sensitizer to induce asthma models.After 8 weeks,the airway hyperresponsiveness of mice in each group was detec-ted;eosinophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF)were counted;ELISA was applied to detect the levels of interleukin(IL)-4,IL-5,and IL-13 in BALF;hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining and Masson staining were applied to observe the pathological changes and collagen fiber area of mouse lung tissue;immunohistochemistry was applied to detect the expression of α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA)protein in mouse lung tissue;Western blot was applied to detect the expression of TGF-β1/Smads pathway related proteins in mouse lung tissue.Results Compared with the control group,the airway hyperreactivity at different doses of methacholine,total area of airway wall(Wat)/perimeter of the basement membrane(Pbm)ratio,collagen fiber area,eosinophil,the contents of IL-4,IL-5,IL-13,the expression of α-SMA,TGF-β1,the ratios of p-Smad2/Smad2 and p-Smad3/Smad3 in the model group in-creased(P＜0.05),the expression of Smad7 decreased(P＜0.05);compared with the model group,the airway hyperreactivity at different doses of methacholine,Wat/Pbm ratio,collagen fiber area,eosinophil,the contents of IL-4,IL-5,IL-13,the expression of α-SMA,TGF-β1,the ratios of p-Smad2/Smad2 and p-Smad3/Smad3 in the dexamethasone group,the ephedrine low-dose and high-dose groups decreased(P＜0.05),the expression of Smad7 increased(P＜0.05);compared with the ephedrine high-dose group,the airway hyperreactivity at different doses of methacholine,Wat/Pbm ratio,collagen fiber area,eosinophil,the contents of IL-4,IL-5,IL-13,the ex-pression of α-SMA,TGF-β1,the ratios of p-Smad2/Smad2 and p-Smad3/Smad3 in the ephedrine high-dose+TGF-β1 activator group increased(P＜0.05),the expression of Smad7 decreased(P＜0.05).Conclusion E-phedrine can improve airway remodeling in asthmatic mice,and its mechanism is related to the regulation of TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway.

Cytospora is a genus including important phytopathogens causing severe dieback and canker diseases distributed worldwide with a wide host range. However, identification of Cytospora species is difficult since the currently available DNA sequence data are insufficient. Aside the limited availability of ex-type sequence data, most of the genetic work is only based on the ITS region DNA marker which lacks the resolution to delineate to the species level in Cytospora. In this study, three fresh strains were isolated from the symptomatic branches of Elaeagnus angustifolia in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. Morphological observation and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses (ITS, LSU, ACT and RPB2) support these specimens are best accommodated as a distinct novel species of Cytospora. Cytospora elaeagnicola sp. nov. is introduced, having discoid, nearly flat, pycnidial conidiomata with hyaline, allantoid conidia, and differs from its relatives genetically and by host association.

Objective To understand and analyze the effect and impact on Hospital-level Young Scholar Scientific Research Program in personal training and project promoting.Methods To review and analyze the archived documents and data materials of total 402 Young Scholar Scientific Research Program involving 339 young fellows from 2003 to 2013,compared the research input and output with general hospital level,including getting new fund,publications,Awards and patent.Results Output on researchers with Young Scholar Scientific Research Program is much higher than the general hospital level,but showing unbalanced distribution in medical disciplines.Conclusions To establishment of Young Scholar Scientific Research Program has achieved very good effect in promoting research in tertiary public hospital as well as has empowered the young fellows for conducting scientific research independently.It is proposed to go on strength the scientific management and optimize the system construction of research input,further establishing academic communication platform for young fellows.

Objective To investigate the mechanisms of sacroiliac joint pain after lumbar fusion surgery and to present the clinical outcomes after a combining intra-and peri-articular injection.Methods Totally 20 male and 15 female patients (48-75 years old) from January 2013 to December 2016 were retrospectively included in the present study.The patients were all with sustained low back and hip pain after prior posterior lumbar interbody fusion surgery.Nine cases were diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation,22 cases with lumbar stenosis,and 4 cases with degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis.Ten cases were performed with single level fusion,16 cases with two level fusion,9 cases with 3 or more level fusion.Autogenous iliac bone graft was not applied in any of those patients.The pain of the patients was confirmed from the sacroiliac joint through specific symptoms and signs.They were divided into two groups and were treated with either standard intra-articular injection (17 cases) or a combine of intra-and peri-articular sacroiliac injection (18 cases).Peri-articular injection was conducted at 1 cm above the inferior margin of the sacroiliac joint.Recover ratios of visual analogue scale (VAS) and Oswestry disability index (ODI) at 2 weeks post-operatively were recorded and were compared between the two groups.Results No statistical difference was found in gender,fusion location,fusion levels,pre-operative VAS and ODI score between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).The combination of intra-and peri-articular sacroiliac injection showed significantly better results than the single intra-articular injection in VAS score immediately after injection (t=2.159,P=0.038),VAS score at 2 weeks after injection and ODI score at 2 weeks after the injection (t=2.705,P=0.011;t=2.156,P=0.039,respectively).Conclusion Both intra-and extra-sacroiliac joint diseases may lead to sacroiliac joint pain after lumbar fusion surgery.A single intra-articular sacroiliac injection could not provide optimistic outcomes.Further extra-articular injection is required at approximate 1 cm above the inferior margin of the sacroiliac joint.The technique combining intra-and peri-articular injection could guarantee improved early clinical outcomes.