Clinicopathological features and mucosal microbiota in gastric mucosal damage between nodular and non-nodular gastritis in children with Helicobacter pylori infection.

AIMS: Nodular gastritis (NG) represents a frequently observed clinical presentation of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection in pediatric patients. This investigation aimed to explore the microbiota and histological features of the gastric mucosa in children with H. pylori colonized NG. MAIN METHODS: The current investigation examined a sample of 120 children who underwent gastroscopy due to symptoms of gastrointestinal distress, which showed that 64 were patients with H. pylori infection. Endoscopic procedures were conducted to acquire mucosal biopsies for the purpose of DNA extraction and histopathological analysis. The 16S rRNA profiling was utilized to examine the gastric mucosal microbiota. KEY FINDINGS: In conjunction with endoscopic evaluation, 26 of 64 patients were diagnosed with NG. The NG group had significantly higher inflammation scores and activity scores on histological assessment than the non-NG group. The NG group exhibited a significant reduction in the richness levels of the five genera. In terms of the predicted functions, the pathways of synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies and phagosome in the NG group were less abundant compared with the non-NG group, while the Wnt signaling pathway was significantly enriched. NG does not increase a microbial community that possesses genotoxic potential within the gastric mucosa. SIGNIFICANCE: In conclusion, NG group exhibited significant severe inflammation and reduced abundance levels of several bacterial genera compared to the non-NG group. However, individuals with NG did not have a dysregulated microbial community with genotoxic potential.

Spatial effects of the agricultural ecosystem services based on environmental kuznets curve in Mengyin county, China.

Worldwide most agroecosystems effort to increase production and yields and leads to damages of a series of non-provisioning ecosystem services (ESs). To fill in the knowledge gaps pertaining to the understanding of complex relationship between agricultural harvests and other ESs, therefore this study aims to estimate the existence of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) for agricultural ESs by incorporating the spatial factors. Based on the test of the spatial autocorrelation of agricultural ESs, the estimation results of spatial model are compared with general regression to explain the spatial effect of agricultural ESs. The results show that (1) contrary to expectation, the curve of the nonlinear relationship between agricultural ESs and annual household income is an inverted U-shape, and not an upright U-shape; (2) compared to non-spatial model, the turning point of the inverted U-shaped curve for agricultural ESs under the direct effect would happen earlier and happen later under the indirect effect; (3) years of formal education, vegetation coverage of field margin and cultivated land area have significantly impact on local agricultural ESs, and local perennial crops has significantly impact on agricultural ESs of neighboring villages. Results of this study have a promising application prospect to promote sustainable development of agriculture.

Hydroxychloroquine in patients with mainly mild to moderate coronavirus disease 2019: open label, randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine plus standard of care compared with standard of care alone in adults with coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19). DESIGN: Multicentre, open label, randomised controlled trial. SETTING: 16 government designated covid-19 treatment centres in China, 11 to 29 February 2020. PARTICIPANTS: 150 patients admitted to hospital with laboratory confirmed covid-19 were included in the intention to treat analysis (75 patients assigned to hydroxychloroquine plus standard of care, 75 to standard of care alone). INTERVENTIONS: Hydroxychloroquine administrated at a loading dose of 1200 mg daily for three days followed by a maintenance dose of 800 mg daily (total treatment duration: two or three weeks for patients with mild to moderate or severe disease, respectively). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Negative conversion of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 by 28 days, analysed according to the intention to treat principle. Adverse events were analysed in the safety population in which hydroxychloroquine recipients were participants who received at least one dose of hydroxychloroquine and hydroxychloroquine non-recipients were those managed with standard of care alone. RESULTS: Of 150 patients, 148 had mild to moderate disease and two had severe disease. The mean duration from symptom onset to randomisation was 16.6 (SD 10.5; range 3-41) days. A total of 109 (73%) patients (56 standard of care; 53 standard of care plus hydroxychloroquine) had negative conversion well before 28 days, and the remaining 41 (27%) patients (19 standard of care; 22 standard of care plus hydroxychloroquine) were censored as they did not reach negative conversion of virus. The probability of negative conversion by 28 days in the standard of care plus hydroxychloroquine group was 85.4% (95% confidence interval 73.8% to 93.8%), similar to that in the standard of care group (81.3%, 71.2% to 89.6%). The difference between groups was 4.1% (95% confidence interval -10.3% to 18.5%). In the safety population, adverse events were recorded in 7/80 (9%) hydroxychloroquine non-recipients and in 21/70 (30%) hydroxychloroquine recipients. The most common adverse event in the hydroxychloroquine recipients was diarrhoea, reported in 7/70 (10%) patients. Two hydroxychloroquine recipients reported serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Administration of hydroxychloroquine did not result in a significantly higher probability of negative conversion than standard of care alone in patients admitted to hospital with mainly persistent mild to moderate covid-19. Adverse events were higher in hydroxychloroquine recipients than in non-recipients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ChiCTR2000029868.

Epidemiological Study of Influenza A, Influenza B, Enterovirus 71, and Coxsackievirus A16 Among Children in the Central Region of Zhejiang Province, China.

Influenza A virus (IAV), influenza B virus (IBV), enterovirus 71 (EV71), and coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) are common pathogens for viral infection in children. In order to investigate the epidemiology of these four viral infections in the central region of Zhejiang province, China, 10,638 respiratory secretion samples previously tested for IAV and IBV, and 6427 whole blood samples previously tested for EV71 and CVA16 detection were analyzed retrospectively. The present data shows that viral infections with these four viruses featured with distinct seasonal patterns. Both IAV and IBV infections more frequently occurred in winter, while infections with the two enteroviruses peaked in summer with high positive rates in other months. The most susceptible ages for IAV, IBV, EV71, and CVA16 were 2-7 years old, 4-6 years old, 1-3 years old, and 1-2 years old, respectively. It was recommended that children in the central region of Zhejiang Province should be vaccinated for influenza by the end of October every year, especially between the ages of 2 and 7 years old and children in age from 1 to 3 years old should be paid more attention all year round for EV71 and CVA16 infection. Moreover, the female gender appeared to be a risk factor only for IBV infection, while CVA16 inflicted more infection in young children. This study revealed that season, age, and gender should be taken into consideration when devising vaccination schedules for children in the central region of Zhejiang.