Characteristics and Outcomes of Long-Stay Patients in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Long-stay patients in the PICU have a higher risk of mortality as compared with non-long-stay patients. We aim to describe mortality and characteristics of long-stay patients and to determine the risk factors for mortality in these children. Total 241 (4.8%) long-stay admissions were identified. Mortality of long-stayers was 48/241 (20%). Higher severity-of-illness score at admission, need for organ support therapies, number of nosocomial infections, and bloodstream nosocomial infection were associated with a higher mortality in long-stay patients in the PICU. Based on multivariate analysis, oncologic diagnosis as a preexisting comorbidity is a strong independent predictor of mortality for long-stay patients.

[Imbalance of Tc and Th in Peripheral Blood of Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Its Significance].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the imbalance of Tc1/Tc2,Th1/Th2 and Tc/Th in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) and its relationship with the clinical stages of SLE. METHODS: The full blood culture and flow cytometry with fluorescence-labelled T lymphocytes were used to detect the levels of T-lymphocyte subsets and its intracellular factors IFN-γ and IL-4 in peripheral blood from SLP patients in active, inactive stages and normal healthy persons as controls, to compare the changes of Tc1,Tc2; Th1,Th2 levels and Tc/Th ratio in SLP patients in active and inactive stages, and to analyze their relationship with SLEDAI staging. RESULTS: Compared with healthy controls, the levels of CD4+/CD8+ in active SLE patients were significantly lower, but the levels of Tc1,Th1 in active SLE patients were higher than those in inactive SLE patients and normal controls. The ratio of Tc1/Tc2 and Th1/Th2 in the active SLE was higher than that in inactive SLE and normal controls(P<0.05), but the difference between inactive SLE patients and controls was not statistically significant (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The Tc/Th imbalances and change of Tc and Th cells to Tc1 and Th1 cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of SLE.

[Expression and significance of p53-inducible gene 3 (PIG-3) in diffuse large B cell lymphoma].

This study was aimed to investigate the expression of p53-inducible gene 3 (PIG-3) in diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and the relationship between PIG-3 and the pathogenesis of lymphoma. The expression of PIG-3 in 20 patients with DLBCL and 20 healthy adults (as a control group) was detected by Western blot and RT-PCR. The results showed that the expression of PIG-3 protein in patients with DLBCL was significantly lower than that in controls, but the expression of PIG-3 was higher after chemotherapy for 6 months than that before chemotherapy. RT-PCR detection demonstrated that the size of PIG-3 amplified product is 1285 bp, which is coincident with theoretic value. It is concluded that the down-regulation of PIG-3 expression may be closely related to pathogenesis of DLBCL, so the PIG-3 gene can considered as a important marker for judging therapeutic efficacy and prognosis of patients with DLBCL.

[Alteration of plasma interleukin-18 level in leukemia patients and its clinical significance].

To explore the alteration of plasma level of IL-18 in patients with leukemia before and after chemotherapy and its clinical significance, the plasma level of IL-18 was determined with ELISA method before and 2 weeks after chemotherapy in 37 leukemia patients, and 18 normal individuals. The results showed that the plasma IL-18 level (153.34 +/- 50.74 pg/ml) in leukemia patients was similar to the level (135.82 +/- 47.00 pg/ml) in normal control, and the IL-18 level in ALL patients was significantly increased (173.3 +/- 34.4 pg/ml), while the IL-18 level in CML patients (111.8 +/- 50.5 pg/ml) was lower than normal level. After chemotherapy, the IL-18 level (100.89 +/- 50.07 pg/ml) was significantly lower than normal level and oneself before treatment. It is concluded that plasma IL-18 levels in leukemia patients are un-homogeneous and IL-18 production decreased after chemotherapy, and immunologic hypofunction in patients with chemotherapy might be related with the decrease of IL-18 and related cytokines.

[Interleukin-18 and its related cytokines in plasma of patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura].

To explore the role of immune regulating cytokines in pathogenesis of the idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and its clinical significance, the levels of IL-18, TNF-alpha and Sc5b-9 in plasma of 32 ITP patients and 18 normal individuals were detected using ELISA methods. The results showed that IL-18, TNF-alpha and sC5b-9 levels in plasma of ITP patients were higher than that in normal individuals. The level of IL-18 was positively correlated with the levels of TNF-alpha and sC5b-9. In conclusion, The rising levels of the IL-18, TNF-alpha and sC5b-9 were correlated with disorder of Th1/Th2 subsets, and may contribute to the immune dysfunction in ITP patients. The dynamic observation of these cytokines may be useful in directing the clinical treatment for ITP patients.