Objective:To detect pathogenic mutation in a Chinese family affected with isolated bilateral microtia.Methods:During 2022 June to December, one Chinese Han family with non-syndromic bilateral microtia was recruited at the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University. The clinical data and peripheral blood samples were collected from the family members. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was performed in the proband to screen all candidate variants. Quantitative PCR was applied to identify the candidate copy number variation (CNV) among the proband, the unaffected wife and the affected son to demonstrate the association between candidate variant and phenotype.Results:The patients in the family had non-syndromic bilateral concha-type microtia. WGS detected the duplication in the intergenic region of HMX1 and CPZ gene in the proband, which involved the evolutionarily conserved region (ECR). Both the proband and his affected son carried the CNV, while his unaffected wife did not have this variation.Conclusion:Duplications involving the long range HMX1 enhancer ECR are associated with the bilateral concha-type microtia in this family.

Objective:To detect pathogenic mutation in a Chinese family affected with isolated bilateral microtia.Methods:During 2022 June to December, one Chinese Han family with non-syndromic bilateral microtia was recruited at the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University. The clinical data and peripheral blood samples were collected from the family members. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was performed in the proband to screen all candidate variants. Quantitative PCR was applied to identify the candidate copy number variation (CNV) among the proband, the unaffected wife and the affected son to demonstrate the association between candidate variant and phenotype.Results:The patients in the family had non-syndromic bilateral concha-type microtia. WGS detected the duplication in the intergenic region of HMX1 and CPZ gene in the proband, which involved the evolutionarily conserved region (ECR). Both the proband and his affected son carried the CNV, while his unaffected wife did not have this variation.Conclusion:Duplications involving the long range HMX1 enhancer ECR are associated with the bilateral concha-type microtia in this family.

Breast cancer is one of the most malignant tumors and is associated with high mortality rates among women. Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) is an extract from the fruits of the traditional Chinese herb, L. barbarum. LBP is a promising anticancer drug, due to its high activity and low toxicity. Although it has anticancer properties, its mechanisms of action have not been fully established. Ferroptosis, which is a novel anticancer strategy, is a cell death mechanism that relies on iron-dependent lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. In this study, human breast cancer cells (Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) and MD Anderson-Metastatic Breast-231 (MDA-MB-231)) were treated with LBP. LBP inhibited their viability and proliferation in association with high levels of ferroptosis. Therefore, we aimed to ascertain whether LBP reduced cell viability through ferroptosis. We found that the structure and function of mitochondria, lipid peroxidation, and expression of solute carrier family 7 member 11 (SLC7A11, also known as xCT, the light-chain subunit of cystine/glutamate antiporter system X_c^-) and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) were altered by LBP. Moreover, the ferroptosis inhibitor, Ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1), rescued LBP-induced ferroptosis-associated events including reduced cell viability and glutathione (GSH) production, accumulation of intracellular free divalent iron ions and malondialdehyde (MDA), and down-regulation of the expression of xCT and GPX4. Erastin (xCT inhibitor) and RSL3 (GPX4 inhibitor) inhibited the expression of xCT and GPX4, respectively, which was lower after the co-treatment of LBP with Erastin and RSL3. These results suggest that LBP effectively prevents breast cancer cell proliferation and promotes ferroptosis via the xCT/GPX4 pathway. Therefore, LBP exhibits novel anticancer properties by triggering ferroptosis, and may be a potential therapeutic option for breast cancer.
Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Female ; Ferroptosis ; Glutathione/metabolism* ; Humans ; Iron/metabolism*

The wind, phlegm, and blood stasis are important pathogenic factors of cough variant asthma in children, and they are also the pathological products in the occurrence and development of this disease. They have typical pathogenic characteristics. The main pathogenesis characteristics of cough caused by wind, phlegm and blood stasis are as follows that external wind attacks the lungs and induces internal wind, phlegm and dampness accumulates in the lungs, and the lungs fail to declare and descend, and blood stasis obstructs the collaterals and stagnation of Qi. The wind, phlegm, and blood stasis have their own pathogenic characteristics, and their cough-causing also have their own pathogenic characteristics and clinical characteristics. Based on the characteristics of wind, phlegm, and blood stasis, the application of medicine based on the differentiation of symptoms and signs can effectively prevent and treat this disease, and provide theoretical basis and treatment ideas for the treatment of cough variant asthma in children with Chinese medicine.

Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics and treatment of a family with inherited generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS + ) caused by the KCNT2 gene mutation and review the literature. Methods:Clinical data of a child with GEFS + and his family members who visited Department of Pediatric Neurology, Guangzhou Women and Children′s Medical Center in May 2019 were collected.DNA samples were collected from the peripheral blood of the proband, his parents, his elder brother, and his maternal grandparents, and genetic analysis and verification were performed using the next-generation sequencing technique.Using " KCNT2" as the key word, literature was retrieved from PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang databases (up to August 2019). Results:The proband was a 3-year-old boy who was admitted to Guangzhou Women and Children′s Medical Center because of frequent epileptic seizures in the past 5 months.He presented with a binocular gaze and experienced 3 to 8 times of extremities myoclonic-spastic epileptic attacks every day.He had a history of 3 times of febrile seizures at the age of 2 years old.His seizures were refractory to Sodium valproate, Topiramate, Nitrazepam and Levetiracetam.His elder brother and mother had a history of childhood febrile seizures.Other members in the family had no history of convulsion.Ictal electroencephalogram showed general 1 Hz high voltage spike-slow waves.A heterozygous nonsense mutation of KCNT2 gene c. 574C>T(p.Q192X) that was never reported previously was detected in the proband, his brother, mother and maternal grandmother.Furthermore, no other family members carried the mutation at the c. 574 locus of the KCNT2 gene.No article in Chinese was found, and 2 articles in a language other than Chinese provided the complete data of 3 sporadic cases.Together with 4 cases in the family studied in this article, there were 7 cases and 4 mutation sites in KCNT2 gene.Of these mutations, there were 3 missense mutations and 1 nonsense mutation.Three sporadic patients presented with early infantile epileptic encephalopathy.The family of this study was characterized with febrile seizures and febrile seizures plus. Conclusions:A de novo mutation and phenotype of the KCNT2 gene is found in a family with GEFS + .It would expand the gene mutation spectrum and provide basis for family genetic counseling. KCNT2 mutation induced GEFS + is refractory to antiepileptic drugs.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the status of anxiety and depression in patients requiring emergency treatment during the epidemic of COVID-19 to identify the patients with acute psychological stress disorder. METHODS: During the COVID-19 epidemic, the medical staff divided the patients visiting the emergency department into suspected group, fever group and control group through interview of the patients at triage. Self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) were distributed to each patient, and a trained medical staff was responsible for assisting the patient to complete the scales. RESULTS: A total of 557 sets of scales were distributed, including 211 in suspected COVID-19 case group, 167 in fever group and 179 in the control group. A total of 516 scales were retrieved, including 197 in suspected case group, 151 in fever group and 168 in control group. In the 3 groups, the incidence rates of anxiety and depression were 57.87% and 58.88%, 48.34% and 43.71%, and 18.31% and 18.99%, respectively, and the rates were significantly higher in suspected group and fever group than in the control group ( < 0.01), and significantly higher in suspected group than in fever group ( < 0.05). The standardized anxiety and depression scale scores in suspected case group, fever group and control group were 57.38±16.25 and 42.58±14.27, 51.23±15.29 and 38.32±15.39, and 32.58±17.8 and 12.25±12.94, respectively. Compared with the control group, both suspected case group and fever group had significantly higher standard scores for anxiety and depression ( < 0.01), and suspected case group had significantly higher standardized scores than fever group ( < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Among the patients visiting the emergency treatment, the patients with suspected COVID-19 and common fever are more likely to develop anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Anxiety ; epidemiology ; Betacoronavirus ; Coronavirus Infections ; epidemiology ; psychology ; Depression ; epidemiology ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; epidemiology ; psychology

Objective To explore the clinical characteristics and treatment of a family with inherited generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) caused by STX1B gene mutation and to review the literature.Methods Clinical data of a child with GEFS+ and his family members who visited Guangzhou Women and Children Medical Center in August 2017 were collected.DNA samples of the proband and his parents,his grandparents were analyzed by the next-generation sequencing and confirmed by Sanger sequencing.A literature search with "STX1B " as the key word was conducted at PubMed,China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang databases to include recently published studies (up to May 2018).Results The proband was a 2-year-old boy who was admitted to our hospital because of frequent epileptic seizures in a month,with focal seizures evolving into the generalized bilateral tonic-clonic epileptic attacks after febrile seizure.His seizures were well controlled by levetiracetam.His father presented febrile seizure in early childhood stage and epilepsy in adult stage,which were under control with lamotrigine.The proband's grandmother had a history of febrile seizure.Other family members had no history of convulsion.Ictal electroencephalogram showed low voltage fast activities (8-10 Hz) originating from the central region of the brain.Heterozygous mutation of STX1B gene (c.705C＞G,p.Asn235Lys) was detected in the proband,his father and grandmother.The mutation has not been reported previously.Furthermore,no other family members carried the mutation at c.705 locus of STX1B gene.No article in Chinese was found,and 4 articles in a language other than Chinese provided the complete case data of 9 mutation loci in 33 patients (4 families and 4 sporadic cases).With this research data (3 cases in 1 family) included,there were 36 cases and 10 mutation sites in STX1B gene.Of these mutations,there were 5 missense mutations,3 nonsense mutations,1 insert mutation and 1 deletion mutation;and according to the mutation distribution,there were 4 mutation sites in exon 3,2 in exon 8,2 in exon 9,and 1 in exon 1.There was incomplete penetrance in the family,so different types of epileptic attacks occurred among different family members.Conclusions In this study,a de novo mutation of STX1B gene in a family with GEFS+ was defined,which would expand the gene mutation spectrum and provide basis for family genetic counseling.Clinical heterogeneity was found in this family.Seizures caused by STX 1B gene mutation were sensitive to antiepileptic drugs.

Aim To investigate the effects of isoliquiri-tigenin ( ISL) on anti-angiogenesis both in vitro and in vivo and its mechanisms. Methods We assessed the antiangiogenic activities of ISL on proliferation viabili-ty, migration and tube formation of human microvascu-lar endothelial cell line-1 (HMEC-1) in vitro. The cell proliferation viability was assessed using the Sulforho-damine B ( SRB ) assay. Modified Boyden Transwell chamber assay was done to study the effect of ISL on HMEC-1 cells migration. 2′, 7′-dichlorofluorescein di-acetate ( DCFH-DA) was used to measure the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species ( ROS ) , which was induced by VEGF. Metalloproteinase-2 ( MMP-2 ) and metalloproteinase-9 ( MMP-9 ) expressions by HMEC-1 cells were assessed through gelatin zymogra-phy assay. HMEC-1 cells cycle was detected by flow cytometry. Moreover, we investigated the in vivo anti-angiogenic activity of ISL on chicken embryos nap al-lantoic membrane model ( CAM ) . Results ISL con-centration-dependently inhibited the growth of HMEC-1 cells as well as SW620 and A549 cells. ISL signifi-cantly and concentration-dependently suppressed the migration activity of HMEC-1 cells. Tube sample struc-ture formation further confirmed the effect of ISL on an-ti-angiogenesis. Moreover, ISL also inhibited intracel-lular ROS level, MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression by HMEC-1 cells. ISL induced endothelial cell apoptosis at a low concentration ( ISL 12 . 5 μmol · L-1 ) and blocked the cells in S phase of mitosis at higher con-centrations ( ISL 25~100 μmol·L-1 ) . Furthermore, ISL distinctly inhibited the angiogenesis of chick em-bryos in vivo. Conclusions ISL has anti-tumor and angiogenesis effects on HMEC-1 cells. The mechanism may be related to intracellular ROS scavenging and ap-optosis induction of HMEC-1 cells.

Objective To compare the effects of autologous blood transfusion and allogenic blood transfusion on the patients undergoing selective operation of intervertebral fusion with cage. Methods Forty patients who underwent selective operation of intervertebral fusion with cage in the De?partment of Orthopedics of our hospital from September 2012 to June 2014 were recruited for the study,including 20 cases that received autologous blood transfusion only(group A)and 20 cases that received allogenic blood transfusion only(group B). Preoperative and postoperative results of blood routine examination,body temperature,postoperative recovery indicators and expense of blood transfusion were compared between the two groups. Results The postoperative erythrocyte and hemoglobin of the patients in group A were significantly higher than those in group B(P<0.05). When the amount of blood used during the operation reaches or exceeds 4 units,the expense of autologous blood transfusion was lower than that of allogenic blood transfusion. Conclusion Autologous blood transfusion contributes to higher levels of postoperative erythrocyte and hemoglo?bin. When a large amount of blood is used during an operation,autotransfusion can help to reduce the expense of blood transfusion.

Objective To investigate the possibility of blood flow resistance index (RI),pulse index (PI) plus the risk of malignant index (RMI) in preoperative diagnosis of ovarian neoplasm.Methods Four hundred and sixty-eight women with ovarian tumor,30 years or older,were enrolled in current study from January 2007 to December 2012 in the People's Hospital of Tianjin.Among them,127 were with malignant ovarian tumors and 341 with benign ovarian tumors.They were retrospectively prospective assessed by RI + PI,RMI,and RI + PI combine with RMI.Results The value of RI,PI of malignant ovarian tumors group were lower than those of benign ovarian tumors group ((0.41 ± 0.08) vs (0.68 ± 0.15),t =28.83,P ＜ 0.01 ; (0.82 ± 0.24) vs (1.67 ±0.71),t =22.26,P ＜0.01).RMI of malignant ovarian tumors group was (269.7 ±41.2),higher than that of benign ovarian tumors group(25.6 ± 11.4,t =107.55,P ＜0.01).The indices of RI ＜0.40 and/or PI ＜1.00,RMI ＞ 200 were served as the critical biomarker respectively.Histopathological examination result was conducted and considered as gold standard for identifying patients with ovarian cancer pelvic masses.The sensitivity of RI,PI plus RMI was 92.57％,higher than that used by RI and PI (81.02％) or RMI only (84.21％),and the difference was significant (P ＜ 0.05).The sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative predictive values of the combined index of RI,PI adding to RMI were all higher than 90％.Conclusion The combined index of RI,PI plus RMI was proved to enhance the diagnostic accuracy regarding of the preoperative diagnosis of benign or malignant ovarian tumors.