OBJECTIVE: To analyze a Chinese pedigree affected with Non-syndromic autosomal recessive deafness type 12 (NFNB12), validate the function of candidate variants, and explore the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: A NFNB12 pedigree presented at Henan Provincial People's Hospital in February 2023 was selected as the study subject. Whole exome sequencing (WES) was carried out, and candidate variant was verified by Sanger sequencing of the pedigree members. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to determine the level of mRNA transcription in the peripheral blood samples from the pedigree members, and protein expression was evaluated with Western blotting assay. This study was approved by Medical Ethics Committee of Henan Provincial People's Hospital (Ethics No.: 2019-134). RESULTS: WES analysis revealed that the proband has harbored homozygous c.6688delG (p.Ala2230Profs*4) variant of the CDH23 gene, for which both parents were identified as heterozygous carriers. RT-PCR analysis demonstrated the sole presence of the variant mRNA in the proband, and both the variant and wild-type mRNAs in both parents. Furthermore, Western blotting analysis indicated that the proband had exclusively expressed the truncated CDH23 protein, while both the normal and truncated forms of the protein were noted in her parents. CONCLUSION The c.6688delG (p.Ala2230Profs*4) variant of the CDH23 gene probably underlay the pathogenesis of NFNB12 in this pedigree. The loss of function of the CDH23 gene resulting from this variant is not related with nonsense-mediated mRNA decay, but rather production of a truncated protein. Above finding has not only enriched the mutational spectrum of the CDH23 gene and offered a method for investigating the function of its variants using peripheral blood samples, but also delineated the molecular basis for the loss of function, which has provided crucial evidence for genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis for this family.
Humans ; Pedigree ; Male ; Female ; Asian People/genetics* ; Cadherins/genetics* ; Exome Sequencing ; Deafness/genetics* ; Mutation ; China ; Adult ; Cadherin Related Proteins ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural/genetics* ; East Asian People

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and pathogen resistance of vulvovaginitis among prepubertal children in Xi'an area,so as to provide valuable insights for clinical diagnosis and treatment.Methods A total of 1 019 children(aged<10 years)diagnosed with prepubertal vulvovaginitis in Xi'an Children Hospital from January 2019 to December 2023 were selected as the research objects.The clinical characteristics and drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria were analyzed.Results The number of children with prepubertal vulvovaginitis increased significantly after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.The positive detection rate in 2023 increased by 13.18%compared to that in 2019,with a significant rise in bacterial vulvitis compared to fungal infection.Common clinical manifestations among diagnosed children included increased secretion and vulvar pruritus.As age increased,the detection rate of pathogenic bacteria also rose,reaching a high positive proportion of 37.29%among children aged 8～<10 years old.Pathogenic bacteria isolated in the laboratory mainly consisted of Haemophilus influenzae(30.72%,313/1 019),Candida albicans(28.46%,290/1 019)and Streptococcus pyogenes(20.61%,210/1 019).Notably,the detection rates of these pathogens exhibited significant variations among children of different age groups(χ2=279.26,382.97,83.48,all P<0.05).Among them,vulvitis in children under 8 years old were mainly caused by respiratory bacterial infections,while those aged 8～<10 tended to be consistent with adults and were mainly caused by candidal vulvitis.The drug sensitivity test results indicated that Haemophilus influenzae exhibited high resistance rates to ampicillin and cefuroxime but good sensitivity to third-generation cephalosporins.Candida albicans showed good sensitivity to common antifungal drugs.Streptococcus pyogenes displayed high sensitivity to penicillin,ampicillin and ceftriaxone but strong resistance(>90%)against erythromycin and clindamycin.Conclusion The positive rate of vulvitis has been increasing among prepubertal children in Xi'an recent years.Pathogenic bacteria are concentrated and sensitive towards common antibiotics.Early submission of clinical samples,rational use of medications and reinforcement on healthy habits guidance are recommended for timely intervention in the development of the disease.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and pathogen resistance of vulvovaginitis among prepubertal children in Xi'an area,so as to provide valuable insights for clinical diagnosis and treatment.Methods A total of 1 019 children(aged<10 years)diagnosed with prepubertal vulvovaginitis in Xi'an Children Hospital from January 2019 to December 2023 were selected as the research objects.The clinical characteristics and drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria were analyzed.Results The number of children with prepubertal vulvovaginitis increased significantly after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.The positive detection rate in 2023 increased by 13.18%compared to that in 2019,with a significant rise in bacterial vulvitis compared to fungal infection.Common clinical manifestations among diagnosed children included increased secretion and vulvar pruritus.As age increased,the detection rate of pathogenic bacteria also rose,reaching a high positive proportion of 37.29%among children aged 8～<10 years old.Pathogenic bacteria isolated in the laboratory mainly consisted of Haemophilus influenzae(30.72%,313/1 019),Candida albicans(28.46%,290/1 019)and Streptococcus pyogenes(20.61%,210/1 019).Notably,the detection rates of these pathogens exhibited significant variations among children of different age groups(χ2=279.26,382.97,83.48,all P<0.05).Among them,vulvitis in children under 8 years old were mainly caused by respiratory bacterial infections,while those aged 8～<10 tended to be consistent with adults and were mainly caused by candidal vulvitis.The drug sensitivity test results indicated that Haemophilus influenzae exhibited high resistance rates to ampicillin and cefuroxime but good sensitivity to third-generation cephalosporins.Candida albicans showed good sensitivity to common antifungal drugs.Streptococcus pyogenes displayed high sensitivity to penicillin,ampicillin and ceftriaxone but strong resistance(>90%)against erythromycin and clindamycin.Conclusion The positive rate of vulvitis has been increasing among prepubertal children in Xi'an recent years.Pathogenic bacteria are concentrated and sensitive towards common antibiotics.Early submission of clinical samples,rational use of medications and reinforcement on healthy habits guidance are recommended for timely intervention in the development of the disease.

Whooping cough,caused by Bordetella pertussis(Bp)infection,is an acute respiratory infectious disease in children transmitted through the air.Macrolide antibiotics have long been the first-line treatment for whooping cough.However,in recent years,macrolide-resistant Bordetella pertussis(MRBp)has been rarely reported outside China.The high prevalence of MRBp in China adds to the global challenge of whooping cough resurgence.The research firstly reports the emergence of clinical MRBp strains in China and has conducted extensive research in this field.This paper focuses on discussing the progress and challenges in the diagnosis,treatment and prevention of MRBp based on historical and recent studies.

Objective:Investigating the changes of phenotype and moleculars associated with aging with the increase of passage times of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSC), to explore the role of WW-containing transcriptional regulator 1 (WWTR1) in the aging mechanism.Methods:hDPSCs were cultured by tissue block method, and were divided into 4 groups according to the age, algebra, cell knockdown and overexpression of WWTR1 in hDPSCs. Group Ⅰ: hDPSCs from human teeth were further divided into youth group (15-25 years old) and group middle-aged group (40-50 years old) according to different ages. Group Ⅱ: according to different passage, hDPSCs were divided into young cells group (hDPSCs were transmitted to P3 generation), and old cells group (hDPSCs were transmitted to P10 generation). Group Ⅲ: hDPSCs were knocked down of WWTR1, which were further divided into knockdown group and knockdown carrier group. Group Ⅳ: hDPSCs were overexpressed of WWTR1, which were further divided into overexpression group and overexpression carrier group. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the changes of WWTR1 expression in groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ, and cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) was used for groups Ⅱ, Ⅲ, and Ⅳ. Cell proliferation capacity was detected by CCK-8 assay. The ability of osteogenic differentiation was detected by alizarin red staining. Cell senescence positive rate was detected by age-related β-galactosidase staining. The expression levels of age-related genes p53 and p21 were detected by RT-qPCR.Results:The proportion of senescent cells increased gradually with continuous culture. The proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of hDPSCs in the old group were significantly lower than those in the young group ( P<0.001). The expression levels of senescence related genes p53 (2.09±0.24) and p21 (4.91±0.54) in old cell group were higher than those in young cell group respectively [p53: (1.08±0.09) and p21: (1.09±0.08)] ( P<0.01, P<0.001). The WWTR1 expression levels of hDPSCs in middle-aged group and old cells group were both decreased compared with those in young group and young cells group ( P<0.01). The proportion of senescent cells in knockdown group (44.50±2.42) was higher than that in knockdown carrier group (22.27±0.56) ( P<0.001). After knocking down WWTR1 in hDPSCs, the expression levels of age-related genes p53 and p21 were up-regulated ( P<0.001), and the abilities of proliferation and osteogenic differentiation in the knockdown group were lower than those in the knockdown carrier group ( P<0.001). The proportion of senescent cells in overexpression empty carrier group (20.40±0.79) was higher than that in overexpression group (10.07±0.61) ( P<0.001). After WWTR1 overexpression ins hDPSCs, the expression levels of age-related genes p53 and p21 were down-regulated, and the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation ability in overexpression group were higher than those in overexpression carrier group ( P<0.001). Conclusions:WWTR1 can inhibit the expression levels of age-related genes p53 and p21, thus delaying the aging process as well as promoting the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of hDPSCs.

Objective:To explore the genetic etiology of a pedigree with intellectual disability and explore its pathogenesis.Methods:A Chinese pedigree which had presented at the Henan Provincial People′s Hospital in March 2023 was selected as the study subject. Clinical data of the pedigree were collected, along with peripheral venous blood samples from its members. Whole exome sequencing (WES) was carried out, and candidate variants were verified by Sanger sequencing. Amniotic fluid was collected for prenatal diagnosis. This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Henan Provincial People′s Hospital (No. 2019-134).Results:Both the proband (a 6-year-old male) and his mother (30 years old) had various degrees of intellectual and motor impairment. WES revealed that the proband has harbored a de novo heterozygous c. 2563_2567dup (p.Lys856fs) variant of the UBE3A gene, while his mother, maternal grandmother and fetus had all harbored a novel heterozygous c. 409+ 1G>A variant of the RNF13 gene. Based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), both variants were predicted to be pathogenic (PVS1+ PS1+ PM2_Supporting; PVS1+ PM2_Supporting+ PP3). Conclusion:Based on the clinical manifestations and the result of genetic testing, the heterozygous c.2563_2567dup (p.Lys856fs) variant of the UBE3A gene probably underlay the intellectual disability and developmental delay in the proband, whilst the heterozygous c. 409+ 1G>A variant of the RNF13 gene may underlie the intellectual disability in the proband′s mother and grandmother. Above results have enabled genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis for this pedigree.

Objective To monitor the susceptibility of clinical isolates to antimicrobial agents in healthcare facilities in major regions of China in 2023.Methods Clinical isolates collected from 73 hospitals across China were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using a unified protocol based on disc diffusion method or automated testing systems.Results were interpreted using the 2023 Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) breakpoints.Results A total of 445199 clinical isolates were collected in 2023,of which 29.0％ were gram-positive and 71.0％ were gram-negative.The prevalence of methicillin-resistant strains in Staphylococcus aureus,Staphylococcus epidermidis and other coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species (excluding Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Staphylococcus schleiferi) (MRSA,MRSE and MRCNS) was 29.6％,81.9％ and 78.5％,respectively.Methicillin-resistant strains showed significantly higher resistance rates to most antimicrobial agents than methicillin-susceptible strains (MSSA,MSSE and MSCNS).Overall,92.9％ of MRSA strains were susceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and 91.4％ of MRSE strains were susceptible to rifampicin.No vancomycin-resistant strains were found.Enterococcus faecalis had significantly lower resistance rates to most antimicrobial agents tested than Enterococcus faecium.A few vancomycin-resistant strains were identified in both E.faecalis and E.faecium.The prevalence of penicillin-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae was 93.1％ in the isolates from children and and 95.9％ in the isolates from adults.The resistance rate to carbapenems was lower than 15.0％ for most Enterobacterales species except for Klebsiella,22.5％ and 23.6％ of which were resistant to imipenem and meropenem,respectively .Most Enterobacterales isolates were highly susceptible to tigecycline,colistin and polymyxin B,with resistance rates ranging from 0.6％ to 10.0％.The resistance rate to imipenem and meropenem was 21.9％ and 17.4％ for Pseudomonas aeruginosa,respectively,and 67.5％ and 68.1％ for Acinetobacter baumannii,respectively.Conclusions Increasing resistance to the commonly used antimicrobial agents is still observed in clinical bacterial isolates.However,the prevalence of important crabapenem-resistant organisms such as crabapenem-resistant K.pneumoniae,P.aeruginosa,and A.baumannii showed a slightly decreasing trend.This finding suggests that strengthening bacterial resistance surveillance and multidisciplinary linkage are important for preventing the occurrence and development of bacterial resistance.

Objective To monitor the susceptibility of clinical isolates to antimicrobial agents in tertiary hospitals in major regions of China in 2022.Methods Clinical isolates from 58 hospitals in China were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using a unified protocol based on disc diffusion method or automated testing systems.Results were interpreted using the 2022 Clinical &Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI)breakpoints.Results A total of 318 013 clinical isolates were collected from January 1,2022 to December 31,2022,of which 29.5％were gram-positive and 70.5％were gram-negative.The prevalence of methicillin-resistant strains in Staphylococcus aureus,Staphylococcus epidermidis and other coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species(excluding Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Staphylococcus schleiferi)was 28.3％,76.7％and 77.9％,respectively.Overall,94.0％of MRSA strains were susceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and 90.8％of MRSE strains were susceptible to rifampicin.No vancomycin-resistant strains were found.Enterococcus faecalis showed significantly lower resistance rates to most antimicrobial agents tested than Enterococcus faecium.A few vancomycin-resistant strains were identified in both E.faecalis and E.faecium.The prevalence of penicillin-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae was 94.2％in the isolates from children and 95.7％in the isolates from adults.The resistance rate to carbapenems was lower than 13.1％in most Enterobacterales species except for Klebsiella,21.7％-23.1％of which were resistant to carbapenems.Most Enterobacterales isolates were highly susceptible to tigecycline,colistin and polymyxin B,with resistance rates ranging from 0.1％to 13.3％.The prevalence of meropenem-resistant strains decreased from 23.5％in 2019 to 18.0％in 2022 in Pseudomonas aeruginosa,and decreased from 79.0％in 2019 to 72.5％in 2022 in Acinetobacter baumannii.Conclusions The resistance of clinical isolates to the commonly used antimicrobial agents is still increasing in tertiary hospitals.However,the prevalence of important carbapenem-resistant organisms such as carbapenem-resistant K.pneumoniae,P.aeruginosa,and A.baumannii showed a downward trend in recent years.This finding suggests that the strategy of combining antimicrobial resistance surveillance with multidisciplinary concerted action works well in curbing the spread of resistant bacteria.

Objective To monitor the susceptibility of clinical isolates to antimicrobial agents in healthcare facilities in major regions of China in 2023.Methods Clinical isolates collected from 73 hospitals across China were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using a unified protocol based on disc diffusion method or automated testing systems.Results were interpreted using the 2023 Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) breakpoints.Results A total of 445199 clinical isolates were collected in 2023,of which 29.0％ were gram-positive and 71.0％ were gram-negative.The prevalence of methicillin-resistant strains in Staphylococcus aureus,Staphylococcus epidermidis and other coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species (excluding Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Staphylococcus schleiferi) (MRSA,MRSE and MRCNS) was 29.6％,81.9％ and 78.5％,respectively.Methicillin-resistant strains showed significantly higher resistance rates to most antimicrobial agents than methicillin-susceptible strains (MSSA,MSSE and MSCNS).Overall,92.9％ of MRSA strains were susceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and 91.4％ of MRSE strains were susceptible to rifampicin.No vancomycin-resistant strains were found.Enterococcus faecalis had significantly lower resistance rates to most antimicrobial agents tested than Enterococcus faecium.A few vancomycin-resistant strains were identified in both E.faecalis and E.faecium.The prevalence of penicillin-susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae was 93.1％ in the isolates from children and and 95.9％ in the isolates from adults.The resistance rate to carbapenems was lower than 15.0％ for most Enterobacterales species except for Klebsiella,22.5％ and 23.6％ of which were resistant to imipenem and meropenem,respectively .Most Enterobacterales isolates were highly susceptible to tigecycline,colistin and polymyxin B,with resistance rates ranging from 0.6％ to 10.0％.The resistance rate to imipenem and meropenem was 21.9％ and 17.4％ for Pseudomonas aeruginosa,respectively,and 67.5％ and 68.1％ for Acinetobacter baumannii,respectively.Conclusions Increasing resistance to the commonly used antimicrobial agents is still observed in clinical bacterial isolates.However,the prevalence of important crabapenem-resistant organisms such as crabapenem-resistant K.pneumoniae,P.aeruginosa,and A.baumannii showed a slightly decreasing trend.This finding suggests that strengthening bacterial resistance surveillance and multidisciplinary linkage are important for preventing the occurrence and development of bacterial resistance.

Objective:To analyze clinical characteristics of and causative genes in two families with dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, and to reveal the pathogenesis of the disease and mechanisms underlying phenotypic differences between patients.Methods:DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples of members from two families with dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, and subjected to high-throughput sequencing and Sanger sequencing.Results:The clinical manifestations of the 2 probands in the 2 families were consistent with the diagnosis of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, and the symptoms of the proband in family 1 were more serious than those of other patients in the family. Genetic testing showed that all patients in family 1 carried a mutation c.6082G>C (p.G2028R) in the COL7A1 gene, and the proband and her phenotypically normal mother and uncle also carried a splice-site mutation c.7068+2 (IVS91) T>G in the COL7A1 gene, both of which were first reported. The proband in family 2 carried the mutations c.6081_6082 ins C (p.G2028Rfs*71) and c.1892G>A (p.W631X, first reported) in the COL7A1 gene, which were inherited from her father and mother, respectively.Conclusion:The two pathogenic mutations may be the molecular mechanism underlying the severe clinical phenotype in the proband in family 1; the first reported mutations enriched the mutation spectrum of the COL7A1 gene.