Fulminant myocarditis caused by influenza B virus in a male child: a case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Influenza B virus induced myocarditis is a rare complication with potentially wide variations in severity and clinical presentation, and the pathogenesis is unclear. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a rare case of a 7-year-old boy who developed fulminant myocarditis (FM) due to influenza B virus infection. Treatment measures included mechanical ventilation, vasoactive agents, Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT), anti-inflammatory, antiviral, anti-infection, and enteral nutrition support. After 10 days of treatment, the patient succumbed to multiorgan failure. CONCLUSIONS: After a systematic review of the literature, we found that this disease predominantly affects females, with pediatric cases exceedingly rare. Fulminant myocarditis (FM) progresses rapidly, poses significant treatment challenges sporadic, and carries a poor prognosis. Interestingly, literature reports suggest that anti-thymocyte globulin therapy may have a positive impact in treating FM, potentially offering new insights into its pathogenesis and clinical management.

UV-Induced Thiol-Ene "Click" Surface Grafting Polymerization on BOPP Substrate and Its Postmodifying for Hydrophilic and Antibacterial Applications.

This paper proposed a novel and versatile surface modification route by integrating UV light-mediated thiol-ene "click" surface grafting polymerization and postmodification via the reactions of the surface thiol groups. At first, poly(thiol ether) layers with tunable thiol group density, up to 8.2 × 102 ea/nm3 for cross-linked grafting layers, were grafted from biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film. Then, the surface -SH groups reacted with epoxy compounds to introduce quaternary ammonium salt. With the immobilized quaternary ammonium salt and coordinated Zn2+ ions, the modified film demonstrated 99.98% antibacterial rate against Staphylococcus aureusafter soaking in DI water for 21 days and in a highly alkaline environment (0.1 M NaOH aqueous solution) for 3 days, and the surface water contact angle decreased to 39°. At last, the polymethacrylate chains were also successfully grafted from the surface thiol groups of the cross-linked poly(thiol ether) under visible light irradiation. With 2-(dimethyldodecylammonium) ethyl methacrylate as the grafting monomer, the modified BOPP film had shown a 99.99% antibacterial rate against both Escherichia coliand S. aureus. Meanwhile, with 2-methacryloxyethyl phosphoryl choline as grafting monomer, the modified surface showed an excellent antibioadhesion of living S. aureus, and the surface water contact angle was as low as 48°.

Marked Response of Rat Ileal and Colonic Microbiota After the Establishment of Alzheimer's Disease Model With Bilateral Intraventricular Injection of Aß (1-42).

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease. More evidence has shown that gut microbiota is closely associated with AD. Also, studies have shown that the distribution of gut microbiota vary in different sections of the intestine. In this study, a rat model of AD was established using a bilateral intraventricular injection of ß-amyloid (1-42) [Aß (1-42)], and the behavior of rats, hippocampal Aß (1-42) deposition, and the ileal and colonic microbiota in each group were analyzed. We observed that the model rats had obvious memory and cognitive impairment, increased Aß (1-42) deposition, indicating that the AD model was successfully established. Through 16S rRNA-sequencing analysis, we found that α diversity, ß diversity, and dominant microbiota in the ileum and colon of normal rats were significantly different, showing spatial heterogeneity. Additionally, the surgery and injection of Aß (1-42) caused various degrees of disturbances in the ileal and colonic microbiota of rats. These findings provide new insights for the study of the gut microbiota of AD rats and help advance the development of therapeutic strategies for intervening AD through the gut microbiota.

Qisheng Wan formula ameliorates cognitive impairment of Alzheimer's disease rat via inflammation inhibition and intestinal microbiota regulation.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY RELEVANCE: Qisheng Wan formula (QWF) was first described in the book Sheng Ji Zong Lu in 1117. The book states that QWF can cure forgetfulness, improve the mind, and make people smart. Hence, QWF has been widely used to treat patients with forgetfulness or dementia. QWF, a classic Chinese formulation, comprises seven herbal drugs: the sclerotium of Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf, bark of Cinnamomum cassia Presl, root of Polygala tenuifolia Willd., root and rhizome of Panax ginseng C. A. Mey., root of Asparagus cochinchinensis (Lour.) Merr., root and rhizome of Acorus tatarinowii Schott, and root bark of Lycium chinense Mill. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study aimed to utilize modern pharmacological methods to evaluate the therapeutic effects and explore the underlying mechanism of QWF action on rats with Alzheimer's disease (AD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The chemical profile of QWF was characterized using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The AD rat model was established via a bilateral intraventricular injection of amyloid-ß (1-42) (Aß1-42). The rats were subsequently treated daily with QWF for 4 weeks. The Morris water maze test was performed to evaluate the cognition processes in the rats, whereas histological changes in the hippocampus were observed using hematoxylin and eosin staining. The expression levels of Aß1-42, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interleukin (IL)-6 in the hippocampus and colon were assessed. Moreover, the diversity and composition of the intestinal microbiota were analyzed using 16S rDNA gene sequencing. RESULTS: One hundred and fourteen compounds were characterized in QWF. QWF significantly ameliorated the cognition processes and histopathological damages due to AD in rats by decreasing the deposition of Aß1-42 and downregulating the expression of NF-κB, TNF-α, and IL-6. QWF also modulated changes in the diversity and composition of intestinal microbiota to suppress the relative abundance of inflammation-associated microbiota. CONCLUSION: This study showed that QWF can suppress proinflammatory factors and modulate the intestinal microbiota in AD rats.

Accurate analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and alkylated PAHs homologs in crude oil for improving the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry performance.

The common gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) approaches such as selective ion monitoring (SIM) or single ion extraction (SIE) from full scan data produce the error (over- or underestimation) estimates for the high level alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In order to rectify the error, the alkylated PAHs in the crude oil samples are quantified by deeply investigating the existing full scan data of 1D GC/MS, instead of resuming with the complex and inaccessible equipments (multidimensional gas chromatography or mass spectrometry). The aim of this study is to provide the detailed qualitative and quantitative basis data (confirming ions, relative abundance, retention indices, and area counts) of the high level alkylated PAHs by a comprehensive three-step method: (1) the potential confirming ions per isomer are selected by exploring the multiple fragment patterns formation mechanism; (2) the reasonable confirming ions are estimated by comparing extracted ion chromatography (EIC) of the potential confirming ions; (3) after deconvolution, composite chromatograms of the reasonable confirming ions illustrate the basis data by assigning peaks for target PAHs definitively. The validation data, resulting concentrations and diagnostic ratios for each homolog are compared with those obtained from SIM. The experimental data demonstrate that significant inaccurate identifications and concentration estimates are obtained when SIM mode is used for C4 Naphthalene (C4 N), C3 Phenanthrene (C3 P), C4 Phenanthrene (C4 P), C3 Dibenzothiophene (C3 D), C3 Fluorene (C3 F), C2-4 Chrysene (C2-4 C) and C1 Fluoranthene (C1 Flt). This study evaluates the usefulness of the previous fragmentation patterns, and confirms compound presence by GC/MS using the different spectral deconvolution software. This approach is developed as a broad screen for environmental samples (including petrol, diesel fuel and coal tar), with only the crude oil results being presented here.