Calcium, phosphorus, magnesium levels in frequent respiratory tract infections.

BACKGROUND: It was well documented that calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), and magnesium (Mg) participate in many physiological processes. We aimed to study the changing trend of serum levels of Ca, P, and Mg in frequent respiratory tract infections (FRTI) in children. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed in our centre. A total of 213 FRTI cases and 33 controls were enrolled in our study. We analyzed the correlation between serum Ca/P/Mg levels and inflammatory indexes by using Spearman correlation analysis. Standard mean difference (SMD) was applied to test the differences of serum Ca/P/Mg levels between FRTI subgroups and controls. In terms of the findings of SMD between Ca/P/Mg status between FRTI subgroups and controls, receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis was further applied to test the association between serum Ca level and bronchitis, parainfluenza virus infection, influenza B virus infection and cytomegalovirus infection. RESULTS: Serum Ca level was significantly associated with white blood cell (WBC), platelet (PLT) and procalcitonin (PCT) (p = 0.006; p < 10-4; p = 0.004). Serum P level was markedly associated with eryhtrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and PCT (p = 0.018; p < 10-4). Controls showed significantly lower serum Ca level than that among bronchitis (p = 0.001), parainfluenza virus infection (p = 0.027), influenza B virus infection (p = 0.017), cytomegalovirus infection (p = 0.029), and two pathogens infected (p = 0.020). ROC curve analysis showed that serum Ca level was significantly associated with bronchitis (p = 0.047) and influenza B virus infection (p = 0.049). CONCLUSIONS: Serum levels of Ca and P may reflect the inflammatory status in children with FRTI. Alteration of serum Ca level may predict the risk of bronchitis and influenza B virus infection. Keeping the homeostasis of Ca, P, and Mg may be important for the prevention and treatment of FRTI.

Serum status of Ca and P was closely associated with the inflammatory status in children with frequent respiratory tract infections.Changes of serum Ca status may predict the susceptibility to bronchitis and influenza B virus infection in children with frequent respiratory tract infections.Homeostasis of Ca, P, and Mg status may be important for the prevention and treatment of frequent respiratory tract infections in children.

Traditional Chinese medicine injection for the treatment of viral pneumonia in children: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, more and more reports are focused on the application of traditional Chinese medicine injection (TCMJ) for the treatment of viral pneumonia. There are about 200 million cases of viral pneumonia worldwide every year, half of which are children. At present, many kinds of TCMJ are created for the treatment of viral pneumonia in children, with good therapeutic effects. However, there are many kinds of TCMJ, and the treatment advantages are different, thus bringing difficulties to the selection of clinical drugs. In order to provide evidence-based evidence support for the clinical selection of TCMJ for the treatment of viral pneumonia in children, this study selected the commonly used TCMJ for clinical treatment of viral pneumonia for meta-analysis to evaluate its efficacy. METHODS: The Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, Viper information databases, Cochran library Web of Science, PubMed, MEDLINE and EMBASE will be searched. The literature will be searched, with language restriction in English and Chinese. The related reference will be retrieved as well. Two reviewers will independently extract data and perform quality assessment of included studies. Review Manager 5.3 will be applied to conduct this meta-analysis. RESULTS: The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis will be published in a peer-reviewed journal once we finish this study. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides reliable evidence-based evidence for the efficacy of TCMJ in the treatment of viral pneumonia in children. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: We will not be allowed to publish private information from individuals. This kind of systematic review should not harm the rights of participants. No ethical approval was required. The results can be published in peer-reviewed journals or at relevant conferences. OSF REGISTRATION NUMBER: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/795MB.