Effectiveness of prophylactic central compartment neck dissection following Hemithyroidectomy in papillary thyroid cancer: a meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: In this study, we aimed to assess the effect of prophylactic central compartment neck dissection (pCCND) in conjunction with hemithyroidectomy (HT) for clinically low-risk node-negative (cN0) papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). METHODS: A thorough literature search was performed utilizing PubMed and EMBASE for articles published until October 2023. Subsequently, a meta-analysis was performed on studies involving patients with cN0 PTC, with postoperative locoregional recurrence (LRR) and survival data, treated with HT + pCCND or HT. The study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024560962). RESULTS: We included seven studies in this meta-analysis, including 2132 patients who met the inclusion criteria: six retrospective cohort studies and one randomized controlled trial. The HT + pCCND group consisted of 1090 cases, and the HT group had 1042 cases. The LRR rates after HT with or without pCCND were similar (3.58% vs. 4.51%; odds ratio (OR) = 0.65; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.41-1.03). Five of the seven studies provided prognostic and survival data, particularly the log hazard ratio (log HR) of disease-free survival (DFS) between the two groups. There was also no significant difference in terms of DFS between the HT + pCCND and HT groups (OR = 0.67; 95% CI = 0.42-1.07). CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant difference in LRR and DFS between the HT + pCCND and HT groups. pCCND did not demonstrate significant efficacy in improving oncological outcomes for low-risk patients with cN0 PTC. Therefore, for patients with low-risk cN0 PTC, thyroid surgeons should make reasonable and individualized decisions regarding the extent of surgical removal.

[Analysis of the regional distribution differences of common variations of the MMACHC gene in cblC methylmalonic acidemia patients].

Objective: To analyze regional differences in MMACHC gene variations among patients with cblC-type methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) in China and to explore the relationship between these variations and neonatal screening, biochemical markers and prognosis. Methods: Retrospective case summary. Clinical and laboratory data, including general condition, biochemical markers and genetic analysis, were collected from 1 859 cblC MMA patients from 2005 to 2023. Patients were divided into 7 groups according to their regions: north China, northeast China, east China, central China, south China, southwest China and northwest China. They were also classified into neonatal screening and non-neonatal screening groups. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare biochemical marker levels. In contrast, the Chi-square test was applied to compare MMACHC gene variant frequencies, neonatal screening proportion, onset age and prognosis between groups. Results: Among 1 859 cases of cblC MMA, 1 019 were male and 840 were female, with a consultation age of 1.0 (0.1, 5.0) month. A total of 1 787 cases carried compound heterozygous or homozygous variants and only 1 variant site was identified in 72 cases. The 10 most frequent variants were c.609G>A (1 238 cases), c.658_660delAAG (343 cases), c.80A>G (284 cases), c.482G>A (239 cases), c.567dupT (191 cases), c.656_658delAGA (131 cases), c.217C>T (109 cases), c.394C>T (105 cases), c.445_446delTG (51 cases) and c.1A>G (50 cases). The frequency of the c.609G>A was the lowest in northwest China (28.8% (44/154), χ²=-18.42, P<0.05). The frequency of the c.567dupT was the most common in southwest China (25.0% (20/80), χ²=71.70, P<0.001) and c.656_658delAGA had the highest frequency in northeast China (9.3% (19/205), χ²=32.08, P<0.001). Non-missense variants (91.2% (62/68), 88.5% (46/52)) and early-onset patients (90.0% (36/40), 94.4% (34/36)) were both more prevalent in southwest and south China (χ²=14.95, 31.69, both P<0.05). The proportion of neonatal screening was the lowest in south China (22.2% (8/36), χ²=98.48, P<0.05), where the mortality rate was the highest (19.1% (4/21), χ²=38.98, P<0.001). East China exhibited the highest frequency of missense variants (21.5% (339/1 579)), the highest proportion of patients identified through neonatal screening (54.5% (465/853)), and a more significant proportion of patients with good prognosis (36.6% (227/621), χ²=14.57, 93.49, 38.98, all P<0.05). In addition, the c.482G>A variant was more frequent in patients diagnosed by neonatal screening compared to those diagnosed by other methods (8.3% (132/1 586) vs. 5.9% (122/2 060), χ²=7.97, P<0.05). Conclusions: The frequency of MMACHC gene variation varies across different regions. The c.609G>A was least frequent in northwest China, c.567dupT was most common in southwest China, and c.656_658delAGA was most prevalent in northeast China. South China had the lowest neonatal screening rate and the highest mortality. At the same time, east China exhibited the highest frequency of missense variants, the highest proportion of patients identified through neonatal screening and the best prognosis. The c.482G>A variant was more frequent in patients diagnosed by neonatal screening compared to those diagnosed by other methods.

[Analysis of MTHFR gene variants in fifteen children with hyperhomocysteinemia].

The clinical manifestations, biochemical and metabolic data, genetic variations and treatment data of children with MTHFR gene variant induced hyperhomocysteinemia admitted to Hangzhou Children's Hospital and Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from November 2015 to September 2021 were analysed retrospectively. A total of 15 pediatric patients were included, including 10 males and 5 females, with onset ages ranging from 6 days to 18 years old and confirmed ages ranging from 40 days to 18 years old. One confirmed case was detected through neonatal screening, and the remaining 14 cases were all diagnosed through genetic diagnosis after onset. The main clinical manifestations were feeding difficulties, hypotonia, epilepsy, developmental delay. All patients had elevated levels of blood homocysteine, with blood homocysteine levels before and after treatment being (151.46±57.44) µmol/L and (69.96±32.88) µmol/L, significantly decreased after treatment compared with before treatment, with a statistically significant difference (P<0.001). The blood methionine level before the treatment was 9.40 (6.20, 11.96) µmol/L, normal or slightly decreased compared to the reference range. The methionine level returned to normal after treatment. A total of 19 MTHFR gene variants were detected, with 6 being unreported variants and 13 being known variants. c.1316C>T (p.L439P) was the most common variant(16.6%,5/30). All the patients had varied neurological damages, with 7 patients improved after metabolic therapy by carnitine and folinic acid, 8 patients experiencing developmental delay, and 1 patient experiencing frequent epilepsy. The clinical manifestations of MTHFR gene variation-related hyperhomocysteinemia are complex and variable. Early-onset and homozygous variants often have a poor prognosis. Blood homocysteine, blood amino acid analysis, serum total homocysteine assay and gene testing are helpful for early diagnosis.

[Dislocation into the anterior chamber and spontaneous repositioning of a dexamethasone intravitreal implant: a case report].

A 61-year-old male patient presented with blurred vision in the right eye for 1 day. The patient had previously undergone phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation (10 years ago) and intravitreal implantation of dexamethasone (due to uveitis) in the eye. There was edema in the inferior cornea, along with Descemet membrane folds. The rod-shaped dexamethasone implant was visible in the inferior anterior chamber. Without pupil dilation, the patient was asked to keep a supine position and avoid head tilting for 1 day. The implant spontaneously relocated into the vitreous cavity, resulting in a reduction of corneal edema. This suggests that the dislocation of the intravitreal implant into the anterior chamber may be caused by a local zonular abnormality, and the dislocated implant has the potential to reposition itself spontaneously.

[Quality of life and risk factors in patients with herpes zoster].

Objective: To evaluate the quality of life and influencing factors of patients with herpes zoster (HZ) seen in hospitals. Methods: Based on Zoster Brief Pain Inventory (ZBPI) and Five-level EuroQol Five-dimensional Questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L), a cross-sectional survey was conducted to evaluate the pain severity and quality of life of 332 HZ cases seen in 22 hospitals of Lu'an City (Anhui Province), Zibo City (Shandong Province) and Tongchuan City (Shaanxi Province) from October to December 2021. The censored least absolute deviations (CLAD) model was used to analyze the related factors affecting the changes of patients' health utility values. Results: The 45.5% of 332 HZ cases were male. The median (Q1,Q3) age was 59 (50, 68) years. 59.64% of them assessed by ZBPI had moderate to severe pain in the past 24 hours (worst pain score≥5), and that of PHN cases was 84.8%(39/46). 77.7% (258/332), 77.4% (257/332) and 74.1% (246/332) of all patients reported that pain interfered with sleep, mood and general activities, respectively. Aging [ß40-49y (95%CI)=-0.11 (-0.15, -0.08); ß50-59y (95%CI)=-0.03 (-0.05, 0.00); ß60-69y (95%CI)=-0.09 (-0.12, -0.06); ß70-90y(95%CI)=-0.16 (-0.19, -0.12)], working status (unemployed) [ßfarmer (95%CI)=0.15 (0.13, 0.18); ßretirees(95%CI)=0.21 (0.18, 0.24); ßemployee (95%CI)=0.13 (0.10, 0.16) ], complications[ßPHN (95%CI)=-0.08 (-0.13, -0.04); ßother complications (95%CI)=-0.12 (-0.15, -0.08)], within 30 days after onset [ß(95%CI)=-0.01 (-0.03, 0.01)] and treatment [ßother complications (95%CI)=-0.09 (-0.11, -0.06)] were related factors for the decline of health utility value (all P values <0.05). Conclusions: More than half of the patients with HZ had moderate to severe pain in the past 24 hours, which had a serious negative impact on the physical and mental health of the patients. Elderly patients, acute patients and patients with complications had lower health utility values and worse health status. We suggest that eligible people be vaccinated with HZ vaccine as soon as possible.

[Clinical and StAR genetic characteristics of 33 children with congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia].

Objective: To analyze the clinical and genetic characteristics of 33 children with congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia (CLAH) caused by StAR gene defects. Methods: The clinical, biochemical, genetic, and follow-up (until December 2021) data of 33 children diagnosed with CLAH from 2006 to 2021 were retrospectively analyzed in Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. Results: Of the 33 children with CLAH, 17 had a karyotype of 46, XX and 16 had a karyotype of 46, XY; 31 were female and 2 were male by social gender. Classic type and non-classic type were found in 30 and 3 children respectively. The age at diagnosis was 9.0 (3.0, 34.5) months. All the 30 cases with classic CLAH presented within the first year of life with skin hyperpigmentation (28 cases, 93%), vomiting and(or) diarrhea (19 cases, 63%), no increase in body weight (8 cases, 27%), elevated adrenocorticotropic hormone levels (21cases (70%)>275 pmol/L), decreased cortisol levels (47 (31,126) nmol/L), hyponatremia ((126±13) mmol/L), hyperkalemia ((5.7±1.1) mmol/L), and normal 17α-hydroxyprogesterone levels (30 cases, 100%). All these with classic CLAH exhibited female external genitalia. Three children with non-classic CLAH (including 2 cases of 46, XY and 1 case of 46, XX) also showed signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency, but 2 of them had an age of onset later than 1 year of age, including 1 case of 46, XY with male external genitalia and 1 case of 46, XX with female external genitalia. The other 46, XY patient with non-classic CLAH presented with adrenal insufficiency at 2 months of age, showing micropenis and hypospadias. In the 17 females with 46, XX, 4 older than 10 years of age showed spontaneous pubertal development. A total of 25 StAR gene pathogenic variants were identified in 33 patients, with p.Q258* (18/66, 27%), p.K236Tfs*47 (8/66, 12%) and p.Q77* (6/66, 9%) being the common variantion. Six novel variants were found, including c.358T>G, c.713_714del, c.125del, c.745-1G>A, c.179-2A>C, and exon 1 deletion. Conclusions: Patients with classic CLAH typically present with signs and symptoms of primary adrenal insufficiency in the early infancy period and female external genitalia. p.Q258*, p.K236Tfs*47 and p.Q77* are common variants in CLAH patients.

[Clinical features and gene mutations of 6 patients with carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A deficiency].

The clinical and biochemical data and gene sequencing results of patients with carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A deficiency were analyzed, in order to improve the understanding of the disease. Six patients (5 males and 1 female, aged from 1 to 8 years old) with carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A deficiency from Department of Pediatric Endocrinology and Genetic Metabolism, Xinhua Hospital between 2008 and 2019 were included. Two cases were detected by neonatal screening and had no clinical symptoms. The remaining 4 cases all showed seizures induced by fever, vomiting or diarrhea. All the 6 patients showed increased serum free carnitine (C0), decreased hexadecanoylcarnitine (C16) and octadecanoylcarnitine (C18), and increased C0/(C16+C18). Meanwhile, compound heterozygous mutations of CPT1A gene were detected in all 6 patients, of which 2 were reported mutations (c.281+1G>A and c.968-8C>T), and 10 were new mutations. The new mutations included 6 missense mutations, 1 nonsense mutation, 1 deletion mutation and 2 splicing mutations. Detection of free carnitine and acyl carnitine by tandem mass spectrometry is helpful for early screening and diagnosis of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A deficiency.

[A prospective multi-center clinical investigation of HIV-negative pulmonary cryptococcosis in China].

Objective: To investigate the current status of the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary cryptococcosis in respiratory medicine and improve the understanding of the clinical characteristics of HIV-negative pulmonary cryptococcosis in China. Methods: A prospective multi-center open cohort study was designed to screen for pulmonary cryptococcosis in the general wards and intensive care units of the Department of Respiratory Diseases in 22 hospitals. The HIV-negative patients with positive cryptococcal etiological diagnosis based on smear culture, antigen detection and histopathology were enrolled in the study. The clinical data of enrolled patients were collected and analyzed. Results: A total of 457 cases of pulmonary cryptococcosis were enrolled, among which 3.28% (15/457) were disseminated infections. The case fatality rate was 0.88% (4/457). The majority of the cases were diagnosed by histopathological examinations (74.40%, 340/457) and cryptococcus antigen detection (37.64%, 172/457). Patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis accounted for 2.04‰ (457/223 748) of the total hospitalized patients in the Department of Respiratory Diseases during the same period, and the ratio was the highest in south and east China. Meanwhile, 70.24% (321/457) of the patients had no underlying diseases, while 87.75% (401/457) were found to have immunocompetent status. Cough and expectoration were the most common clinical symptoms in patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis. However, 25.16% (115/457) of the patients had no clinical symptom or physical signs. In terms of imaging features on pulmonary CT, multiple pulmonary lesions were more common than isolated lesions, and there were more subpleural lesions than perihilar or medial lesions. Morphologically, most of the lesions were middle-sized nodules (1-5 cm) or small-sized nodules (3 mm to 1 cm). The sensitivity of serum cryptococcus antigen test was 71.99% (203/282). Moreover, antigen-positive patients differed from antigen-negative patients in terms of basic immune status, clinical symptoms, imaging features and infection types. Meanwhile, immunocompromised patients differed from immunocompetent patients in terms of clinical symptoms, physical signs, infection-related inflammation indicator levels, imaging features, serum cryptococcus antigen positive rate and prognosis. Conclusions: The majority of cases of HIV-negative pulmonary cryptococcosis in China had no underlying disease or immunocompromised status, and the overrall prognosis was favorable. However, early diagnosis of HIV-negative pulmonary cryptococcosis remains challenging due to the complicated manifestations of the disease.

Decreased long noncoding RNA ADIPOQ promoted cell proliferation and metastasis via miR-219c-3p/TP53 pathway in colorectal carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of Long non-coding RNA ADIPOQ and its facilitating effects on proliferation and invasion of colorectal cancer by modulating the expression of TP53 via sponging with miR-219c-3p. PATIENTS AND METHODS: qRT-PCR was performed to detect the expressions of ADIPOQ and TP53 in human colorectal cancer tissues and cells. CCK-8 assay was performed to evaluate the Caco-2 cells proliferation and transwell assay was performed to evaluate the Caco-2 cells migration. The relationship between ADIPOQ and miR-219c-3p was detected by statistical analysis. Target prediction and Luciferase activity assay were conducted to investigate the binding site and interaction between ADIPOQ and miR-219c-3p. Further, we cloned the mice TP53 3'-UTR into the Luciferase reporter vector and constructed miR-219c-3p binding mutants to verify the inhibited regulation of miR-219c-3p to the TP53 expression. RESULTS: The results suggested that the expression of ADIPOQ and TP53 was downregulated in human colorectal cancer tissues and Caco-2 cells. qRT-PCR and CCK-8 assay showed that ADIPOQ expression is correlated with the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells. Transwell assay showed that ADIPOQ regulated the migration ability of colorectal cancer cells. The bioinformatics prediction and Luciferase assay demonstrated that ADIPOQ serves as ceRNA for miR-219c-3p to further regulate the expression of TP53. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time, we found that lncRNA-ADIPOQ was downregulated in human colorectal cancer cells, which could facilitate tumor proliferation, migration and invasion as a ceRNA by sponging with miR-219c-3p.

Synthetic chimeric nucleases function for efficient genome editing.

CRISPR-Cas systems have revolutionized genome editing across a broad range of biotechnological endeavors. Many CRISPR-Cas nucleases have been identified and engineered for improved capabilities. Given the modular structure of such enzymes, we hypothesized that engineering chimeric sequences would generate non-natural variants that span the kinetic parameter landscape, and thus provide for the rapid selection of nucleases fit for a particular editing system. Here, we design a chimeric Cas12a-type library with approximately 560 synthetic chimeras, and select several functional variants. We demonstrate that certain nuclease domains can be recombined across distantly related nuclease templates to produce variants that function in bacteria, yeast, and human cell lines. We further characterize selected chimeric nucleases and find that they have different protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) preferences and the M44 chimera has higher specificity relative to wild-type (WT) sequences. This demonstration opens up the possibility of generating nuclease sequences with implications across biotechnology.

[Clinical, molecular genetic analysis, and treatment of 3 children with sitosterolemia].

Objective: To investigate clinical, molecular genetic characteristics, and treatment outcomes of 3 children with sitosterolemia. Methods: Three cases of children presented with multiple xanthomas during June 2016 to June 2017 were included. The clinical manifestations, laboratory examinations and follow-up data were retrospectively analyzed. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood and analyzed with whole exome sequencing(WES). All the detected variants were confirmed by Sanger sequencing. Plasma plant sterol concentrations were measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results: Three cases of children including 1 boy and 2 girls presented with multiple linear and intertriginous xanthomas around skin of the joint areas at the age from 15 months to 6 years and 2 months. Total cholesterol of the 3 cases was elevated to 14.45, 15.47 and 15.85 mmol/L (3.36-6.46), and low density lipoprotein cholesterol was 9.02, 13.54 and 12.47 mmol/L (< 3.36) respectively. Genetic analysis with WES revealed that 2 cases carried compound heterozygous variants in ABCG5 gene, 1 case carried compound heterozygous variants in ABCG8 gene. Two reported variants (p. N437K, p.R446X) and one novel variant (p.Q251X) of ABCG5 were identified in case 2 and 3. Two novel ABCG8 variants (p.R263Q, c.1528_1530delATC) were found in case 1. All these children had extremely high plasma plant sterol levels, thus the diagnosis of sitosterolemia was confirming. The campesterol level was 111.35, 102.86 and 58.91 µmol/L(0.01-10.00), the stigmasterol was 14.97, 29.43 and 17.79 µmol/L (0.10-8.50) and the sitosterol was 231.20, 177.66 and 114.20 µmol/L (1.00-15.00) respectively. The total serum cholesterol levels of three children decreased to nomal after the patients were placed on the low plant sterol/low cholesterol diet. The xanthomas regressed gradually, and almost disappeared after 8 months of treatment in case 1 and 3. Conclusions: Children with sitosterolemia presented with skin xanthomas around the joint areas. The level of total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and plant sterols increased obviously. One novel variant (p.Q251X) of ABCG5 and 2 novel variants (p.R263Q, c.1528_1530delATC) of ABCG8 were identified. Children with sitosterolemia responded well to a low plant sterols/low cholesterol diet.

[Clinical and gene mutation analysis of three children with late-onset glycogen storage disease type â ¡ with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy].

Objective: To investigate the clinical and laboratory features of three children with late-onset type Ⅱ glycogen storage disease(GSD) who presented with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and to analyze the effect of five mutations identified on the acid-α-glucosidase (GAA) activity and stability. Method: Three cases of children with muscle weakness were included in this study.GAA activity was analyzed in Dried Blood Spot of the patients.DNA was extracted from peripheral blood in all the patients and their parents and subjected to polymerase chain reaction and directly sequencing of GAA gene.Five mutant pcDNA3.1-myc-his-GAA expression plasmids(p.G478R, p.P361L, p.P266S, p.Q323X, p.R672Q) were constructed and transient instantaneously transfected into 293T cells to analyze the enzyme activity and stability of GAA. Result: All the three children had the onset of disease at 3 years or 1.5 years of age.They presented with developmental delay, muscle weakness and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.GAA activity of 3 patients was 2.65, 3.55 and 1.51 pmol(punch·h)(8.00-98.02)respectively. Genetic analysis found 5 mutations (p.G478R, p. P361L, p. P266S, p. Q323X, p. R672Q), and all of these 3 cases had clinical manifestations and were diagnosed as late-onset type Ⅱ glycogen storage disease.Five mutant pcDNA3.1-myc-his-GAA expression plasmids were transfected into 293T cells.Five mutant enzyme activities were found to be only 9.9%-22.5% of the wild-type enzyme activity and the protein expression of the five mutants was 32.0%-63.9% compared with the wild type. Conclusion: This study reports 3 children with late-onset GSD Ⅱ accompanied by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and compensatory stage of cardiac function in addition to limb muscle weakness.Five pathogenic mutations were identified, and these 5 mutations result in decreased GAA activity and GAA expression by in vitro functional analysis.

[Clinical and genetic analysis of an infant with isolated 17, 20-lyase deficiency].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical and genetic characteristics of an infant with isolated 17, 20-lyase deficiency. METHOD: The clinical, biochemical and genetic characteristics were analyzed in an 8-month-old infant with 46, XY gonadal dysgenesis who presented predominantly the female external genitalia. RESULT: The infant was referred because of"masses in bilateral inguinal region and 46, XY gonadal dysgenesis". He was normotensive. Laboratory tests revealed elevated levels of progesterone and 17-hydroxyprogesterone. The detailed parameters are as follows: progesterone 29.35(reference range 0.09-1.0)nmol/L, 17-hydroxyprogesterone 10.9(reference range 0.6-2.6)nmol/L, testosterone 0.7(reference range 0.1-3.1)nmol/L, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate <0.15(reference range 0.80-5.6)mg/L, androstenedione <0.3 (reference range 0.6-3.1) µg/L, luteinizing hormone 6.6(reference range 0.6-1.7)U/L, follicle stimulating hormone 1.8 (reference range 0.5-3.7)U/L, estradiol 37.66(reference range 73.4-146.8)pmol/L. The patient had normal levels of serum sodium, potassium, corticosteroid and plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone. Genomic DNA was extracted from the leukocytes of peripheral blood of the patient and subjected to next generation sequencing (NGS) for testing more than 200 sexual development related genes. Sanger sequencing was used to confirm the results of NGS. Genetic analysis revealed that the patient harbored compound heterozygous mutations of c. 1226C>G (p.Pro409Arg, P409R) and c. 707T>G (p.Val236Gly, V236G) in CYP17A1 gene derived from paternal and maternal allele. V236G was a novel mutation predicted to be pathogenic. The infant was diagnosed as isolated 17, 20-lyase deficiency combined with clinical and molecular characteristics of CYP17A1 gene. CONCLUSION: We have identified the compound heterozygous mutations of P409R and V236G in the CYP17A1 gene in one infant with isolated 17, 20-lyase deficiency. He presented with 46, XY gonadal dysgenesis, normal blood pressure and elevated concentration of progesterone and 17-hydroxyprogesterone.

[Applying multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification in the diagnosis of 5 cases with ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency].

OBJECTIVE: To detect large genomic deletions or duplications of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) gene by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA). METHOD: Thirty cases of suspected OTC deficiency (OTCD) patients based on tandem-mass spectrum results were recruited in Xinhua Hospital from 2012 to 2014, among whom 13 were male and 17 were female. Sanger sequencing of OTC gene revealed mutations in 23 cases. MLPA was performed in the patients whose previous Sanger sequencing failed to detect any disease-causing mutation. The samples were treated via the steps of DNA degeneration, the probe hybridization, connecting the hybridization probe, PCR amplification and capillary electrophoresis. The data were analyzed using Coffalyser software. RESULT: Abnormal MLPA results were found in 5 patients without mutation detected in previous Sanger sequencing. Patient 1, a 9-year old girl, had a heterozygous deletion of Exon 2-4. Patient 2, a male newborn, died 10 days after birth. The examination of the mother's sample by MLPA revealed a heterozygous duplication of exon 2-6. Patient 3, a 10-day old boy, was found to harbor a hemizygous deletion of exon 7-10. Patient 4, a 2-year old girl, harbored a heterozygous deletion of exon 1-4. The fifth patient died at the age of 6 years, and his mother carried a heterozygous duplication of exon 1-4. CONCLUSION: MLPA can be helpful in detecting the OTC gene defects, particularly for OTCD patients without mutation detected by Sanger sequencing.

Unusually high soil nitrogen oxide emissions influence air quality in a high-temperature agricultural region.

Fertilized soils have large potential for production of soil nitrogen oxide (NOx=NO+NO2), however these emissions are difficult to predict in high-temperature environments. Understanding these emissions may improve air quality modelling as NOx contributes to formation of tropospheric ozone (O3), a powerful air pollutant. Here we identify the environmental and management factors that regulate soil NOx emissions in a high-temperature agricultural region of California. We also investigate whether soil NOx emissions are capable of influencing regional air quality. We report some of the highest soil NOx emissions ever observed. Emissions vary nonlinearly with fertilization, temperature and soil moisture. We find that a regional air chemistry model often underestimates soil NOx emissions and NOx at the surface and in the troposphere. Adjusting the model to match NOx observations leads to elevated tropospheric O3. Our results suggest management can greatly reduce soil NOx emissions, thereby improving air quality.

Evaluation of urinary pseudouridine as a tumor marker in lung cancer.

The urinary concentration of pseudouridine, primarily a breakdown product of tRNA, was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography in 33 patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC), 18 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), 18 patients with benign pulmonary diseases (eg, TB, COPD), and 16 healthy controls. The mean urinary pseudouridine concentration levels of the patients with SCLC, NSCLC, benign pulmonary disease and the healthy controls were 22.7 +/- 11.8, 15.6 +/- 6.0, 13.4 +/- 3.6, 12.1 +/- 3.2 nmol/mumol creatinine (mean +/- SD), respectively. The mean urinary pseudouridine concentration was significantly higher in patients with SCLC than that in patients with NSCLC, benign pulmonary disease and in the healthy controls. There was no significant difference in the urinary pseudouridine levels of patients with NSCLC and healthy controls or patients with benign pulmonary disease. Urinary pseudouridine levels above 18.5 nmol/mumol creatinine (mean value +/- 2SD for healthy controls) were noted in 54.5% of patients with SCLC, including 11 of 17 (64.7%) in extensive stage and seven of 16 (43.8%) in limited stage, and 27.8% of the patients with NSCLC. Of the 12 patients with SCLC who had follow-up urinary samples taken in series during chemotherapy courses, there was considerable urinary pseudouridine level change which paralleled the change in clinical response. Although urinary pseudouridine is not a specific marker for SCLC, it represents the tumor burden and reflects the clinical status. These findings indicate that urinary pseudouridine may be a useful tumor marker in patients with SCLC.

Ethacrynic acid increases facility of outflow in the human eye in vitro.

Anterior segments of human donor eyes were perfused with culture medium at a perfusion pressure of 15 mm Hg in a 5% carbon dioxide environment at 37 degrees C. After determination of a baseline facility of outflow, the perfusion chamber contents were exchanged with either drug vehicle or ethacrynic acid, at concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 0.25 mmol/L, after which postdrug facility was measured in the continuous presence of drug vehicle or ethacrynic acid. Ethacrynic acid increased facility of outflow from 28% to 105% at ethacrynic acid concentrations of 0.01 to 0.25 mmol/L, respectively. No morphologic correlate of the facility increase was observed with 0.01-mmol/L ethacrynic acid, nor were there any signs of cellular toxic effects. At 0.1 mmol/L, separations between trabecular meshwork cells and breaks between inner-wall cells were observed. At 0.25 mmol/L, focal areas of cell swelling and necrosis were noted. This study demonstrated that ethacrynic acid increases outflow facility in the aged human eye at concentrations that produce no apparent toxic effects. Therefore, ethacrynic acid may potentially prove useful in the treatment of glaucoma.