Objective To construct a universal influenza mRNA vaccine and evaluate its immunogenicity.Methods The antigen sequence of hemagglutinin(HA),nucleoprotein(NP)and matrix protein 2 ectodomain(M2e)in influenza A/California/04/2009 was optimized.HA,NP and 3 tandem M2e(3M2e)were cloned into pcDNA3.1 vector,respectively.Then the mRNAs were synthesized by linearization,in vitro transcription,enzymatic capping and enzymatic tailing,and named as mRNA-HA,mRNA-NP and mRNA-3M2e,respectively.The protein expression of the 3 kinds of mRNAs in 293T cells was detected by immunofluorescence assay.Comb-mRNA vaccine was prepared by enveloped mRNA-HA,mRNA-NP and mRNA-3M2e with lipid nanoparticles,respectively,and the particle size and potential were identified.Twenty-eight 6-week-old female BALB/c mice(18～22 g)were randomly divided into LNP group(n=14)and Comb-mRNA group(n=14).Hemagglutination inhibition(HI)method and microneutralization(MN)test were used to evaluate the serum antibody titer induced by Comb-mRNA vaccines.The mice were infected by 5LD50 wild-type H1 N1 influenza virus to evaluate the protective efficacy.Results The mRNA-HA,mRNA-NP and mRNA-3M2e were successfully constructed,and the 3 mRNAs could be expressed in 293T cells.The average size of mRNA encapsulated by lipid nanoparticles was 119.53±6.5 nm,and the average potential was-8.23±1.3 mV.The geometric mean titer(GMT)of HI and MN in the Comb-mRNA group were 179.6 and 201.6,compared with the LNP group.The ratio of IFN-γ+CD4+/CD8+Tcells was increased.The Comb-mRNA group could provide protection against 5LD50 wild type influenza H1 N1 virus after 2 weeks of booster immunization.Conclusion Comb-mRNA,an influenza vaccine candidate,can induce immune responses and protect mice from influenza virus challenge.

Objective:To analyze the clinical and molecular genetic characteristics of patients with cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX) to increase the awareness of the disease among clinicians.Methods:The clinical data, including the age of onset and diagnosis, clinical manifestations, neuroimaging and neuroelectrophysiology and the genetic data of patients diagnosed with CTX in the Department of Neurology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from March 2017 to December 2023 were retrospectively collected and analyzed.Results:A total of 18 patients were enrolled in this study, including 12 males and 6 females.The onset age was 10 (6, 29) years, with a minimum onset age of 3 years and a maximum onset age of 32 years; the period from onset to diagnosis was 19.00 (8.75, 24.25) years, with the shortest being 6 months and the longest being 35 years. Among the 18 patients, 16 patients had symptoms and signs of spastic paralysis, 9 patients had cognitive impairment and peripheral neuropathy, 8 patients had cerebellar ataxia, 3 patients had mental disorders, 3 patients had autonomic nervous dysfunction, and only 2 patients had seizures. Among the non-neurological symptoms, 9 patients had Achilles tendon xanthoma, of whom 1 patient was accompanied by patellar tendon xanthoma; 8 patients had adolescent cataracts, 6 patients had chronic diarrhea since childhood. All patients underwent brain MRI examination, among whom 15 patients had cerebellar dentate nucleus involvement, 10 patients had corticospinal tract involvement and 2 patients had normal brain MRI. Fourteen patients underwent nerve conduction and electromyography examinations, among whom 9 patients presented with multiple peripheral neuropathy characterized by motor or motor sensory demyelination. A total of 17 CYP27A1 gene variants were detected in 18 patients. The c.1420C>T and c.1263+1G>A were the hot-spot mutations in this cohort. Conclusions:Spastic paralysis, cerebellar ataxia, tendon xanthoma and adolescent cataracts are typical manifestations of CTX. The cerebellar dentate nucleus and corticospinal tract are mainly involved on the neuroimaging. It should be noted that some patients lack the typical characteristics mentioned above. The c.1420C>T and c.1263+1G>A are the hot-spot mutations in this cohort.

Objective:To explore the efficacy of subcutaneous injection of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in preventing invasive fungal disease (IFD) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM).Methods:The clinical data of 222 patients who were admitted to the Second Hospital of Harbin Medical University from January 2015 to June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients was given GM-CSF (3-5 μg·kg -1·d -1, GM-CSF group) or granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF, 2-5 μg·kg -1·d -1, G-CSF group) when neutrophils (ANC) ≤1.5×10 9/L after induction chemotherapy. Patients were discontinued when white blood cell count (WBC) ≥10.0×10 9/L. The incidence of IFD (including confirmed, clinical and proposed diagnosis) and breakthrough invasive fungal infections was compared between the two groups. Results:The incidence of IFD was 8.1% (18/222) in all patients. The incidence of IFD was 3.5% (3/85) and 10.9% (15/137) in the GM-CSF and G-CSF groups, respectively, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( χ2 = 3.88, P = 0.049). In 9 patients of GM-CSF group receiving fungal infection prophylaxis and in 15 patients of G-CSF group receiving fungal infection prophylaxis, the incidence of breakthrough invasive fungal infections was 0 and 7 cases, respectively, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( P = 0.022). Conclusions:GM-CSF application in MM patients can reduce the incidence of IFD and breakthrough invasive fungal infections.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effects of bis (2-butoxyethyl) phthalate (BBOP) on the onset of male puberty by affecting Leydig cell development in rats. METHODS: Thirty 35-day-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated to five groups mg/kg bw per day that were gavaged for 21 days with BBOP at 0, 10, 100, 250, or 500 mg/kg bw per day. The hormone profiles; Leydig cell morphological metrics; mRNA and protein levels; oxidative stress; and AKT, mTOR, ERK1/2, and GSK3β pathways were assessed. RESULTS: BBOP at 250 and/or 500 mg/kg bw per day decreased serum testosterone, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone levels mg/kg bw per day (P < 0.05). BBOP at 500 mg/kg bw per day decreased Leydig cell number mg/kg bw per day and downregulated Cyp11a1, Insl3, Hsd11b1, and Dhh in the testes, and Lhb and Fshb mRNAs in the pituitary gland (P < 0.05). The malondialdehyde content in the testis significantly increased, while Sod1 and Sod2 mRNAs were markedly down-regulated, by BBOP treatment at 250-500 mg/kg bw per day (P < 0.05). Furthermore, BBOP at 500 mg/kg bw per day decreased AKT1/AKT2, mTOR, and ERK1/2 phosphorylation, and GSK3β and SIRT1 levels mg/kg bw per day (P < 0.05). Finally, BBOP at 100 or 500 μmol/L induced ROS and apoptosis in Leydig cells after 24 h of treatment in vitro (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: BBOP delays puberty onset by increasing oxidative stress and apoptosis in Leydig cells in rats. UNLABELLED The graphical abstract is available on the website www.besjournal.com.
Rats ; Male ; Animals ; Leydig Cells/metabolism* ; Testosterone ; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta/pharmacology* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sexual Maturation ; Testis ; Oxidative Stress ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Apoptosis

Objective To examine the expression pattern of miR-135a-5p and miR-135b-5p in seminal plasma as well as the clinical value of their variation in the male patients with infertility.Methods The clinical samples of 5 kinds,including serum,morning urine,pleural effusion,cerebrospinal fluid and seminal plasma,were collected from 30 patients respectively in the Department of Clini-cal Laboratory,Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine from January 2019 to December 2021.In addition,the frozen seminal plasma samples from the patients with non-obstructive azoospermia,asthenozoospermia of 54 cases for each illness statuses,and 54 healthy controls with fertile ability from 2010 to 2019 in Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine and Jinling Hospital were also selected.Fluorescent quantitative RT-qPCR analyses were applied to measure the expression levels of miR-135a-5p and miR-135b-5p in seminal plasma.Receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC)was used to construct the area under the curve(AUCROC)to evalu-ate the ability for discriminating infertility males from healthy controls.Correlation analyses were performed to explore the correlations between the levels of miR-135a-5p and miR-135b-5p in seminal plasma and other semen parameters.Results The concentrations of miR-135a-5p and miR-135b-5p in the samples from five different kinds of body fluid showed significantly difference(H=64.88,P＜0.01 and H=64.7,P＜0.01,respectively).The highest levels were found in serum and seminal plasma,and the lowest levels were in u-rine.The concentrations of miR-135a-5p and miR-135b-5p in seminal plasma were also showed marked difference among the azoosper-mia group,asthenozoospermia group and healthy fertile control group(H=32.14,P＜0.01 and H=21.37,P＜0.01,respectively).Compared to the fertile control group,the levels of miR-135a-5p and miR-135b-5p in seminal plasma were significantly downregulated in azoospermia patients(U=687,P＜0.01 and U=843,P＜0.01,respectively).The contents of the two miRNAs showed no statistical-ly difference between asthenozoospermia patients and healthy fertile controls,but showed markedly difference between the two patients groups(U=635,P＜0.01 and U=779,P＜0.01,respectively).Receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC)analyses results re-vealed that levels of miR-135a-5p and miR-135b-5p in seminal plasma could successfully discriminate the azoospermia patients from fertile controls and asthenozoospermia patients with the AUCROC of 0.764(95％CI:0.675 to 0.854),0.711(95％CI:0.612 to 0.810)and 0.782(95％CI:0.695 to 0.869),and 0.733(95％CI:0.637 to 0.829),respectively.Correlation analyses demonstrated that the concentrations of miR-135a-5p and miR-135b-5p in seminal plasma were significantly associated with sperm concentration,total sperm motility,and percentages of progressive sperm and non-progressive sperm(all with the P-value＜0.01).Conclusion miR-135a-5p and miR-135b-5p are the highly expressed miRNA in seminal plasma,and significantly decreased in azoospermia patients.Both of them may play pivot roles in male infertility.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) defines a kind of Immune-mediated acute inflammatory peripheral neuropathy. Miller-Fisher Syndrome (MFS) is a special variant of GBS, with mostly one-way course and rare clinical recurrence. Only a few recurrent cases have been reported in China. Here we report a case of a young male patient with double vision and progressive aggravation of limb numbness, acute onset, with symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection before onset, accompanied by pupil abnormalities and autonomic nervous dysfunction, who was was admitted to our hospital for similar symptoms 3 years ago and was improved by immunotherapy. The patient had a triad of “ataxia, areflexia and ophthalmoplegia”. Cerebrospinal fluid showed protein-cell separation. Serum anti-Sulfatides antibody IgM, anti-GT1a antibody IgG, anti-GQ1b antibody IgG and anti-GM3 IgM were positive. Recurrent MFS was diagnosed and the symptoms improved after immunotherapy. This case suggests that MFS is clinically heterogeneous, a few patients can present with relapse and generally have a better prognosis with immunotherapy. Pre-existing infection and anti-GQ1b antibody production may be predisposing factors for MFS recurrence.

Objective: To analyze the clinical epidemiological characteristics including composition of pathogens , clinical characteristics, and disease prognosis acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) in Chinese children. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical and laboratory data of 1 610 children <15 years of age with ABM in 33 tertiary hospitals in China from January 2019 to December 2020. Patients were divided into different groups according to age,<28 days group, 28 days to <3 months group, 3 months to <1 year group, 1-<5 years of age group, 5-<15 years of age group; etiology confirmed group and clinically diagnosed group according to etiology diagnosis. Non-numeric variables were analyzed with the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, while non-normal distrituction numeric variables were compared with nonparametric test. Results: Among 1 610 children with ABM, 955 were male and 650 were female (5 cases were not provided with gender information), and the age of onset was 1.5 (0.5, 5.5) months. There were 588 cases age from <28 days, 462 cases age from 28 days to <3 months, 302 cases age from 3 months to <1 year of age group, 156 cases in the 1-<5 years of age and 101 cases in the 5-<15 years of age. The detection rates were 38.8% (95/245) and 31.5% (70/222) of Escherichia coli and 27.8% (68/245) and 35.1% (78/222) of Streptococcus agalactiae in infants younger than 28 days of age and 28 days to 3 months of age; the detection rates of Streptococcus pneumonia, Escherichia coli, and Streptococcus agalactiae were 34.3% (61/178), 14.0% (25/178) and 13.5% (24/178) in the 3 months of age to <1 year of age group; the dominant pathogens were Streptococcus pneumoniae and the detection rate were 67.9% (74/109) and 44.4% (16/36) in the 1-<5 years of age and 5-<15 years of age . There were 9.7% (19/195) strains of Escherichia coli producing ultra-broad-spectrum β-lactamases. The positive rates of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture and blood culture were 32.2% (515/1 598) and 25.0% (400/1 598), while 38.2% (126/330)and 25.3% (21/83) in CSF metagenomics next generation sequencing and Streptococcus pneumoniae antigen detection. There were 4.3% (32/790) cases of which CSF white blood cell counts were normal in etiology confirmed group. Among 1 610 children with ABM, main intracranial imaging complications were subdural effusion and (or) empyema in 349 cases (21.7%), hydrocephalus in 233 cases (14.5%), brain abscess in 178 cases (11.1%), and other cerebrovascular diseases, including encephalomalacia, cerebral infarction, and encephalatrophy, in 174 cases (10.8%). Among the 166 cases (10.3%) with unfavorable outcome, 32 cases (2.0%) died among whom 24 cases died before 1 year of age, and 37 cases (2.3%) had recurrence among whom 25 cases had recurrence within 3 weeks. The incidences of subdural effusion and (or) empyema, brain abscess and ependymitis in the etiology confirmed group were significantly higher than those in the clinically diagnosed group (26.2% (207/790) vs. 17.3% (142/820), 13.0% (103/790) vs. 9.1% (75/820), 4.6% (36/790) vs. 2.7% (22/820), χ²=18.71, 6.20, 4.07, all P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the unfavorable outcomes, mortility, and recurrence between these 2 groups (all P>0.05). Conclusions: The onset age of ABM in children is usually within 1 year of age, especially <3 months. The common pathogens in infants <3 months of age are Escherichia coli and Streptococcus agalactiae, and the dominant pathogen in infant ≥3 months is Streptococcus pneumoniae. Subdural effusion and (or) empyema and hydrocephalus are common complications. ABM should not be excluded even if CSF white blood cell counts is within normal range. Standardized bacteriological examination should be paid more attention to increase the pathogenic detection rate. Non-culture CSF detection methods may facilitate the pathogenic diagnosis.
Adolescent ; Brain Abscess ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Escherichia coli ; Female ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Meningitis, Bacterial/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Streptococcus agalactiae ; Streptococcus pneumoniae ; Subdural Effusion ; beta-Lactamases

The method of scoping review was used to systematically search and sort out the clinical research of oral Chinese patent medicines for ischemic stroke，to understand the scope of relevant research and the distribution of evidence. Three medical catalogs were manually searched to obtain the oral Chinese patent medicines used for ischemic stroke，and 7 databases were retrieved to obtain the clinical research including these oral Chinese patent medicines. Then the clinical evidence results were visualized by description combined with chart analysis. A total of 68 oral Chinese patent medicines were retrieved，and 1 392 articles were included，with 367 published in core journals， involving 35 oral Chinese patent medicines. The research types included randomized controlled trials，cohort studies，case series，case reports，secondary studies，adverse drug reaction reports，pharmacoeconomic evaluations，drug interactions，consensus or guidelines，non-randomized intervention studies and cross-sectional studies，of which randomized controlled trials had the largest number （283， 77.1%），followed by secondary studies and case series （25， 6.7% for each）. Among the 283 randomized controlled trials，there were 159 clinical studies in the acute phase of ischemic stroke，65 in the non-acute phase，and 59 in the unclear phase. Ten intervention control types and 20 outcome index types were summarized. Among them， the composite outcome index and surrogate outcome index were used 217 times （76.7%） and 245 times （86.6%）， respectively，followed by the degree of neurological impairment （three scales）. Future clinical research of oral Chinese patent medicines for ischemic stroke should clarify the stage of the disease，and the research design should specify the advantages of oral Chinese patent medicines intervening in ischemic stroke. Furthermore， publicly-recognized positive controls should be employed，and important clinical outcome indexes should be selected.

Objective: To explore the heterogeneity and correlation of clinical phenotypes and genotypes in children with disorders of sex development (DSD). Methods: A retrospective study of 1 235 patients with clinically proposed DSD in 36 pediatric medical institutions across the country from January 2017 to May 2021. After capturing 277 DSD-related candidate genes, second-generation sequencing was performed to analyzed the heterogeneity and correlation combined with clinical phenotypes. Results: Among 1 235 children with clinically proposed DSD, 980 were males and 255 were females of social gender at the time of initial diagnosis with the age ranged from 1 day of age to 17.92 years. A total of 443 children with pathogenic variants were detected through molecular genetic studies, with a positive detection rate of 35.9%. The most common clinical phenotypes were micropenis (455 cases), hypospadias (321 cases), and cryptorchidism (172 cases) and common mutations detected were in SRD5A2 gene (80 cases), AR gene (53 cases) and CYP21A2 gene (44 cases). Among them, the SRD5A2 mutation is the most common in children with simple micropenis and simple hypospadias, while the AMH mutation is the most common in children with simple cryptorchidism. Conclusions: The SRD5A2 mutation is the most common genetic variant in Chinese children with DSD, and micropenis, cryptorchidism, and hypospadias are the most common clinical phenotypes. Molecular diagnosis can provide clues about the biological basis of DSD, and can also guide clinicians to perform specific clinical examinations. Target sequence capture probes and next-generation sequencing technology can provide effective and economical genetic diagnosis for children with DSD.
3-Oxo-5-alpha-Steroid 4-Dehydrogenase/genetics* ; Child ; China/epidemiology* ; Cryptorchidism/genetics* ; Disorders of Sex Development/genetics* ; Female ; Genital Diseases, Male ; Genotype ; Humans ; Hypospadias/genetics* ; Male ; Membrane Proteins/genetics* ; Penis/abnormalities* ; Phenotype ; Retrospective Studies ; Steroid 21-Hydroxylase/genetics*

OBJECTIVES: To study the application value of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in children with severe infectious diseases. METHODS: An analysis was performed on the clinical data and laboratory test results of 29 children with severe infection who were admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from June 2018 to December 2020. Conventional pathogen culture was performed for the 29 specimens (27 peripheral blood specimens and 2 pleural effusion specimens) from the 29 children, and mNGS pathogen detection was performed at the same time. RESULTS: Among the 29 children, 2 tested positive by conventional pathogen culture with 2 strains of pathogen, and the detection rate was 7% (2/29); however, 20 children tested positive by mNGS with 38 strains of pathogen, and the detection rate was 69% (20/29). The pathogen detection rate of mNGS was significantly higher than that of conventional pathogen culture (P<0.05), and mNGS could detect the viruses, fungi, and other special pathogens that conventional pathogen culture failed to detect, such as Orientia tsutsugamushi. The univariate analysis showed that gender, routine blood test results, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, D-dimer, radiological findings, and whether antibiotics were used before admission did not affect the results of mNGS (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Compared with conventional pathogen culture, mNGS is more sensitive for pathogen detection, with fewer interference factors. Therefore, it is a better pathogenic diagnosis method for severe infectious diseases in children.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Child ; Communicable Diseases ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing/methods* ; Humans ; Metagenomics/methods* ; Sensitivity and Specificity