Background Heavy metal exposure may be associated with the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and serum uric acid. The role of serum uric acid in the relationship between heavy metal exposure and MetS is currently unclear. Objective To evaluate the relationships of heavy metal exposure with MetS and serum uric acid, and to quantify the role of serum uric acid in the relationship. Methods In 2021, convenience sampling was used to select 571 local adults in Liuzhou, Guangxi. Demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, and physiological and biochemical indicators were collected through questionnaire surveys and physical examinations. Fasting blood and mid-stream morning urine were also collected. The concentrations of 16 heavy metals in urine were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was employed to identify heavy metals associated with MetS. Logistic regression and linear regression models were employed to evaluate the association between the selected heavy metals and MetS as well as serum uric acid. Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) model was utilized to assess the impact of combined exposures to multiple metals on the risk of MetS and identify the main effect metals. Generalized structural equation model was used to evaluate potential mediating effect of serum uric acid on the relationship between heavy metal exposure and MetS. Results The LASSO regression identified a total of 9 heavy metals that were associated with MetS. The logistic regression revealed a positive correlation between zinc and copper in urine and MetS (P _trend<0.05), while vanadium showed a negative correlation with MetS (P _trend<0.05). Compared to the low concentration groups, the high concentration groups of zinc (OR=2.37, 95%CI: 1.33, 4.20) and copper (OR=2.29, 95%CI: 1.26, 4.18) had an increased risk of MetS, while the high concentration group of vanadium showed a decreased risk of MetS (OR=0.47, 95%CI: 0.27, 0.84). The main effect metals identified by the BKMR model were consistent with the results of logistic regression. The linear regression analysis demonstrated an association between urinary zinc and vanadium concentrations and serum uric acid levels (P _trend<0.05). Compared to the low concentration group, the high concentration group of zinc showed an increase in serum uric acid level (β=0.07, 95%CI: 0.03, 0.11), while the high concentration group of vanadium showed a decrease in serum uric acid level (β=-0.06, 95%CI: -0.09, -0.02). The mediation analysis revealed that serum uric acid played a mediating role in the relationship between urinary zinc and vanadium concentrations and MetS, with mediation proportions of 8.33% and 16.67%, respectively. Conclusion Exposure to heavy metals zinc, copper, and vanadium are closely associated with MetS. Zinc and vanadium exposures are correlated with serum uric acid levels, and serum uric acid plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between zinc and vanadium exposures and MetS.

Food poisoning caused by Nassariidaes has occurred frequently in coastal areas of China, especially in summer and autumn. Nassariidaes poisoning can be manifested as lip and tongue paralysis, dizziness, headache, nausea and vomiting, arrhythmia and even respiratory failure. We admitted a case of respiratory failure caused by eating Nassariidaes. After timely respiratory support, hemoperfusion and other active treatment, the patient was recovered and was discharged. This paper summarized clinical characteristics and treatment of Nassariidaes poisoning, in order to provide reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment of similar cases.

Food poisoning caused by Nassariidaes has occurred frequently in coastal areas of China, especially in summer and autumn. Nassariidaes poisoning can be manifested as lip and tongue paralysis, dizziness, headache, nausea and vomiting, arrhythmia and even respiratory failure. We admitted a case of respiratory failure caused by eating Nassariidaes. After timely respiratory support, hemoperfusion and other active treatment, the patient was recovered and was discharged. This paper summarized clinical characteristics and treatment of Nassariidaes poisoning, in order to provide reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment of similar cases.

Heme/metabolism* ; Cryoelectron Microscopy ; Membrane Transport Proteins ; Escherichia coli Proteins/metabolism*

Objective : To investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of cases with pertussis in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province, so as to provide insights into pertussis diagnosis and control. Methods: A total of 186 patients with definitive diagnosis of pertussis in medical institutions in Yiwu City from November 1, 2020 to August 31, 2022 were recruited, and subjects' demographic, clinical symptoms and history of pertussis vaccination were collected using questionnaire surveys. The temporal, population, and spatial distribution and clinical symptoms of pertussis were analyzed using a descriptive epidemiological method, and the clinical characteristics of pertussis patients with different doses of pertussis vaccination were compared. Results: Pertussis was found to predominantly occur during the period between July and November (101 cases, 54.30%), and the three highest-incidence regions included Jiangdong Street, Beiyuan Street and Choujiang Street (87 cases, 46.77%). The 186 pertussis cases included 105 males (56.45%) and 81 females (43.55%), and included 144 cases with age of onset under 7 year (77.42%). Preschool and diaspora children were predominant among all pertussis cases, and the main clinical symptoms included spasmodic cough (97 cases, 52.15%), post-tussive vomiting (82 cases, 44.09%) and aggravated cough at night (77 cases, 41.40%). Routine blood tests measured 119 cases with abnormal white blood cell counts (63.98%), 137 cases with abnormal lymphocyte counts (73.66%), 39 cases with abnormal neutrophil counts (20.97%), 21 cases with abnormal platelet counts (11.29%) and 111 cases with abnormal hemoglobin concentrations (59.68%). There were 55 cases that were unvaccinated (29.57%), 23 cases that were not fully vaccinated (12.37%), and 108 cases that were fully vaccinated (58.06%). There were significant differences among pertussis cases with different doses of vaccination in terms of age, incidence of post-tussive vomiting, percentage of abnormal platelet counts and percentage of hemoglobin concentrations (all P<0.05). Conclusions The majority of pertussis cases are preschool and diaspora children in Yiwu City from November 1, 2020 to August 31, 2022, and the clinical symptoms mainly include spasmodic cough, post-tussive vomiting and aggravated cough at night, with atypical symptoms. The capability for differential diagnosis of pertussis is required to be improved in medical institutions.

Objective:To investigate the expressions of CD200 and inducible costimulator (ICOS) protein in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) and the relationship with prognosis as well as their significances in the differential diagnosis of AITL.Methods:A total of 39 AITL patients in the First People's Hospital of Chenzhou, the Fourth People's Hospital of Chenzhou, Xiangnan College Affiliated Hospital and Chenzhou 3rd People's Hospital from June 2012 to December 2019, and 10 patients with classic Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL) and 10 patients with peripheral T cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) from August 2016 to July 2019 in the First People's Hospital of Chenzhou were selected. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expressions of CD200, ICOS, CD10, programmed death 1 (PD-1), bcl-6 and CXC chemokine receptor-13 (CXCL13) proteins, and the correlation of CD200 and ICOS with clinicopathological features and prognosis of AITL patients was analyzed, and the diagnostic significance of both in differentiating AITL from PTCL-NOS and CHL was also analyzed.Results:The positive rates of CD200 and ICOS in 39 AITL patients were 71.79% (28/39) and 61.54% (24/39), respectively. There were 7 cases of CD200 weak and moderate positive in 10 CHL patients, and ICOS proteins were all negative. Among 10 PTCL-NOS patients, 4 patients had CD200 positive and 1 patient had ICOS positive. The differences in positive rates of ICOS protein between AITL patients and CHL, PTCL-NOS patients were statistically significant (all P < 0.05); the differences in positive rates of CD200 protein between AITL patients and CHL, PTCL-NOS patients were not statistically significant ( χ2=0.013, P=0.911; χ2=3.551, P=0.060). The positive rate of CD200 in AITL patients with elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and international prognostic index (IPI) score of 3-4 was higher than that in AITL patients with normal LDH and IPI score of 0-2 (both P < 0.05); The positive rate of ICOS in AITL patients with elevated LDH and PD-1 positive was higher than that in AITL patients with normal LDH and PD-1 negative (both P < 0.05). CD200 negative AITL patients had better 3-year overall survival (OS) rate (4.2% vs. 66.7%) and 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate (5.3% vs. 77.1%) compared with those in CD200 positive AITL patients, and the differences between both groups were statistically significant (both P < 0.01); there was a statistically significant difference in 3-year OS rate between ICOS positive AITL patients and ICOS negative AITL patients (15.3% vs. 38.6%, P=0.011), while there was no statistically significant difference in 3-year PFS rate of both groups (18.6% vs. 41.5%, P=0.059). Multivariate analysis showed CD200 ( HR=0.076, 95% CI 1.555-79.497, P=0.001), extranodal involvement or not ( HR=11.117, 95% CI 1.555-79.497, P=0.016) and LDH ( HR=2.147, 95% CI 0.844-5.459, P=0.109) were independent influencing factors of OS in AITL patients; CD200 ( HR=0.075, 95% CI 0.016-0.357, P=0.001) and LDH ( HR=2.335, 95% CI 0.929-5.870, P=0.071) were independent influencing factors of PFS in AITL patients. Conclusions:CD200 and ICOS can be used as immunohistochemical indicators to assist the diagnosis of AITL patients. ICOS protein helps to differentiate AITL from CHL and PTCL-NOS; CD200 can be used as indicators to judge the prognosis and deterioration of AITL patients.

Objective:To establish a new molecular typing method for Treponema pallidum (TP) based on TP0136 protein sequence heterogeneity. Methods:The amino acid sequences of TP0136 open reading frame (ORF) of 9 strains of Treponema pallidum ssp. Pallidum (TPA) , 3 strains of Treponema pallidum ssp. Pertenue (TPE) , 1 unclassified simian strain of Treponema Fribourg-Blanc (FB) and 1 strain of Treponema pallidum ssp. Endemicum (TEN) were searched from Genbank, and multiple sequence comparisons were performed to obtain the molecular typing results of TP0136 protein. The TP0136 protein-based molecular typing method was used to classify 23 TPA clinical isolates, which were collected from Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University from January 2015 to December 2018, and the typing results were compared with those by the traditional typing method based on the tp0548/Arp/Tpr genes. Results:TP0136 protein was highly heterogeneous in different TP strains. According to the amino acid sequence of TP0136, TPE, FB and TEN strains were divided into 4 subtypes of Ⅰ- Ⅳ, TPA strains were divided into 6 subtypes of Ⅴ-Ⅹ, and TPA clinical strains were classified into 4 subtypes of Ⅶ, Ⅸ, Ⅹ, Ⅺ. Through the traditional typing method described above, 23 TPA clinical strains could be divided into 5 types (13D/d, 14D/f, 14D/g, 15D/f, 16A/e) . By using the TP0136 protein-based typing method combined with traditional typing method, the above clinical strains could be further subdivided into 10 types, and the 14D/f type could be further divided into 3 subtypes by using the TP0136 protein-based typing method.Conclusion:The TP0136 protein-based molecular typing method can be used to distinguish TP species, which is helpful for further improvement of traditional TPA molecular typing.

Objective: To explore the blood lead level and its relationship with behavior in school-age children from rural areas of Chongqing. Methods: A total of 697 students from grades 3 to 6 in the fall semester of 2014 from 14 rural townships in one district of Chongqing was selected by using the random cluster sampling method. Blood were sampled to analyze the lead level. Neurobehavioral tests were performed to determine their personal cognitive and memory ability. Questionnaires and physical examinations were administered to obtain the information of confounding factors. All students were divided into Q₁-Q₄ groups according to the quartile of their blood lead level. The relationship between the blood lead level and behavior was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression model and restricted spline regression model. Results: The mean age of 697 students was (10.07±1.36) years old, and the median (interquartile range) of their blood lead level was 44.31 (35.42) μg/L. Multivariate logistic regression model showed that after adjusting for age, gender, body mass index and maternal culture level, compared with Q₁ group, the OR (95%CI) values of high digit symbol substitution test (DSST) scores and high overall memory quotient (MQ) scores in Q₃ group were 1.65 (1.01-2.70) and 2.10 (1.21-3.62), and the OR (95%CI) value of high long term memory (LTM) scores in Q₄ group was 0.53 (0.31-0.92). The results of the restricted spline regression model showed that the dose-response curves between the blood lead level and MQ/LTM test scores were both parabolic (P<0.05). Conclusion The blood lead level of school-age children from rural areas of Chongqing is the same as that from other areas of China, but slightly higher than that from other areas of Chongqing. Children with higher blood lead level have poor long-term memory ability.

Objective To explore the blood lead level and its relationship with behavior in school?age children from rural areas of Chongqing. Methods A total of 697 students from grades 3 to 6 in the fall semester of 2014 from 14 rural townships in one district of Chongqing was selected by using the random cluster sampling method. Blood were sampled to analyze the lead level. Neurobehavioral tests were performed to determine their personal cognitive and memory ability. Questionnaires and physical examinations were administered to obtain the information of confounding factors. All students were divided into Q1-Q4 groups according to the quartile of their blood lead level. The relationship between the blood lead level and behavior was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression model and restricted spline regression model. Results The mean age of 697 students was (10.07±1.36) years old, and the median (interquartile range) of their blood lead level was 44.31 (35.42) μg/L. Multivariate logistic regression model showed that after adjusting for age, gender, body mass index and maternal culture level, compared with Q1 group, the OR (95%CI ) values of high digit symbol substitution test (DSST) scores and high overall memory quotient (MQ) scores in Q 3 group were 1.65 (1.01-2.70) and 2.10 (1.21-3.62), and the OR (95%CI ) value of high long term memory (LTM) scores in Q4 group was 0.53 (0.31-0.92). The results of the restricted spline regression model showed that the dose?response curves between the blood lead level and MQ/LTM test scores were both parabolic (P<0.05). Conclusion The blood lead level of school?age children from rural areas of Chongqing is the same as that from other areas of China, but slightly higher than that from other areas of Chongqing. Children with higher blood lead level have poor long?term memory ability.

Objective To explore the blood lead level and its relationship with behavior in school?age children from rural areas of Chongqing. Methods A total of 697 students from grades 3 to 6 in the fall semester of 2014 from 14 rural townships in one district of Chongqing was selected by using the random cluster sampling method. Blood were sampled to analyze the lead level. Neurobehavioral tests were performed to determine their personal cognitive and memory ability. Questionnaires and physical examinations were administered to obtain the information of confounding factors. All students were divided into Q1-Q4 groups according to the quartile of their blood lead level. The relationship between the blood lead level and behavior was analyzed by multivariate logistic regression model and restricted spline regression model. Results The mean age of 697 students was (10.07±1.36) years old, and the median (interquartile range) of their blood lead level was 44.31 (35.42) μg/L. Multivariate logistic regression model showed that after adjusting for age, gender, body mass index and maternal culture level, compared with Q1 group, the OR (95%CI ) values of high digit symbol substitution test (DSST) scores and high overall memory quotient (MQ) scores in Q 3 group were 1.65 (1.01-2.70) and 2.10 (1.21-3.62), and the OR (95%CI ) value of high long term memory (LTM) scores in Q4 group was 0.53 (0.31-0.92). The results of the restricted spline regression model showed that the dose?response curves between the blood lead level and MQ/LTM test scores were both parabolic (P<0.05). Conclusion The blood lead level of school?age children from rural areas of Chongqing is the same as that from other areas of China, but slightly higher than that from other areas of Chongqing. Children with higher blood lead level have poor long?term memory ability.