Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of pneumococcal meningitis(PM),and drug sensitivity of Streptococcus pneumoniae(SP)isolates in Chinese children.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical information,laboratory data,and microbiological data of 160 hospitalized children under 15 years old with PM from January 2019 to December 2020 in 33 tertiary hospitals across the country.Results Among the 160 children with PM,there were 103 males and 57 females.The age ranged from 15 days to 15 years,with 109 cases(68.1% )aged 3 months to under 3 years.SP strains were isolated from 95 cases(59.4% )in cerebrospinal fluid cultures and from 57 cases(35.6% )in blood cultures.The positive rates of SP detection by cerebrospinal fluid metagenomic next-generation sequencing and cerebrospinal fluid SP antigen testing were 40% (35/87)and 27% (21/78),respectively.Fifty-five cases(34.4% )had one or more risk factors for purulent meningitis,113 cases(70.6% )had one or more extra-cranial infectious foci,and 18 cases(11.3% )had underlying diseases.The most common clinical symptoms were fever(147 cases,91.9% ),followed by lethargy(98 cases,61.3% )and vomiting(61 cases,38.1% ).Sixty-nine cases(43.1% )experienced intracranial complications during hospitalization,with subdural effusion and/or empyema being the most common complication[43 cases(26.9% )],followed by hydrocephalus in 24 cases(15.0% ),brain abscess in 23 cases(14.4% ),and cerebral hemorrhage in 8 cases(5.0% ).Subdural effusion and/or empyema and hydrocephalus mainly occurred in children under 1 year old,with rates of 91% (39/43)and 83% (20/24),respectively.SP strains exhibited complete sensitivity to vancomycin(100% ,75/75),linezolid(100% ,56/56),and meropenem(100% ,6/6).High sensitivity rates were also observed for levofloxacin(81% ,22/27),moxifloxacin(82% ,14/17),rifampicin(96% ,25/26),and chloramphenicol(91% ,21/23).However,low sensitivity rates were found for penicillin(16% ,11/68)and clindamycin(6% ,1/17),and SP strains were completely resistant to erythromycin(100% ,31/31).The rates of discharge with cure and improvement were 22.5% (36/160)and 66.2% (106/160),respectively,while 18 cases(11.3% )had adverse outcomes.Conclusions Pediatric PM is more common in children aged 3 months to under 3 years.Intracranial complications are more frequently observed in children under 1 year old.Fever is the most common clinical manifestation of PM,and subdural effusion/emphysema and hydrocephalus are the most frequent complications.Non-culture detection methods for cerebrospinal fluid can improve pathogen detection rates.Adverse outcomes can be noted in more than 10% of PM cases.SP strains are high sensitivity to vancomycin,linezolid,meropenem,levofloxacin,moxifloxacin,rifampicin,and chloramphenicol.[Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics,2024,26(2):131-138]

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.

Aim To design and synthesize a series of phenylacetamide derivatives with different substituted phenylacetic acid as raw materials,and to investigate the protective effects of the compound on the damage of pancreatic β cells induced by palmitate acid(PA).Methods Min6 cells were cultured and divided into B blank control group,PA treatment group and PA+compounds group.The viability of Min6 cells was de-tected by CCK-8.The protein expressions of TXNIP and NLRP3 were observed by Western blot.MDA con-tent and SOD activity were detected by MDA and SOD kit.The insulin secretion of Min6 islet cells was meas-ured with insulin ELISA kit.Results A total of 10 phenylacetamide derivatives were designed and synthe-sized.Their structures were confirmed by 1H NMR and ESI-MS.Pharmacological activity study showed that most of the compounds had protective effects on islet βcells,among which LY-6 and LY-8 had stronger pro-tective effects than PA model group,with the cell via-bility of 61.4％,and LY-6 had the highest cell activi-ty,reaching to 104.9％.Compared with PA group,the protein expression of TXNIP and NLRP3 decreased in LY-6 and LY-8 groups,MDA content decreased and SOD activity increased,and insulin secretion of Min6 cell increased.Conclusions LY-6 and LY-8 inhibit TXNIP expression and decrease the activation of NL-RP3 inflammasome,and decrease the production of MDA and increase SOD activity,and thus reducing is-let β cells apoptosis and increasing insulin secretion.Therefore,the compound LY-6 could serve as a poten-tial anti-diabetic new chemical entity.

Aim To investigate the regulatory effect of glucagon on gluconeogenesis in liver, kidney and intes¬tine during different fasting periods and the underlying mechanism. Methods The 8-week-old male C57BIV 6J mice were randomly divided into six groups ( n = 6) :control group, control + glucagon group, fasting 18 h group, fasting 18 h + glucagon group, fasting 36 h group, and fasting 36 h + glucagon group. Glucose, triglyceride ( TG) and free fatty acids ( FFAs ) kits were used to detect their serum contents in mouse in-traperitoneal injection of glucagon at different fasting time points. Besides, liver/muscle glycogen assay kit and PAS staining were used to detect the glycogen con¬tents in liver tissue. RT-PCR method was used to observe the effects of glucagon on the gene expressions of peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor y coactivator la (PGC-1α), glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) and phosphoenol pyruvate carboxykinase 1 (PEPCK) in liver, kidney and intestine of mice at different fasting time. Western blot was employed to detect the protein expressions of PGC-1α, G6Pase, PEPCK, phosphoryl-ase protein kinase A ( p-PKA) , protlein kinase A (PKA) , phosphorylase cAMp-response element binding protein (p-CREB) and cAMp-response element binding protein (CREB) in liver, kidney and intestine of mice were. Results (1) Glucagon increased the serum glucose level, reduced serum TG and FFAs levels, and reduced the hepatic glycogen content. (2) Glucagon promoted gluconeogenesis via upregulation of PGC-1α. On the stimulation of glucagon, PGC-1α gene and protein expressions in liver were significantly raised by glucagon when the mice were fasted 18 h and 36 h, while the gene and protein expressions of PGC-1α in kidney were obviously up-regulated by glucagon after fasting 18 h. However, PGC-1α gene and protein expressions in intestine were significantly elevated by glucagon at 36 h after fasting. (3 ) Glucagon induced gene and protein expressions of gluconeogenesis-related enzymes G6Pase and PEPCK in liver, kidney and intestine after fasting. (4 ) Glucagon upregulated p-PKA/PKA and p-CREB/CREB in liver. Conclusions Glucagon shows temporal difference in the gluconeo-genic response of liver, kidney and intestine in mice. Glucagon promotes the gene and protein expressions of key gluconeogenic enzymes G6Pase and PEPCK by increasing PGC-1α gene and protein expression, and thus increasing fasting blood glucose. Besides, glucagon promotes hepatic gluconeogenesis via PKA/CREB signaling pathway.

Trace amines are endogenous molecules distributed in the central nervous system and peripheral tissues that resemble common biogenic amines in terms of subcellular localization, chemical structure, and metabolism. Trace amine-associated receptor (TAAR) is a kind of evolutionarily conserved G-protein-coupled receptors in vertebrates, in which TAAR1 is a functional regulator of monoamine transmitters such as dopamine and serotonin. TAAR1 is widely considered as a potential therapeutic target for schizophrenia, depression and drug addiction. Moreover, TAAR1 is also expressed in peripheral tissues. The homeostasis imbalance of trace aminergic system can induce over-activation of peripheral immune system and central immune inflammatory response. TAAR1 modulators are becoming potential emerging drugs for the treatment of immune-related illnesses, because they may play a major role in the activation or modulation of immune response.
Animals ; Humans ; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled/metabolism* ; Biogenic Amines ; Dopamine ; Substance-Related Disorders

Adverse experiences in early life have long-lasting negative impacts on behavior and the brain in adulthood, one of which is sleep disturbance. As the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)-corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1 (CRHR1) system and nucleus accumbens (NAc) play important roles in both stress responses and sleep-wake regulation, in this study we investigated whether the NAc CRH-CRHR1 system mediates early-life stress-induced abnormalities in sleep-wake behavior in adult mice. Using the limited nesting and bedding material paradigm from postnatal days 2 to 9, we found that early-life stress disrupted sleep-wake behaviors during adulthood, including increased wakefulness and decreased non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep time during the dark period and increased rapid eye movement (REM) sleep time during the light period. The stress-induced sleep disturbances were accompanied by dendritic atrophy in the NAc and both were largely reversed by daily systemic administration of the CRHR1 antagonist antalarmin during stress exposure. Importantly, Crh overexpression in the NAc reproduced the effects of early-life stress on sleep-wake behavior and NAc morphology, whereas NAc Crhr1 knockdown reversed these effects (including increased wakefulness and reduced NREM sleep in the dark period and NAc dendritic atrophy). Together, our findings demonstrate the negative influence of early-life stress on sleep architecture and the structural plasticity of the NAc, and highlight the critical role of the NAc CRH-CRHR1 system in modulating these negative outcomes evoked by early-life stress.
Animals ; Mice ; Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone/metabolism* ; Nucleus Accumbens/metabolism* ; Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone/metabolism* ; Sleep ; Sleep Wake Disorders ; Stress, Psychological/complications*

Immune checkpoints (ICs) are immunosuppressive molecules expressed on immune cells, which can regulate immune cells' activation. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) which can block the interaction of immune checkpoints and their ligands, improve the cytotoxic effect of the immune system on tumor cells. Immunotherapy such as employing ICIs has gradually become a conventional therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. However, the low response rate and the emergence of drug resistance have seriously affected the clinical efficacy of ICIs. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are electronic reduction products of active oxygen, as well as natural by-products of cell metabolism, which can be used as regulators of intercellular signals. Tumor microenvironment (TME) is often in the state of oxidative stress (OS), which is the imbalance between oxidative system and antioxidant system. ROS can affect the interaction with its ligands by regulating the expression and activity of immune checkpoints in TME, thus affecting the anti-tumor effect of immune cells. Accumulating studies have shown that ROS could regulate tumor immune checkpoints through several pathways. Due to different types and stages of tumor, it would be clinical beneficial to understand the mechanistic link of ROS on tumor immune checkpoint, and choose appropriate ROS regulators combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors to maximize anti-tumor effects. This article reviews the common metabolic sources and characteristics of ROS, the regulatory effect and mechanism of ROS on tumor immune checkpoints and its therapeutic application.

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

OBJECTIVE: To explore the regulatory role of miR-4772 in the formation of tumor immune microenvironment in ovarian cancer. METHODS: The optimal cutoff level of PD-L1 expression was calculated based on data from 294 ovarian cancer patients in the TCGA database. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between high and low PD-L1 expression groups were screened, and the important DEGs were identified by correlation analysis. WGCNA analysis was performed to select the weighted genes and PD-L1-related miRNAs, from which the hub genes were obtained by intersection analysis. ssGSEA analysis was used to evaluate the effect of PD-L1 and miR-4772 expressions on the tumor immune microenvironment in ovarian cancer. KEGG analysis was used to identify the involved signal pathways, and the interactions between the hub genes were mapped by protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis. Survival analysis was carried out to identify the survival-related hub genes, and the results were validated using the data of 399 patients with ovarian cancer from GEO database and the sequencing results of SKOV3 cells transfected with miR-4772 mimics or inhibitor. RESULTS: According the optimal cutoff level of PD-L1 expression of 1.31582 (90th quantile), the patients were divided into high- and low-PD-L1 expression groups. A total of 840 DEGs were identified, including 549 significantly up-regulated genes and 291 down-regulated genes. Among them, 20 important DEGs were found to closely correlate with miR-4772 expression, and WGCNA analysis identified 48 weighted genes significantly correlated with miR-4772. Twelve genes were identified as both key DEGs and weighted genes and were treated as the hub genes. ssGSEA analysis showed that both the patients with high PD-L1 expressions and those with high miR-4772 expressions showed more active immune infiltration and functional activity. The 12 hub genes were involved mainly in immune-related signaling pathways, and PPI analysis suggested significant interactions among the hub genes. The two hub genes CD96 and TBX21 showed close correlation with the survival of ovarian cancer patients. The sequencing results of SKOV3 cells transfected with miR-4772 mimics or inhibitor showed that the changes in miR-4772 expression level caused obvious changes in the expressions of the 12 hub genes and PD-L1. CONCLUSION MiR-4772 plays a regulatory role in the formation of tumor immune microenvironment in ovarian cancer by regulating 12 hub genes.
Humans ; Female ; B7-H1 Antigen/genetics* ; Tumor Microenvironment ; Ovarian Neoplasms/genetics* ; MicroRNAs/genetics* ; Databases, Factual

Aim To explore the effect of THPA1 in the metasta- sis of gastric cancer and the underlying mechanism. Methods The correlation between TRPA1 and the survival time of gastric cancer patients was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier plotter data base. The expressions of TRPA1 in different cells were detected by Western blot. Docking was used to explore the binding poten tial between cardamonin and TRPA1. Long-term dynamic cell imaging, CCK-8 and Transwell were used to evaluate the effects of HC-030031 and cardamonin on the proliferation and migration of MKN-45 cells. The differential metabolites between normal gastric epithelial cells and gastric cancer cells were studied by GC-MS. Results The expression of TRPA1 in gastric cancer patients was significantly negatively correlated with their surviv al. TRPA1 was overexpressed in gastric cancer cells. And the migration of gastric cancer cells was positively correlated with the expression and activation of TRPA1. Cardamonin had similar pharmacological effects with HC-030031, both of which could reduce the migration of gastric cancer cells. The metabolic path ways of asparagine and myo-inositol were found to be different between gastric cancer cells and normal gastric epithelial cells by cell metabolomics analysis. Conclusions TRPAI may be an indicator for detecting gastric cancer metastasis. Cardamonin in hibits metastasis by binding to TRPAI, meanwhile restrains the activation of TRPAI. Cardamonin may inhibit the function of TRPAI by binding to TRPAI, playing a role in inhibiting gastric cancer metastasis.