Efficacy of Huaiqihuang granules as adjuvant therapy for bronchial asthma in children: a real-world study. / æ§æžé»„é¢—ç²’è¾ åŠ©æ²»ç–—å„¿ç«¥æ”¯æ°”ç®¡å“®å–˜ç–—æ•ˆçš„çœŸå®žä¸–ç•Œç ”ç©¶.

OBJECTIVES: To study the efficacy of Huaiqihuang granules as adjuvant therapy for bronchial asthma in children. METHODS: A multicenter, prospective, and registered real-world study was performed for the children, aged 2-5 years, who had a confirmed diagnosis of bronchial asthma in the outpatient service of 21 hospitals in China. Among these children, the children treated with medications for long-term asthma control (inhaled corticosteroid and/or leukotriene receptor antagonist) without Huaiqihuang granules were enrolled as the control treatment group, and those treated with medications for long-term asthma control combined with Huaiqihuang granules were enrolled as the combined treatment group. The medical data of all children were collected. Outpatient or telephone follow-up was performed at weeks 4, 8, 12, 20, 28, and 36 after treatment, including asthma attacks and rhinitis symptoms. A statistical analysis was performed for the changes in these indices. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the frequency of asthma attacks or rhinitis attacks between the two groups before treatment (P>0.05). After treatment, the combined treatment group had significantly lower frequencies of asthma attacks, severe asthma attacks, and rhinitis attacks compared with the control treatment group (P<0.05). There was no signification difference in the incidence rate of adverse reactions between the two groups (P=0.667). CONCLUSIONS: Huaiqihuang granules in addition to medications for long-term asthma control can alleviate the symptoms of bronchial asthma and rhinitis and improve the level of asthma control in children with bronchial asthma, with good safety and little adverse effect. Citation.

Comparative Analyses of the Transcriptome and Proteome of Comte de Paris and Smooth Cayenne to Improve the Understanding of Ethephon-Induced Floral Transition in Pineapple.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Ethylene is usually used to induce floral transition in pineapple. However, its successful induction in plants categorized as Cayenne is difficult or completely ineffective, and information concerned is limited. The present study was undertaken to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying this obstacle. METHODS: Transcriptome and proteome comparative analyses were performed to explore the important regulation and pathway variations after ethephon induction in the induction-easy 'Comte de Paris' (CP) and induction-hard 'Smooth Cayenne' (SC) cultivars via RNA-seq (RNA-sequencing) and iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification). RESULTS: CP and SC exhibited basic differences at the transcriptomic and proteomic levels before ethephon treatment, including the expression of genes and proteins related to ethylene signal transduction. After ethephon induction, the expression of genes and proteins involved in plant ethylene signal transduction and carbohydrate metabolism responded more strongly in CP than in SC. The expression of the floral meristem identity (FMI) genes AG, TFL and FT exhibited greater changes in CP, and more transcription factors responded in SC. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses revealed that many differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in CP were annotated to terms and pathways involved in photoperiodism and shared components involved in carbohydrate metabolism and plant hormone signal transduction. CONCLUSION: These findings contribute to the understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying the variation between CP and SC in response to ethephon-mediated floral induction.

Association of Different Human Rhinovirus Species with Asthma in Children: A Preliminary Study.

BACKGROUND: Human rhinoviruses (HRVs) are divided into three genetic species: HRV-A, HRV-B, and HRV-C. The association of different HRV species with asthma in children in China has not yet been evaluated. This preliminary study aimed to assess the associations between different HRV species, particularly HRV-C, and asthma in young children in China. METHODS: A total of 702 nasopharyngeal aspirates were obtained from 155 children with asthma (asthma group), 461 children with acute respiratory infection (ARI) without asthma (nonasthma ARI group), and 86 children from the control group. Semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect HRVs, and PCR products were sequenced for species identification. Epidemiological characteristics of HRV-positive cases were analyzed. RESULTS: HRVs were the most common pathogen (15.4%; 108/702) in the patients in this study. The prevalence of HRV was significantly different (F = 20.633, P = 0.000) between the asthma (25.8%) and nonasthma ARI groups (11.1%). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that in the 108 cases positive for HRVs, 41 were identified as HRV-A, 8 as HRV-B, and 56 as HRV-C. Comparing the asthma with the nonasthma ARI group, Spearman's rank correlation analysis revealed an association between HRV-A (P < 0.05) and C (P < 0.01) and asthma, confirmed by regression analysis, with odds ratios of 2.2 (HRV-A) and 4.2 (HRV-C). CONCLUSIONS: Our data revealed a high prevalence of HRVs in children in China, regardless of clinical status. HRV-C was the dominant species and may be one of the key factors in the association of HRVs with asthma.

De novo Transcriptome Assembly of Floral Buds of Pineapple and Identification of Differentially Expressed Genes in Response to Ethephon Induction.

A remarkable characteristic of pineapple is its ability to undergo floral induction in response to external ethylene stimulation. However, little information is available regarding the molecular mechanism underlying this process. In this study, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in plants exposed to 1.80 mL·L(-1) (T1) or 2.40 mL·L(-1) ethephon (T2) compared with Ct plants (control, cleaning water) were identified using RNA-seq and gene expression profiling. Illumina sequencing generated 65,825,224 high-quality reads that were assembled into 129,594 unigenes with an average sequence length of 1173 bp. Of these unigenes, 24,775 were assigned to specific KEGG pathways, of which metabolic pathways and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites were the most highly represented. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis of the annotated unigenes revealed that the majority were involved in metabolic and cellular processes, cell and cell part, catalytic activity and binding. Gene expression profiling analysis revealed 3788, 3062, and 758 DEGs in the comparisons of T1 with Ct, T2 with Ct, and T2 with T1, respectively. GO analysis indicated that these DEGs were predominantly annotated to metabolic and cellular processes, cell and cell part, catalytic activity, and binding. KEGG pathway analysis revealed the enrichment of several important pathways among the DEGs, including metabolic pathways, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and plant hormone signal transduction. Thirteen DEGs were identified as candidate genes associated with the process of floral induction by ethephon, including three ERF-like genes, one ETR-like gene, one LTI-like gene, one FT-like gene, one VRN1-like gene, three FRI-like genes, one AP1-like gene, one CAL-like gene, and one AG-like gene. qPCR analysis indicated that the changes in the expression of these 13 candidate genes were consistent with the alterations in the corresponding RPKM values, confirming the accuracy and credibility of the RNA-seq and gene expression profiling results. Ethephon-mediated induction likely mimics the process of vernalization in the floral transition in pineapple by increasing LTI, FT, and VRN1 expression and promoting the up-regulation of floral meristem identity genes involved in flower development. The candidate genes screened can be used in investigations of the molecular mechanisms of the flowering pathway and of various other biological mechanisms in pineapple.

Prevalence and Treatment of Children's Asthma in Rural Areas Compared with Urban Areas in Beijing.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of childhood asthma has been increasing in China. This study aimed to compare the prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment of asthmatic children from urban and rural areas in Beijing, China. METHODS: Schools, communities, and kindergartens were randomly selected by cluster random sampling from urban and rural areas in Beijing. Parents were surveyed by the same screening questionnaires. On-the-spot inquiries, physical examinations, medical records, and previous test results were used to diagnose asthmatic children. Information on previous diagnoses, treatments, and control of symptoms was obtained. RESULTS: From 7209 children in rural areas and 13,513 children in urban areas who completed screening questionnaires, 587 children were diagnosed as asthma. The prevalence of asthma in rural areas was lower than in urban areas (1.25% vs. 3.68%, χ2 = 100.80, P < 0.001). The diagnosis of asthma in rural areas was lower than in urban areas (48.9% vs. 73.9%, χ2 = 34.6, P < 0.001). Compared with urban asthmatic children (56.5%), only 35.6% of rural asthmatic children received inhaled corticosteroids (P < 0.05). The use of bronchodilators was also lower in rural areas than in urban areas (56.5% vs. 66.4%, χ2 = 14.2, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of asthma in children was lower in rural areas compared with children in the urban area of Beijing. A considerable number of children were not diagnosed and inadequately treated in rural areas.

Doxorubicin-loaded mesoporous magnetic nanoparticles to induce apoptosis in breast cancer cells.

Selective targeting of chemotherapeutic drugs toward the cancer cells overcomes the limitations involved in chemotherapy. Ideally, targeted delivery system holds great potential in cancer therapy due to specific release of drug in the cancer tissues. In this regard, DOX-loaded chitosan coated mesoporous magnetic nanoparticles (DOX-CMMN) were prepared and evaluated for its physicochemical and biological characteristics. Nanosized magnetic nanoparticles were observed with a high loading capacity for DOX. The drug-loaded nanoparticles exhibited a controlled and sustained release of drug without any burst release phenomenon. The DOX-DMMN showed a concentration-dependent cell proliferation inhibitory action against breast cancer cells. The blank nanoparticles showed excellent biocompatibility with cell viability >85% at the maximum tested concentration. Our results showed that chitosan coated magnetic system has high potential for breast cancer targeting under an alternating current magnetic field (ACMF). The present study showed that magnetic nanoparticles can be targeted to tumor cells under the presence of oscillating magnetic field. The combined effect of chemotherapy and thermotherapy can have a promising clinical potential for the treatment of breast cancer.

[Epidemiological survey of children asthma prevalence in Beijing urban area].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the prevalence, diagnosis and management of childhood asthma in Beijing urban area. METHODS: Multi-stage, stratified and random cluster sampling was used to recruit children born during November 1, 1995 to October 31, 2010 from Beijing or other provinces but residing in Beijing for over half a year. The same screening questionnaires for the third national epidemiological survey of children's asthma were distributed to parents of children at schools, kindergartens and communities during October 2010 to March 2011. Asthmatic children were picked among the screening-positive children based on on-the-spot inquiries, physical examinations, medical records and supporting test results. Further survey of asthmatics was carried out to investigate the diagnosis and treatment status of childhood asthma and other associated allergic diseases. All data required double entry by Epi-Info 3.5.3 software and were processed by SPSS 19.0. RESULTS: Among a total of 14 085 questionnaires, 13 513 were completed with a response rate of 95.94%. And 497 (3.68%) children were diagnosed with typical (n = 451, 3.34%) and cough variant (n = 46, 0.34%) asthma. Among them, 40.64% (202/497) were newly diagnosed and 59.36% (295/497) had been previously diagnosed with asthma. The prevalence of asthma was higher in boys than in girls (4.80% (345/1790) vs 2.40% (152/6323), χ(2) = 54.446, P < 0.01). The asthma prevalence of preschoolers (3 - < 7 years old) was the highest (5.05% (180/3563)). In the past two years, the symptoms of 69.42% (345/497) children persisted and the current two-year prevalence of asthma was 2.55% (345/13513). Among the 295 children with previous asthma, only 46.44% (137/295) received inhaled corticosteroids according to the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) and 82.37% (243/295) of them used antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of asthma is 3.68% in children under 14 years old in Beijing urban area and it varies in children with different genders and ages. A considerable number of children are not diagnosed or treated properly. And the management of asthma requires further improvement.

[Exhaled nitric oxide levels in school children of Beijing].

OBJECTIVE: To learn the normal values of exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) in children. METHOD: School children in Beijing from 11 to 18 years of age were included in the study. All the students were assigned into two groups: normal group and abnormal group (with allergic disease) according to the International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood questionnaires. eNO, peak expiratory flow rate and sensitization were measured. RESULT: Totally 395 students were screened out as normal subject (male: 177, female: 218). The eNO level was not significantly different between genders (P > 0.05), but was associated positively with age in both male and female group (P = 0.008 and P = 0.05 respectively) and associated with height in male students (P = 0.02). The geometric mean value of eNO was 11.22 ppb (parts per billion, ppb = 10(9)) in children aged from 11 to 14 years and 14.13 ppb in children aged from 14 to 18 years, with 95% confidence interval 4.17 - 30.20, 5.50 - 36.31 ppb. The eNO level was significantly increased in children who "ever had asthma or wheezing" (n = 68), and children who "ever had rhinitis" (n = 96) compared with normal subjects (P = 0.001 and P = 0.008). The geometric mean value of eNO was 16.98 ppb in children with positive skin prick test and was significantly increased as compared with children with negative skin prick test with eNO level at 11.75 ppb (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: eNO level varied between 10.72 ppb and 13.80 ppb in normal children 11 - 18 years of age, and was positively associated with age and height, but not with gender. eNO level increased significantly in children with wheezing and atopy.

[Determination of positive bronchodilating response using impulse oscillation system in children].

OBJECTIVE: Impulse oscillation system (IOS) as an approach to lung function determination is suitable for children, especially for preschool children in that it only requires the individual to be examined to breathing stably with tidal volume. However, until now there have been no uniformly agreed criteria for positive bronchial reversibility test in clinical practice. A screening method was applied to seek for answer when this question in the hope of providing objective evidence for clinical diagnosis of respiratory diseases, esp. asthma. METHODS: One hundred and fifty-six children patients during asthma attack were recruited randomly for this study from January to December, 2004. These patients included 103 boys and 53 girls aged from 5 to 18 years with mean age of 8.84 +/- 2.58 years, who visited the doctors in the Clinical and Educational Centre for Asthma, Capital Institute of Pediatrics and were diagnosed as asthma. Maximal expiratory flow volume and IOS lung function were determined followed by bronchodilator reversibility test in all patients. The sensitivity and specificity of IOS parameters, total respiratory impedance (Zrs), respiratory resistance at 5 Hz (R5) and reactance at 5 Hz (X5) for diagnosing asthma at different improvement levels after inhalation of bronchodilator were calculated respectively using forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV(1)) and maximal mid-expiratory flow (MMEF) as gold standard. And the regression equation between parameters of lung function which were determined with the two different methods was analyzed. RESULTS: After inhalation of bronchodilator, the lung function of the children was improved significantly (P < 0.01), with the FEV(1), MMEF increase and Zrs, R5, and X5 decrease. There were significantly positive correlations (P < 0.01) between the improvement rate of parameters of lung functions determined with the two methods, and the highest correlation coefficients existed between X5 and FEV(1) and MMEF (respectively 0.676, 0.571), correlation coefficients between X5 and Zrs ranked second (0.519 and 0.505, respectively). When an increase of FEV(1) equal to or greater than 15%, or increase of MMEF equal to or greater than 30% was used as reference for positive bronchial reversibility, the sensitivity and specificity were relatively high for considering positive bronchial reversibility test with at least 20% decrease of Zrs, R5, and 30% decrease of X5 with IOS lung function. The sensitivity and specificity of Zrs, R5 and X5 calculated from FEV(1) were 0.62, 0.51; 0.49, 0.54; 0.70, and 0.54, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of Zrs, R5 and X5 calculated from MMEF were 0.63, 0.54; 0.53, 0.60; 0.60, and 0.58, respectively. The regression equation showed that the decrease of Zrs, R5 and X5 corresponding to 15% increase of FEV(1) and 30% increase of MMEF were 21.7%, 21.3%; 19.9%, 19.5%; 30.1%, and 29.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION: When lung function is determined with IOS in children, only when decrease of Zrs and R5 is equal to or more than 20% and decrease of X5 is 30% or more after inhalation of bronchodilator, can the bronchial reversibility test be considered as positive.