[Objective] To investigate the factors associated with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) abnormalities in multi-ethnic blood donors across five Zang autonomous prefectures in the plateau regions of Qinghai Province, and to provide evidence for ensuring blood safety and formulating screening strategies. [Methods] A retrospective analysis was performed on the ALT abnormal test results of blood donors in the Zang autonomous prefectures of Qinghai from 2022 to 2024. The correlations between ALT levels and factors including gender, age, altitude, and infectious markers were investigated. [Results] The overall ALT unqualified rate among blood donors in this region was 9.01%. Significant differences in ALT levels were observed across genders and age groups (P<0.05). Variations in ALT abnormality rates were also noted among different plateau regions (P<0.05). Overall, ALT values exhibited an increasing trend with rising altitude. The average ALT unqualified rates were 11.19% in Zang donors, 7.96% in Han donors, and 4.79% in donors from other ethnic groups (P<0.05). No statistically significant association was observed between ALT abnormality and the presence of HBV/HCV infectious markers (P>0.05). [Conclusion] In the plateau areas of Qinghai, multi-ethnic blood donors have a relatively high ALT levels and ALT unqualified rates, showing distinct regional characteristics. ALT elevation in voluntary blood donors is related to non-pathological factors such as gender, age, and dietary habits, but not to infectious indicators.

China has classified the Corona Virus Disease 2019(COVID-19) as a statutory category B infectious disease and managed it according to Category B since January 8, 2023.In view that Omicron variant is currently the main epidemic strain in China, in order to guide the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) infection in children with the times, refer to the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Infection (Trial 10 th Edition), Expert Consensus on Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention of Novel Coronavirus Infection in Children (Fourth Edition) and the Diagnosis and Treatment Strategy for Pediatric Related Viral Infections.The Expert Consensus on the Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention of Novel Coronavirus Infection in Children (Fifth Edition) has been formulated and updated accordingly on related etiology, epidemiology, pathogenic mechanism, clinical manifestations, auxiliary examination, diagnosis and treatment, and added key points for the treatment of COVID-19 related encephalopathy, fulminating myocarditis and other serious complications for clinical reference.

Aging poses a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, the leading cause of death in the aged population. However, the cell type-specific changes underlying cardiac aging are far from being clear. Here, we performed single-nucleus RNA-sequencing analysis of left ventricles from young and aged cynomolgus monkeys to define cell composition changes and transcriptomic alterations across different cell types associated with age. We found that aged cardiomyocytes underwent a dramatic loss in cell numbers and profound fluctuations in transcriptional profiles. Via transcription regulatory network analysis, we identified FOXP1, a core transcription factor in organ development, as a key downregulated factor in aged cardiomyocytes, concomitant with the dysregulation of FOXP1 target genes associated with heart function and cardiac diseases. Consistently, the deficiency of FOXP1 led to hypertrophic and senescent phenotypes in human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. Altogether, our findings depict the cellular and molecular landscape of ventricular aging at the single-cell resolution, and identify drivers for primate cardiac aging and potential targets for intervention against cardiac aging and associated diseases.
Aged ; Animals ; Humans ; Aging/genetics* ; Forkhead Transcription Factors/metabolism* ; Myocytes, Cardiac/metabolism* ; Primates/metabolism* ; Repressor Proteins/metabolism* ; Transcriptome ; Macaca fascicularis/metabolism*

The paper reported a case of a young male patient, with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) multi-organ involvement lesions after allo-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The patient had diverse clinical manifestations, and overlapping acute and chronic disease processes. Acute GVHD were mainly hyperbilirubinemia, with or without elevated transaminase, bloody watery stools; chronic GVHD were highlighted by extensive skin depigmentation, oral mucosal ulcer, sick nails, etc., and chronic signs, such as membranous nephropathy, polyserositis and pulmonary restrictive ventilatory insufficiency. The diagnosis of chronic GVHD mainly relies on medical history combined with clinical manifestations, and it's needed to exclude infections, drugs and tumors. Besides, the rate of missed diagnosis and misdiagnose is high, and it requires multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment. Combined with the literature review, it indicates that there is a greater risk of GVHD in the male recipient with female donor, and peripheral blood stem cell transplant patients have a higher incidence than bone marrow transplant patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, but the effect of the graft-versus-leukemia exists. Currently, glucocorticoids therapy with or without calcineurin inhibitors are the first-line treatment for GVHD, but the overall prognosis is poor.

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a very important pathogen, especially for children.On a global scale, GAS is an important cause of morbidity and mortality.But the burden of disease caused by GAS is still unknown in China and also has not obtained enough attention.For this purpose, the expert consensus is comprehensively described in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of GAS diseases in children, covering related aspects of pneumology, infectiology, immunology, microbiology, cardiology, nephrology, critical care medicine and preventive medicine.Accordingly, the consensus document was intended to improve management strategies of GAS disease in Chinese children.

Objective:To investigate the effect of ultra-low dose (ULD) computed tomography (CT) scanning on the diagnosis of ankle fractures and the quality of a three-dimensional printing (3DP) model.Methods:This study was a prospective study. A total of 61 patients with clinical ankle fractures treated conservatively in Zhuhai Hospital of Guangdong Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from November 2019 to January 2022 were included in this study. Patients underwent standard dose (SD) CT scan and ultra-low dose (ULD) CT scan, respectively. The tube voltage/tube current of SD and ULD were 120 kV/100 mAs and 80 kV/10 mAs, respectively. Two senior radiologists evaluated the presence of ankle fractures. The effective radiation dose ( E), noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast signal-to-noise ratio (CNR), and CT value of bone cortex minus CT value of peripheral fat (CTc) were compared. The radiologists also evaluated the discoverability, diagnosability, and overall image quality of the fracture line according to Likert′s 5-point scoring method. Two senior orthopedists subjectively evaluated the quality of each 3DP model (model clarity and operation guidance). A score ≥ 3 indicated that the quality of the CT diagnostic image and 3DP model were acceptable. Results:The interval between the two CT scans was (9.23 ± 1.92) d. A total of 94 fracture sites were found. There were no missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis based on the SD and ULD scans.Noise, SNR, and CNR were better on the SD CT scanning ( F=5.92, 9.70, 8.32, P=0.00), however, CTc was higher on the ULD scans ( F=27.55, P<0.01). The image scores of the SD and ULD scans were (4.97 ± 0.18) and (4.21 ± 0.71), and the quality scores of the 3DP model (4.99 ± 0.01) and (4.87 ± 0.34), respectively. The SD scans were better than the ULD scans with respect to CT image quality and 3DP model quality ( Z=-6.88, -2.91, P<0.01), but both were considered suitable to meet clinical needs (all ≥ 3 points). The E associated with SD and ULD scannings were (34.68 ± 4.96) μSV and (1.04 ± 0.10) μSV, respectively. The latter was thus significantly better than the former ( F=38.77, P =0.00). Conclusions:The E value of ULD scanning is about 3.00% of SD scanning E, which can meet the needs of clinical diagnosis of ankle fracture and 3DP model printing diagnosis.

Objective:To explore the clinical efficacy and safety of the new targeted anti-immunoglobulin E (IgE) drug Omalizumab in the treatment of children with moderate and severe allergic bronchial asthma in China.Methods:The clinical data of children with moderate and severe allergic asthma who were treated in the Department of Pediatrics of Peking University First Hospital from July 2018 to January 2020 and treated with Omalizumab were retrospectively analyzed.A comparison was performed on the changes of questionnaires, including childhood asthma control test (C-ACT), pediatric asthma quality of life questionnaire (PAQLQ), mini-asthma quality of life questionnaire (Mini-AQLQ) and global evaluation of asthma treatment effectiveness (GETE), pulmonary function test, including forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV 1), percentage to predicted value (FEV 1% pred) and small airway function, fractional concentration of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and so on, before and after treating with Omalizumab. Results:A total of 15 pediatric patients completed 16 weeks of treatment follow-up.After 16 weeks of Omazumab treatment, the score of C-ACT increased from (16.001.66) scores to (25.38±0.64) scores ( F=11.969, P<0.001), PAQLQ increased from (118.08 ± 23.78) scores to (141.00 ± 11.91) scores ( F=9.289, P=0.001), Mini-AQLQ increased from (78.93±7.43) scores to (97.92±3.12) scores ( F=4.145, P=0.042), and GETE decreased from (2.47±0.27) scores to (1.60±0.19) scores ( t=2.982, P=0.010). The actual value of FEV 1, FEV 1% pred, the maximum expiratory flow percentage of the predicted value (PEF% pred), forced expiratory flow at 25% (MEF 75), forced expiratory flow at 50% (MEF 50) and maximum midexpiratory flow (MMEF 75/25), increased from (1.96±0.12) L to (2.17±0.21) L ( F=0.425, P=0.789), (81.46±2.85)% to (82.64±1.55)% ( F=0.926, P=0.465), (82.05±3.58)% to (91.10±4.67)% ( F=1.909, P=0.128), (60.36±7.43)% to (76.94±4.65)% ( F=2.120, P=0.096), (52.72±3.75)% to (73.80±8.34)% ( F=3.140, P=0.047) and (60.05±8.47)% to (74.86±10.85)% ( F=7.860, P=0.010), respectively.FeNO decreased from 25.0 (14.5, 35.5) μg/L to 20.0 (18.5, 30.0) μg/L ( Z=-0.206, P=0.840). Transient headache was observed in 1 case and evanescent eruption in 2 cases during the treatment, respectively. Conclusions:Omalizumab can significantly improve the clinical manifestations, lung function indicators and quality of life of children with moderate and severe allergic asthma, and has good safety.Thus, it is expected to play an important role in the treatment of children with moderate-to-severe allergic asthma.

Objective:To study the efficacy and safety of CT guided percutaneous transhepatic microwave ablation (PTPMWA) for primary liver cancer (PLC) in liver segment 9.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted on PLC patients between October 2013 and March 2019 at Dongguan People’s Hospital, Southern Medical University. Of 41 patients who entered into the study, there were 36 males and 5 females, with an average age of 59.1 years. These patients were diagnosed to have PLC in segment 9. The surgical related data and follow-up results were collected and analyzed.Results:All patients enrolled in the study completed the treatment procedure. CT scan was performed immediately after ablation which showed that the tumor areas to be completely covered by ablation. The duration of operation ranged from 45 to 260 (mean 91) min. The amount of bleeding during treatment was 1.0 to 5.0 (mean 1.4) ml. The complete response rate was 97.6% (40 patients) and the partial response rate was 2.4% (1 patient). The cumulative survival rates at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years were 95.1%, 85.4%, 75.3%, 45.2% and 45.2%, respectively. Only 4 patients (9.8%) developed recurrence after treatment. The timings of recurrence were 1, 6, 13 and 67 months after treatment, respectively. The recurrent lesions were ablated again and complete response was obtained in all patients. There were no serious problems related to complications from ablation. The rate of postoperative complication was 7.3% (3 patients).Conclusion:PTPMWA is a novel treatment for patients with PLC in liver segment 9, the advantages of this treatment include good safety, high efficacy, low complications and local recurrence. The treatment is worthy of further future studies.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of switch from prednisone (AA+ P) to dexamethasone (AA+ D) in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients (mCRPC) progressing on abiraterone plus prednisone.Methods:Between November 2016 and December 2019, 46 mCRPC patients were switched to AA+ D after progression on AA+ P at Sun Yet-sen University Cancer center. Median age was 72 years(50 to 89 years), with median androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) duration 14.6 months(2.1 to 168.5 months). PSA level at the time of diagnosis, the initiation of AA+ P treatment, the time of switch were 258.9 ng/ml, 56.6 ng/ml, 25.1 ng/ml, respectively. 42 (91.3%), 12(26.1%), 7(15.2%) patients had bone metastasis, lymph node metastasis, visceral metastasis, respectively. 28 patients had Gleason score ≥8, and 11 patients had Gleason score<8. The primary endpoint was progression free-survival (PFS). Secondary endpoints included PSA response rate of PSA decline ≥50% and ≥30% and safety. Patients were divided into different risk level groups according to PSA level at the time of switch and PFS on AA+ P.Results:The median follow-up of 46 patients was 4.9 months, 40 patients progressed at the last follow-up, the treatment was terminated in 1 patient because of cerebral infarction, 5 patients were still on the treatment of AA+ D. Median PFS on AA+ D of 46 patients was 3.7 (1.6-24.1) months. A total of 12 (26.1%) patients showed a PSA decline≥50% after treatment with AA+ D, and 21 (45.7%) patients showed a PSA decline ≥30%. The median PFS was 8.5 (2.7-24.1) and 3.0 (1.6-17.8) months for patients with PSA decline≥50% and PSA didn’t decline ≥50%, respectively. Four factors below were significantly associated with a longer PFS on AA+ D after steroid switch in univariate analysis: lower PSA level at the time of switch (<30 ng/ml, HR=0.30, 95% CI 0.14-0.64, P=0.002), longer ADT sensitivity duration (≥18 months, HR=0.55, 95% CI 0.28-1.06, P=0.045), longer AA+ P treatment PFS (≥8 months, HR=0.36, 95% CI 0.18-0.72, P=0.004), and greater PSA decline on AA+ D (≥50%, HR=0.30, 95% CI 0.17-0.75, P=0.007). The above mentioned factors were also independent prognostic factors associated with better PFS on AA+ D after steroid switch in multivariate analysis. Treatment with AA+ D was well tolerated in all patients, with no grade 3/4 toxicity reported. Conclusions:Switching from prednisone to dexamethasone is effective and safe in mCRPC patients progressing on abiraterone plus prednisone. Patients with lower PSA level at the time of switch, longer ADT sensitivity duration, longer AA+ P treatment PFS and greater PSA decline on AA+ D might gain better efficacy.

Age-associated changes in immune cells have been linked to an increased risk for infection. However, a global and detailed characterization of the changes that human circulating immune cells undergo with age is lacking. Here, we combined scRNA-seq, mass cytometry and scATAC-seq to compare immune cell types in peripheral blood collected from young and old subjects and patients with COVID-19. We found that the immune cell landscape was reprogrammed with age and was characterized by T cell polarization from naive and memory cells to effector, cytotoxic, exhausted and regulatory cells, along with increased late natural killer cells, age-associated B cells, inflammatory monocytes and age-associated dendritic cells. In addition, the expression of genes, which were implicated in coronavirus susceptibility, was upregulated in a cell subtype-specific manner with age. Notably, COVID-19 promoted age-induced immune cell polarization and gene expression related to inflammation and cellular senescence. Therefore, these findings suggest that a dysregulated immune system and increased gene expression associated with SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility may at least partially account for COVID-19 vulnerability in the elderly.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aging ; genetics ; immunology ; Betacoronavirus ; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; metabolism ; Cell Lineage ; Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly ; Coronavirus Infections ; immunology ; Cytokine Release Syndrome ; etiology ; immunology ; Cytokines ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Disease Susceptibility ; Flow Cytometry ; methods ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Gene Rearrangement ; Humans ; Immune System ; cytology ; growth & development ; immunology ; Immunocompetence ; genetics ; Inflammation ; genetics ; immunology ; Mass Spectrometry ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; immunology ; Sequence Analysis, RNA ; Single-Cell Analysis ; Transcriptome ; Young Adult