Prophylactic effect of low-dose trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in adult recipients of kidney transplantation: a real-world data study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of low-dose trimethoprim (TMP)-sulfamethoxazole (SMX) (TMP-SMX) as the primary prophylaxis for Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) in adult recipients of kidney transplantation. METHODS: Three kinds of prescriptions in kidney recipients were documented, including 20 mg TMP/100 mg SMX oral daily, 20 mg TMP/100 mg SMX oral every other day, and nonprophylaxis. The primary outcome was the incidence of PJP in the first 180 days of follow-up after kidney transplantation. The secondary outcomes were changes in renal and liver function. RESULTS: Among the 1469 recipients, 1066 (72.56%) received 20 mg TMP/100 mg SMX daily, 127 (8.65%) received 20 mg TMP/100 mg SMX every other day, and 276 (18.79%) did not have prophylaxis prescription. The 276 recipients in the nonprophylaxis group had 124.92 person-years of follow-up, during which PJP occurred in 29 patients, for an incidence rate of 23.21 (95% confidence interval 15.76-32.72) per 100 person-years. The TMP-SMX daily group and the TMP-SMX every other day group had 524.89 and 62.07 person-years of follow-up, respectively, with no occurrence of PJP. There was no significant difference among the three groups in changes in renal and liver function (P >0.05, respectively). A total of 111 recipients in each group were enrolled in the propensity score matching analysis. It was revealed that the 111 nonprophylaxis recipients had 51.27 person-years of follow-up and 10 PJP cases. Prophylaxis was considered effective because there was a significant difference between the three groups (P <0.001). CONCLUSION: Low-dose TMP-SMX prophylaxis significantly reduces the incidence of PJP within 6 months after kidney transplantation and has a favorable safety profile.

Retrospective analysis of 23 Chinese children with congenital hyperinsulinism undergoing pancreatectomy.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study was to discuss therapeutic effect and prognosis of pancreatectomy in the treatment of congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 23 Chinese children with CHI, who had undergone pancreatectomy, were selected as the study objects. The clinical data, the results of the ¹8Fluoro-L-3-4 dihydroxyphenylalanine positron emission tomography/computerized tomography (¹8F-DOPA PET/CT) scanning, and the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up were analysed retrospectively. RESULTS: Among the 23 cases, 14 patients were diagnosed with focal-type CHI via a ¹8F-DOPA PET/CT scan prior to the operation, with the lesions removed via partial pancreatectomy. After the operation, ten patients (71%) had normal blood glucose levels, while frequent feeding was required in four patients (29%) to control the hypoglycaemia. Three cases were diagnosed as diffuse-type CHI via preoperative scanning, two of which were treated by subtotal pancreatectomy. The other case was treated by near-total pancreatectomy, and the blood glucose level was normal following the operation. The remaining six cases were not diagnosed via the pancreatic scanning prior to the operation due to the limitation of certain conditions. Here, pancreatectomy was performed directly due to severe hypoglycaemia. CONCLUSIONS: ¹8F-DOPA PET/CT scanning was a reliable method for determining the histological type and localizing the lesion before the operation. Partial pancreatectomy for focal-type CHI had a high cure rate.

MODY10 caused by c.309-314del CCAGCT insGCGC mutation of the insulin gene: a case report.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to report the clinical features and gene mutation of a rare MODY10 patient in China. METHODS: This study summarizes the clinical data of a MODY10 child in the Endocrine Department of our hospital and an analysis and discussion of the results of the gene sequencing of the child. RESULTS: The child was a two-year-old boy. The main reason for his visit to our hospital was "founding hyperglycemia for 3 days". The fasting blood glucose was between 8.1-10.7 mmol/L, and two-hour postprandial blood glucose was between 10.6-12.6 mmol/L. Glycosylated hemoglobin was 8.5%, fasting C-peptide was 0.6 ng/mL, fasting insulin was 2.9 µIU/mL, and the islet antibody series were all negative. Whole-genome/exon sequencing results: Exon 3 of the insulin gene in the child carried a c.309-314del CCAGCT insGCGC heterozygous mutation. The mutation was a nonsense mutation, and family sequencing showed that the mutation originated from the mother of the child. The mother of the child was diagnosed with diabetes when she was a year old and developed bilateral fundus hemorrhage and right retinal detachment at the age of 23. CONCLUSION: Among Chinese children, the insulin gene c.309-314del CCAGCT insGCGC mutation may induce MODY10. For diabetic children with a negative islet autoantibody, gene detection and analysis is helpful for the diagnosis and typing of MODY.

[Floating-Harbor syndrome: a case report and literature review].

Floating-Harbor syndrome (FHS) is an autosomal dominant genetic disease caused by SRCAP mutation. This article reports the clinical features of a boy with FHS. The boy, aged 11 years and 7 months, attended the hospital due to short stature for more than 8 years and had the clinical manifestations of unusual facial features (triangularly shaped face, thin lips and long eyelashes), skeletal dysplasia (curvature finger), expressive language disorder, and retardation of bone age. Genetic detection revealed a novel heterozygous mutation, c.7330 C>T(p.R2444X), in the SRCAP gene. The boy was diagnosed with FHS based on these clinical manifestations and gene detection results. FHS is rare in clinical practice, which may lead to missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis, and gene detection may help with the clinical diagnosis of FHS in children.

[Reflection on the Health and Gender Mainstreaming of Indigenous Women in Taiwan].

Gender and race issues have caused rapid cultural and societal changes to affect the healthcare of indigenous women, which involves complicated, cultural meanings. The present paper begins by outlining the gender perspective and then elaborates on the present gender mainstreaming and status of indigenous women's healthcare in Taiwan. Furthermore, this paper identifies the current difficulties experienced by Taiwanese indigenous women, including those related to the lack of adequate healthcare data and gender analyses on indigenous women and the lack of regular research on healthcare strategies for indigenous women. Therefore, the present paper proposes to establish health policy references that are gender and race sensitive. The health policy not only addresses racial and gender concerns regarding healthcare information but also focuses on the analysis of indigenous healthcare information. Indigenous women's health concerns are discussed here within the framework of healthcare policy through the perspective of gender mainstreaming. Additionally, we will analyze and evaluate the effects of gender in order to establish inspection and management processes that integrate the concept of gender into policy development and implementation, thus promoting relevant health policies. During the processes of planning, implementing, and evaluating healthcare policies, women should unite to contribute toward indigenous women's health policies and gender mainstreaming.

The effect of radio-frequency glow discharge treatment of polystyrene on the behavior of porcine chondrocytes in vitro.

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of physicochemical surface properties of tissue-culture substrata on chondrocyte behavior. Polystyrene was modified by radio-frequency glow discharge (RFGD) plasma treatment with various monomers. The changes in surface properties of the modified polystyrene were verified by ESCA and water contact angle measurements. Porcine chondrocytes were seeded on these surfaces and cultured for 5 days. After 5 days of culture, the number of chondrocytes was highest on the N2 plasma-treated surface, followed by the CH2/N2 plasma-treated surface, untreated polystyrene and CF4 plasma-treated surface. The number of chondrocytes decreased with increasing water contact angle. The surface chemical properties influenced the morphology and gene expression of cultured chondrocytes. The cells cultured on the CF4 plasma-treated surface retained a round morphology characteristic of chondrocytes after day 1, while most of the cells grown on the N2 plasma-treated surface or the untreated polystyrene showed a flattened morphology. Using RT-PCR, expression of type-I collagen could not be detected in the chondrocytes cultured on the CF4 plasma-treated surface and the CH2/N2 plasma-treated surface. In contrast, the chondrocytes grown on the N2 plasma-treated surface or the untreated polystyrene surface expressed type-I collagen mRNA. This study shows that modification by RFGD treatment could modulate chondrocyte culture and gene expression.