Background: Adrenocortical hormones, particularly 11-oxygenated androgens, are pivotal in female reproductive health and fertility. Standardized detection kits and population-specific reference intervals are lacking in China, hindering related clinical applications. Methods: A HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) pipeline was developed, rigorously validated, and applied to simultaneously quantify corticosterone, cortisone, cortisol, 18-OH cortisol, androstenedione (A4), 11β-hydroxyandrostenedione (11-OH A4), dehydroepiandrosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in serum samples from 455 reproductive-aged women (18–45 yrs) in Guangxi, China. Age-dependent concentration trends were analyzed, and reference intervals stratified by age (2.5th to 97.5th percentiles) were established. Correlations with body-composition metrics, ethnicity, and the menstrual cycle were investigated. Results: The HPLC-MS/MS method demonstrated high precision (intra- and inter-assay CVs < 15%), accuracy, and sensitivity. All eight hormones exhibited significant age-related declines (P < 0.001 for seven hormones; P = 0.001 for 11-OH A4). Notably, 11-OH A4 levels were significantly lower in the 35–45-yr (3.05 nmol/L) and 25–34-yr (3.09 nmol/L) age groups than in the 18–24-yr (3.57 nmol/L) age group, whereas no significant difference was observed between the 35–45-yr and 25–34-yr age groups. Weak negative correlations were observed between the body mass index and corticosterone and cortisone levels, whereas ethnicity and the menstrual cycle showed no significant associations with hormone levels. Conclusions We developed an HPLC-MS/MS-based method for simultaneously quantifying eight adrenocortical hormones, including 11-OH A4, and defined age-specific reference intervals for reproductive-aged Chinese women. These findings advance the clinical utility of adrenocortical hormones in diagnosing and managing reproductive disorders.

Objective:To investigate the etiology of necrotizing pneumonia (NP) in children and the clinical characteristics of NP caused by different pathogens in China.Methods:A retrospective, case-control study was performed in children with NP who were admitted to 13 hospitals in China from January 2008 to December 2019. The demographic and clinical information, laboratory data, etiological and radiological findings were analyzed. The data were divided into three groups based on the following years: 2008-2011, 2012-2015 and 2016-2019, and the distribution characteristics of the pathogens in different period were compared. Meanwhile, the pathogens of pediatric NP in the southern and northern China were compared. And the clinical characteristics of the Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) NP and the bacterial NP were also compared. T-test or Mann-Whitney nonparametric test was used for comparison of numerical variables, and χ 2 test was used for categorical variables. Results:A total of 494 children with NP were enrolled, the median ages were 4.7 (0.1-15.3) years, including 272 boys and 222 girls. Among these patients, pathogens were identified in 347 cases and the pathogen was unclear in the remaining 147 cases. The main pathogens were MP (238 cases), Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) (61 cases), Staphylococcus aureus (SA) (51 cases), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (13 cases), Haemophilus influenzae (10 cases), adenovirus (10 cases), and influenza virus A (7 cases), respectively. MP was the most common pathogen in all three periods and the proportion increased yearly. The proportion of MP in 2016-2019 was significantly higher than that in 2012-2015 (52.1% (197/378) vs. 36.8% (32/87), χ 2= 6.654, P=0.010), while there was no significant difference in the proportion of MP in 2012-2015 and that in 2008-2011 (36.8% (32/87) vs. 31.0% (9/29), χ2=0.314, P=0.575).Regarding the regional distribution, 342 cases were in the southern China and 152 in the northern China. Also, MP was the most common pathogen in both regions, but the proportion of MP was higher and the proportion of SP was lower in the north than those in the south (60.5% (92/152) vs. 42.7% (146/342), χ 2=13.409, P<0.010; 7.9% (12/152) vs. 14.3% (49/342), χ 2= 4.023, P=0.045). Comparing the clinical characteristics of different pathogens, we found that fever and cough were the common symptoms in both single MP and single bacterial groups, but chest pain was more common (17.0% (34/200) vs. 6.1% (6/98), χ 2=6.697, P=0.010) while shortness of breath and wheezing were less common in MP group (16.0% (32/200) vs. 60.2% (59/98), χ 2=60.688, P<0.01; 4.5% (9/200) vs. 21.4% (21/98), χ 2=20.819, P<0.01, respectively). The white blood cell count, C-reactive protein and procalcitonin in the bacterial group were significantly higher than those in the MP group (14.7 (1.0-67.1)×10 9/L vs. 10.5 (2.5-32.2)×10 9/L, 122.5 (0.5-277.3) mg/L vs. 51.4 (0.5-200.0) g/L, 2.13 (0.05-100.00) μg/L vs. 0.24 (0.01-18.85) μg/L, Z=-3.719, -5.901 and -7.765, all P<0.01). Conclusions:The prevalence of pediatric NP in China shows an increasing trend during the past years. MP, SP and SA are the main pathogens of NP, and the most common clinical symptoms are fever and cough. The WBC count, C-reactive protein and procalcitonin in bacterial NP are significantly higher than those caused by MP.

OBJECTIVE:To study the effects of spirulina kinase(SPK)on the vascular endothelial function of model rats with atherosclerosis. METHODS:60 rats were randomly divided into normal control group(distilled water),model group(distilled wa-ter),positive control group(simvastatin,0.005 g/kg)and SPK low-dose,medium-dose,high-dose groups(80,160,320 U/kg). Except for normal control group,rats in other groups were induced for model of atherosclerosis. All groups were intragastrically ad-ministrated relevant medicines at the same time,once a day for consecutive 12 weeks. Total cholesterol(TC),triglyceride(TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C),high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C),interleukin-6(IL-6),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) contents in serum of rats were measured. And the changes of thoracic aortic endothelium morphology were ob-served by HE staining. RESULTS:Compared with normal control group,TC,TG,LDL-C,IL-6,TNF-α contents in serum of rats in model group were increased(P<0.01),HDL-C content in serum was decreased(P<0.01);vascular endothelial cells fell off, intimal proliferation projected into the lumen,smooth muscle cell proliferated and disordered,medium film elastic fiber disintegrat-ed and fractured. Compared with model group,TC,TG,LDL-C,IL-6,TNF-α contents in serum of rats in administration groups were decreased(P<0.05 or P<0.01),HDL-C content in positive control group and SPK medium-dose,high-dose groups was in-creased (P<0.05). Vascular endothelial cell morphology was improved significantly in administration groups,in which,vascular endothelial cells were structurally intact in SPK medium-dose,high-dose groups,inner membrane was basically smooth;medium smooth muscle cells arranged slightly disordered in SPK medium-dose group. Compared with normal control group,there were no obvious changes. CONCLUSIONS:SPK shows obvious lipid-lowering and anti-inflammatory effects,it can protect vascular endo-thelial function. The mechanism may be related to reducing TC,TG,LDL-C,HDL-C,IL-6,TNF-αcontents and increasing HDL-C content in serum.

Objective To explore the compound compatibility regulation of oral traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) for the prevention and treatment of infantile repeated respiratory infection.Methods The oral TCM compound literatures for the prevention and treatment of infantile repeated respiratory infection were collected from four databases,including China Biology Medicine disc,CNKI,VIP Periodical and Wanfanf Data.The retrieval time was from January 2006 to July 2006.Then the TCM oral compound prescriptions meeting the requirements were obtained by the literature arrangement and performed the terms standardized processing for extracting the information and establishing Excel table.Then the Kaiyuan software package R i386 3.3.0 was used to conduct the drug frequency,association rules analysis and clustering analysis.Results A total of 311 prescriptions were screened out and 208 kinds of traditional Chinese medicine were analyzed.It was found that the higher compatibility frequencies of TCM were atractylodes,radix glycyrrhizae,windproof,radix astragali,radix pseudostellariae,poria cocos,dried tangerine or orange peel,etc.;the strong association rules prompted that modified Yupinfeng Powder composed of core medicines such as astragalus,atractylodes and windproof was the basic formula for prevention and treatment of infantile repeated respiratory infection;the clusters analysis found some TCM societies such as emembranous Astragalus mongholicus-keel-oysters,Atractylodes-Poria cocos-licorice-Astragalus mongholicus-dangshen.Conclusion The drug frequency,association rules analysis and clustering analysis can reveal the compatibility rules of TCM prescriptions for preventing and treating infantile repeated respiratory to provide reference basis for optimizing the clinical prescription and improving the curative effect.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the symptomatic characteristics of chronic rhinosinusitis patients and the report symptom-based outcomes after endoscopic sinus surgery. METHOD: One hundred and nineteen chronic rhinosinusitis patients underwent endoscopic sinus surgery, including 52 patients of chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps and 67 patients of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, were enrolled. Patients were asked to evaluate their symptoms before surgery and 12 months after endoscopic sinus surgery using 10 cm visual analog scale measures. RESULT: The most commonly reported symptoms were nasal obstruction, nasal discharge, headache, facial pressure and altered sense of smell. Compared with patients of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, patients of chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps reported significantly higher scores of nasal discharge, whereas lower scores of altered sense of smell (P<0.01 for both). The most disturbing symptom was nasal discharge and altered sense of smell for chronic rhinosinusitis patients without and with nasal polyps, respectively. After endoscopic sinus surgery, the scores for all studied symptoms were improved greatly in both chronic rhinosinusitis with and without nasal polyps groups (P<0.01 for all). CONCLUSION Chronic rhinosinusitis patients with and without nasal polyps present different symptomatic characteristics. Endoscopic sinus surgery can improve patient-based symptoms significantly. Visual analog scale is a simple and powerful tool to evaluate chronic rhinosinusitis symptoms.
Adult ; Chronic Disease ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Sinusitis ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome