OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of microglial pyroptosis in hypoxic-ischemic brain damage. METHODS: An oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) model of rat microglial cells were cultured in vitro. Western blot was used to measure the expression of the pyroptosis-related proteins caspase-1, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and N-terminal gasdermin D (GSDMD-N) at 0, 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 hours after OGD/R. After the microglial cells were transfected with lentivirus-mediated silenced gasdermin D (GSDMD), immunofluorescence assay and Western blot were used to measure the transfection rate of GSDMD. Microglial cell lines were divided into three groups: normal control, negative control, and LV-sh_GSDMD (lentivirus-mediated GSDMD silencing). CCK-8 assay and LDH kit were used to observe the effect of GSDMD silencing on the viability and toxicity of microglial cells at 24 hours after OGD/R. Western blot was used to observe the effect of GSDMD silencing on the levels of caspase-1, GSDMD-N, and IL-1β in the microglial cells at 24 hours after OGD/R. RESULTS: The expression levels of the pyroptosis-related proteins caspase-1, GSDMD-N, and IL-1β in microglial cells were upregulated since 0 hour after OGD/R and reached the peak levels at 24 hours. A microglial cell model of lentivirus-mediated GSDMD silencing was successfully constructed. At 24 hours after OGD/R, compared with the normal control group, the GSDMD silencing group had a significant increase in the cell viability and a significant reduction in the cytotoxicity (P<0.05), as well as significant reductions in the protein expression levels of caspase-1, GSDMD-N, and IL-1β in microglial cells (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Lentivirus silencing of the key substrate protein for pyroptosis GSDMD can alleviate hypoxic-ischemic brain damage, suggesting that microglial pyroptosis aggravates hypoxic-ischemic brain damage.
Animals ; Brain/metabolism* ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Microglia/metabolism* ; Pyroptosis ; Rats

Objective To understand the awareness of HIV/AIDS-related knowledge and characteristics of sexual behaviors among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Changsha City. Methods By a snowball sampling method, volunteers were recruited in two social public welfare organizations in Changsha (Qingcai and Zhongda Sunshine) and interviewed by anonymous electronic questionnaires. Data were analyzed using software SPSS 19.0. Results Among 150 MSM, the overall awareness rate of HIV/ AIDS-related knowledge was 86.0% (129/150). For different demographic characteristics, higher age group, higher education level and higher income groups had significantly higher rates of awareness about HIV/AIDS related knowledge, compared with the reference groups, respectively. For the sexual behaviors, 32.7% of the investigated MSM population had their first MSM sexual intercourse at age of <18 years old, the rate of ≥18 years old group was significantly higher than the <18 years old group (2=4.315, P=0.038), 46.7% of the MSM population had more than 1 sexual partner during the past six months, the ratio of MSM used condoms in the sexual intercourse occasionally or never was 29.3% and 6.7%, respectively. Conclusions Young age, relatively low educational level and low income MSM in Changsha had a relative low awareness of HIV/AIDS-related knowledge. MSM in Changsha City had first MSM sexual intercourse at a very younger age. There is an urgent need to take well-targeted measures to improve the HIV/AIDS-related knowledge with special MSM population, and develop effective intervention measures for the high-risk sexual behaviors among MSM.

Objective: To explore the clinical features, the serotype distribution and drug resistance of the isolates in patient with invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Methods: By retrieving the laboratory information system in 18 children′s hospitals from 2012 to 2017, the children with IPD were enrolled. Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) must be isolated from the sterile sites (blood, cerebrospinal fluid, hydrothorax and joint effusion etc.). The clinical characteristics, serotype, drug resistance, treatment and prognosis were reviewed and analyzed. According to the telephone follow up results, the patients were divided into death group and recovered group. The index as an independent risk factor of mortality was demonstrated by multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: There were 1 138 children with IPD, including 684 male and 454 female. The proportion of male to female was 1.5∶1. The age ranged from one day to 16 years. The median age was 1 year 3 month. The majority was under 5 years of age (89.3%, n= 1 016), especially under 2 years of age (61.9%, n=704). In all cases, 88.2% (n=1 004) were community acquired infection. The infections included meningitis (n=446, 39.2%), pneumonia with bacteremia (n=339, 29.8%), and bacteremia without focus (n=232, 20.4%). Underlying diseases were found in 242 cases (21.3%). Co-infections were determined in 62 cases (5.4%) with mycoplasma, 27 cases (2.4%) with adenovirus and 34 cases with influenza virus (3.0%). The penicillin insensitivity (PNSP) rates in meningitis and non-meningitis isolates were 69.5% (276/397) and 35.9% (221/615), respectively. There were 81 strains serotyped, in which 93.8% (76/81) were covered by 13-valent protein-polysaccharide conjugate vaccine (PCV13). In the 965 patients who were followed up by phone call, 156 cases (16.2%) were confirmed dead. The independent risk factors for the death were under 2 years of age (OR=2.143, 95%CI 1.284-3.577, P=0.004), meningitis (OR=3.066, 95%CI 1.852-5.074, P<0.01), underlying disease (OR=4.801, 95%CI 2.953-7.804, P<0.01), septic shock(OR=3.542, 95%CI 1.829-6.859, P<0.01), disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) (OR=4.150, 95%CI 1.468-11.733, P=0.007), multiple organ failure (OR=12.693, 95%CI 6.623-24.325, P<0.01) and complications of central nervous system (OR=1.975, 95%CI 1.144-3.410, P=0.015). Conclusions Most children with IPD were under 5 years of age, having underlying diseases and acquired the infection in community. The independent risk factors for death were under two years old, meningitis, underlying diseases and multiple organ failure. The problem of drug resistance was severe. The universal immunization of PCV13 would be effective to prevent IPD in Chinese children.

·AIM: To investigate the ocular surface and refractive change after the surgery of levator resection and frontalis suspension. ·METHODS:One hundred and twenty-one patients (146 eyes) for corrective surgery of congenital ptosis were selected in our department from July 2014 to June 2016. According to the severity of congenital ptosis, all the children divided into mild group (47 eyes), moderate group (68 eyes) and severe group(31 eyes). All the children were divided into group of less than 5 years old (104 eyes) and group of more than or equal to 5 years old (42 eyes) according to the age. According to the surgical approach, all the children divided into group of levator resection (62 eyes) and group of frontalis suspension(84 eyes). The effects of the two surgeries on the ocular surface and refractive were compared. The relationship between age, severity of postoperative ptosis and postoperative ocular surface, refractive of children were analyzed. ·RESULTS: There were no significant differences in break-up time (BUT), keratometry (Km) and corneal astigmatism (Ast) in the levator resection group and frontalis suspension group (P > 0. 05). There was significant difference between the mild, moderate and severe group on the proportion of excellent corrected to uncorrected (Z=-2.936, P=0.003). The proportion of excellent correction in mild group was higher than that of moderate and severe group(93.6%, 83.8% and 67.7%). The indexes of BUT (F=9.793, P=0.041) and Km (F=11.657,P=0.037) in the three groups decreased with the increase of severity. While the Ast (F=28.417, P<0.01) showed an increasing trend, the difference was significant. In addition, the proportion of excellent correction in <5 year old group was significantly more than≥5 years old group(x2=4.082,P=0.043). The index of Km (t= 2.813, P= 0.006) was higher and Ast (t=-7.741, P<0.01) was lower in the <5 year old group. There was no significant difference in the index of BUT between the two groups after surgery (P>0.05). · CONCLUSION: The corneal refractive power and astigmatism can be improved similarly after treated with levator resection and frontalis suspension surgery. And there is some damage of corneal epithelial in the initial postoperation, but the function of ocular surface can return to normal after a period of time. The less severity of ptosis before surgery,the better improvement of ocular surface and refractive after sugery. There is no correlation between the age and postoperative ocular surface, but earlier surgical treatment may improve the children's refractive power and astigmatism and achieve greater benefits.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of prebiotics supplementation for 9 days on gut microbiota structure and function and establish a machine learning model based on the initial gut microbiota data for predicting the variation of Bifidobacterium after prebiotic intake.

METHODSWith a randomized double-blind self-controlled design, 35 healthy volunteers were asked to consume fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) or galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) for 9 days (16 g per day). 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing was performed to investigate the changes of gut microbiota after prebiotics intake. PICRUSt was used to infer the differences between the functional modules of the bacterial communities. Random forest model based on the initial gut microbiota data was used to identify the changes in Bifidobacterium after 5 days of prebiotic intake and then to build a continuous index to predict the changes of Bifidobacterium. The data of fecal samples collected after 9 days of GOS intervention were used to validate the model.

RESULTSFecal samples analysis with QIIME revealed that FOS intervention for 5 days reduced the intestinal flora alpha diversity, which rebounded on day 9; in GOS group, gut microbiota alpha diversity decreased progressively during the intervention. Neither FOS nor GOS supplement caused significant changes in β diversity of gut microbiota. The area under the curve (AUC) of the prediction model was 89.6%. The continuous index could successfully predict the changes in Bifidobacterium (R=0.45, P=0.01), and the prediction accuracy was verified by the validation model (R=0.62, P=0.01).

CONCLUSIONShort-term prebiotics intervention can significantly decrease α-diversity of the intestinal flora. The machine learning model based on initial gut microbiota data can accurately predict the changes in Bifidobacterium, which sheds light on personalized nutrition intervention and precise modulation of the intestinal flora.

The clinical efficacy and safety of auricular acupuncture (AA) for treatment of primary insomnia was evaluated. After a comprehensive retrieval in domestic and foreign databases, literatures were strictly screened and Revman 5.2 software was applied to perform a Meta-analysis on eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The evidence quality was assessed with GRADE profiler 3.6 software. As a result, 8 articles were included involving 894 patients. Compared among AA and sham AA, placebo AA, blank control, there was significant difference in Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) [WMD = -3.48, 95% CI (-3.96, -3.00)], sleep latency LWMD = -10.14, 95% CI (-17.16, -3.12)] and sleep awakening times [WMD = -9.98, 95% CI (-1.10,-0.48)]. Compared between AA and western medication, there was significant difference in PSQI [WMD = -3.62, 95% CI (-4.59, -2.65)]. The evidence quality was moderate in AA vs. sham AA, placebo AA or blank control, while that of the rest was extremely low. No reports of adverse events were described in all studies. In conclusion, for the treatment of primary insomnia, AA could effectively improve sleep quality, but due to the low evidence quality, cautious attitude should be taken on this conclusion, and clinical trials with large sample and high quality were needed in the further.
Acupuncture, Ear ; Humans ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Sleep ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; physiopathology ; therapy

To study the prevalence and variation of influenza A(H3N2) viruses, the antigenic and genetic characteristics of influenza A(H3N2) viruses circulating in Mainland China during April 2011 to March 2012 were analyzed. The results showed that influenza A(H3N2) viruses increased gradually since 2012 and became the dominant strain since March. The viruses were antigenically closely related to the vaccine strain A/PER/16/09 (87.2%) and the representative virus A/FJ/196/09 (76.0%) in Mainland China. The genetic characteristics analysis results showed that recently isolated viruses belonged to the Vic/208 clade, and most of the low reaction strains also fell into the same clade. Crystal structure analysis of HA protein found that, compared with the vaccine strain A/PER/16/09, the recently isolated viruses had amino acid substitutions in the antigenic site A, B and C areas, in addition to gaining potential glycosylation sites at the amino acid position of 45 of HA and 367 of NA. Although the majority of circulating influenza A (H3N2) viruses in 2011-2012 season in Mainland China were antigeniclly matched by current influenza vaccine strain and the selected representative viruses, low reaction strains have increased since 2012, therefore it is necessary to strengthen the surveillance on the variation of influenza virus and to provide solid information for the vaccine strain selection.
Amino Acid Sequence ; China ; epidemiology ; Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus ; chemistry ; genetics ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; physiology ; Influenza, Human ; epidemiology ; virology ; Models, Molecular ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny