Effects of growth hormone therapy on the onset and progression of pubertal development in girls with idiopathic short stature.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the impact of growth hormone (GH) therapy on the onset and progression of puberty in girls with idiopathic short stature. METHODS: This study included 541 girls aged between 4.5 and 10.6 years who were receiving GH treatment, monitored over a 22-year follow-up period. Of these, 126 girls have been followed up to the onset of menarche. The participants were divided into two groups: a ISS control group (n = 66) and a group receiving daily GH treatment at a dose of 0.15 iu/kg (n = 60). We assessed the pubertal development and GH usage of these girls every three months. RESULTS: (1) There was no significant difference in the onset of puberty between the growth hormone (GH) treatment group and the control group; however, the average duration of puberty was longer in the treatment group compared to the control group. (2) During puberty, there were no significant differences in height growth between the treated and untreated groups. (3) The duration of GH treatment showed a significant negative correlation with the age at onset of gonadal development and the age at menarche in females within the treatment group. CONCLUSION: GH treatment does not seem to accelerate the onset of puberty but may extend its duration, without significantly impacting height growth during puberty. Additionally, longer GH treatment duration is linked to earlier gonadal development and menarche in females.

Multilocus Sequence Analysis and Copper Ion Resistance Detection of 60 Xanthomonas arboricola pv. juglandis Isolates from China.

Walnut bacterial blight caused by Xanthomonas arboricola pv. juglandis has serious repercussions for walnut production around the world. Between 2015 and 2017, disease samples were collected from six counties (Danjiangkou, Baokang, Suizhou, Shennongjia, Zigui, and Xingshan) in Hubei Province, China. Fifty-nine X. arboricola pv. juglandis isolates were identified by morphology and specific PCR primers from 206 isolates. The genetic diversity of 60 X. arboricola pv. juglandis isolates (59 from Hubei plus 1 from Beijing) was evaluated by multilocus sequence analysis, and their resistance to copper ion (Cu2+) treatment was determined. A neighbor-joining phylogenetic dendrogram was constructed based on four sequences of housekeeping genes (atpD-dnaK-glnA-gyrB). Two groups of isolates whose clustering was consistent with that of glnA were identified. The minimal inhibitory concentration of Cu2+ on representative X. arboricola pv. juglandis strain DW3F3 (the first genome sequenced X. arboricola pv. juglandis from China) was 115 µg/ml. Setting the copper-resistant threshold value to 125 µg/ml, 47 and 13 isolates were considered sensitive and resistant to Cu2+, respectively. Furthermore, five isolates showed Cu2+ resistance at 270 µg/ml. Compared with the copper resistance gene B (copB) from sensitive isolates, the copB gene in resistant isolates had a 15-bp insertion and eight scattered single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Interestingly, the clustering based on multilocus sequence analysis was distinct between X. arboricola pv. juglandis Cu2+-resistant and -sensitive isolates.

A case report: Alport syndrome and growth hormone deficiency associated with a new COL4A4 mutation.

Background: Alport syndrome (AS) is a rare progressive hereditary kidney disease that is clinically principally associated with hematuria, proteinuria, and progressive renal dysfunction. This condition not only impairs renal function but also potentially affects auditory and ocular health, significantly impacting the patient's quality of life. Case Description: This article reports a young girl with AS, combined with dwarfism attributable to growth hormone (GH) deficiency, diagnosed at Wenzhou People's Hospital in 2019. The clinical data and diagnostic steps were retrospectively analyzed. Genetic testing showed that she carried a new mutation in the COL4A4 gene, c.2317_2318delAG (p.R773Gfs*14), classified as "pathogenic" under the criteria of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), confirming her AS diagnosis. Significantly, the patient's height was more than two standard deviations (SDs) below the average for children of her race, sex, and age. The peak GH level post-stimulation was below 5 ng/mL, coupled with a growth rate of less than 5 cm/year, leading to the diagnosis of GH deficiency. Consequently, recombinant human GH (rhGH) therapy was initiated. Conclusions: After a year of rhGH treatment, we observed a notable increase in her height, without any adverse effects like elevated intracranial pressure, hypothyroidism, or worsening kidney function.

Complete Genome Sequence of Xanthomonas arboricola pv. juglandis Strain DW3F3, Isolated from a Juglans regia L. Bacterial Blighted Fruitlet.

Here, we report the complete genome sequence of Xanthomonas arboricola pv. juglandis DW3F3, a strong pathogenic strain isolated from blighted walnut immature fruit (Juglans regia L. cv. Qingxiang). The genome consists of a single chromosome (5,144 kb).