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Background: Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the most deadly cancers in women, its current treatments still result in poor outcomes and developing the novel targets and therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Qiu's Cervical Prescription (QCP) is one of the traditional Chinese medicines used in the treatment of cervical cancer in China. Although its curative effect is remarkable, the internal mechanism of its treatment is still poorly understood. Recent studies have shown that LncRNA ATB might be used as a new proliferation marker for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. This study aimed to investigate the possible mechanism of action of QCP in the treatment of cervical cancer., Methods: The functional assays of migration and invasion in vitro using transwell assays and wound healing assays was performed to confirm the pro-carcinogenic effect of LncRNA ATB, and the changes of migration and invasion of HeLa cells were observed after treatment with QCP containing drug serum. The changes in tumor volume, general condition of transplanted tumor-bearing mice and expression of LncRNA ATB pathway-related proteins were detected by qPCR, Western blotting and HE staining after treatment with the QCP., Results: We induced LncRNA ATB knockdown and overexpression in cervical cancer cell lines and detected the biological behavior changes in vitro. Furthermore, we established murine models using stable LncRNA ATB-shRNA HeLa cells or overexpression LncRNA ATB cells or normal Hela cells with QCP to evaluate how suppression of LncRNA ATB affects tumor growth., Conclusion: We showed that potential mechanism of QCP in the treatment of cervical cancer may be through inhibition of the LncRNA ATB/miR-126/TGFβ1 signaling axis. In conclusion, QCP may be a promising approach for the treatment of CC., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Severe glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency can lead to reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase activity in phagocytes, resulting in immunodeficiency, with a limited number of reported cases. Here, we aimed to report a child with severe G6PD deficiency in China and investigate the mechanism of his recurrent infections. Methods: The clinical manifestations and immunological phenotypes of this patient were retrospectively collected. Gene mutation was detected by whole-exome sequencing and confirmed by Sanger sequencing. Dihydrorhodamine (DHR) analysis was performed to measure the respiratory burst of neutrophils. Messenger ribonucleic acid and protein levels were detected in the patient under lipopolysaccharide stimulation by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blot. A review of the literature was performed. Results: A male child with G6PD deficiency presented with recurrent respiratory infections, Epstein‒Barr virus infection and tonsillitis from 8 months of age. Gene testing revealed that the proband had one hemizygous mutation in the G6PD gene (c.496 C>T, p. R166C), inherited from his mother. This mutation might affect hydrophobic binding, and the G6PD enzyme activity of the patient was 0. The stimulation indexes of the neutrophils in the patient and mother were 22 and 37, respectively. Compared with healthy controls, decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was observed in the patient. Activation of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) signaling was found to be influenced, and the synthesis of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) was downregulated in the patient-derived cells. In neutrophils of his mother, 74.71% of the X chromosome carrying the mutated gene was inactivated. By performing a systematic literature review, an additional 15 patients with severe G6PD deficiency and recurrent infections were identified. Four other G6PD gene mutations have been reported, including c.1157T>A, c.180_182del, c.514C>T, and c.953_976del. Conclusion: Severe G6PD deficiency, not only class I but also class II, can contribute to a chronic granulomatous disease-like phenotype. Decreased reactive oxygen species synthesis led to decreased activation of the NF-κB pathway in G6PD-deficient patients. Children with severe G6PD deficiency should be aware of immunodeficiency disease, and the DHR assay is recommended to evaluate neutrophil function for early identification., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Sun, Li, Dong, Hou, Wang, Ying, Hui, Zhou, Yao, Sun and Wang.)

Purpose: We aimed to report the clinical and immunological characteristics of variant type X91 + chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) in a Chinese cohort., Methods: The clinical manifestations and immunological phenotypes of patients with X91 + CGD were collected. A dihydrorhodamine (DHR) analysis was performed to evaluate neutrophil function. Gp91 phox protein expression was determined using extracellular staining with the monoclonal antibody (mAb) 7D5 and flow cytometry., Results: Patients with X91 + CGD accounted for 8% (7/85) of all patients with CGD. The median age of onset in the seven patients with X91 + CGD was 4 months. Six patients received the BCG vaccine, and 50% (3/6) had probable BCG infections. Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection was prominent. The most common sites of infection were the lung (6/7), lymph nodes (5/7), and soft tissue (3/7). Two patients experienced recurrent oral ulcers. The stimulation index (SI) of the patients with X91 + CGD ranged widely from 1.9 to 67.3. The difference in the SI among the three groups of patients (X91 + CGD, X91 - CGD, and X91 0 CGD) was statistically significant (P = 0.0071). The three groups showed no significant differences in onset age, diagnosis age, or severe infection frequency. CYBB mutations associated with X91 + CGD were commonly located in the second transmembrane or intracellular regions. Three novel X91 + CGD-related mutations (c.1462-2 A > T, c.1243C > T, and c.925G > A) were identified., Conclusions: Variant type X91 + CGD may result in varied clinical manifestations. Moreover, the laboratory findings might indicate a moderate neutrophil SI. We should deepen our understanding of variant X91 + CGD to prevent missed diagnoses., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Fever of unknown origin (FUO) has been difficult to diagnose in pediatric clinical practice. With the gradual change in the disease spectrum, genetic factors have received increasing attention. Limited studies have shown an association between FUO and chromosomal abnormalities. In this study, we investigated the clinical and genetic characteristics of patients with FUO presenting with chromosomal abnormalities in a Chinese pediatric cohort., Results: Chromosomal abnormalities were detected in 5.5% (8/145) of the patients with FUO. Six patients with inflammatory fever presented with pharyngitis/amygdalitis (4/6), oral aphthous ulcer (2/6), digestive symptoms (3/6), developmental delay (4/6) and elevated C-reactive protein levels (6/6) during fever. These patients were often considered to have systemic inflammatory diseases, such as Behcet's disease or systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Trisomy 8, 7q11.23 dup, 3p26.3-p26.1 del/17q12 dup, 22q11.21 del, and 6q23.3-q24.1 del were identified in patients with inflammatory fever. The TNFAIP3 gene was included in the 6q23.3-q24.1 deletion fragment. Two patients with central fever were characterized by facial anomalies, developmental delay, seizures and no response to antipyretic drugs and were identified as carrying the de novo 18q22.3-q23 del. By performing a literature review, an additional 19 patients who had FUO and chromosomal abnormalities were identified. Trisomy 8, 6q23.2-q24.3 del and 18q22.3-q23 del were reported to present as fever, similar to the findings of our study., Conclusions: We emphasized the important role of detecting chromosomal abnormalities in patients with FUO, especially in patients with systemic inflammatory manifestations or developmental delay. Identifying chromosomal abnormalities may change the diagnosis and management of patients with FUO., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Loss-of-function (LOF) mutations in signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is one of the causes of STAT3 hyperimmunoglobulin E (IgE) syndrome (STAT3-HIES), while gain-of-function (GOF) mutations in STAT3 lead to immune dysregulation diseases. We retrospectively analyzed the age, common clinical symptoms, immunologic and molecular manifestations in 11 patients with LOF STAT3 mutations and 1 patient with a GOF STAT3 mutation., Methods: Twelve patients were enrolled in our study. Serum immunoglobulin measurements, lymphocyte subset detection and whole-exome sequencing were performed., Results: The median age at diagnosis of STAT3-HIES patients was 4.74 years. Eczema, recurrent respiratory infections, fevers, abscesses and Staphylococcus aureus infections were the classic manifestations. Elevated serum IgE levels are not always observed in conjunction with high eosinophil counts. A moderate viral DNA load was also measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. We noticed that c. 1144C>T was the most common mutation site, followed by c.1311C>A. Additionally, c.1311C>A and c. 1826G>C are two novel mutations. Eight patients achieved notable improvement after receiving intravenous immunoglobulin., Conclusion: We updated the current knowledge of this topic. We found an earlier median age at diagnosis, a higher survival rate, and a general lack of nonimmunological abnormalities; we also described the treatment details and novel mutations involve in STAT3-HIES and compared STAT3 LOF and GOF mutations., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2020.)

Purpose: We sought to further investigate the efficacy and safety of pioglitazone for chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) patients with severe infection., Methods: CGD patients with severe infection were enrolled and treated with pioglitazone for 90 days. The degree of improvement in infection and the changes of dihydrorhodamine-123 (DHR) were used to evaluate the efficacy of pioglitazone. The adverse reaction of pioglitazone was also investigated., Results: We planned to enroll 30 patients at first in the study. However, the study was terminated due to negative results from all 3 enrolled patients. The 3 patients were diagnosed with CGD by clinical characteristics, DHR analysis, and genetics analysis. Mutations were CYBB (c.177C>A; p.C59X) in P1, CYBB (c.1498G>T; p.D500Y) in P2, and NCF2 (c.137T>G; p.M46R) in P3, respectively. The age of onset of the 3 patients was within 2 years after birth. The most common sites of infection were lung, lymph node, skin, and soft tissue, which were experienced in all 3 patients. The age of administration with pioglitazone was 5.2 years, 16 years and 11.1 years, respectively. The 3 patients experienced no improvement in severity of infection and stimulation index of the DHR did not also improve after receiving pioglitazone 10, 45 and 90 days, respectively. No drug-related adverse reaction was found during the period of pioglitazone., Conclusions: Low dose of pioglitazone did not improve the severity of infection and production of ROS in CGD patients with severe infection.

Purpose: Although many studies have investigated Mendelian susceptibility to mycobacterial disease (MSMD) worldwide, there is no report of the long-term clinical management and prognosis for MSMD in China., Methods: This is a cohort study from January 2000 to June 2018. Three hundred and twenty-four patients with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) infection were diagnosed during this period, and those with MSMD diagnosed by genetic and functional experiments were enrolled in the study. The clinical and genetic characteristics and management of these MSMD patients were summarized., Results: Thirty patients diagnosed with MSMD were followed up. The age at the follow-up end point ranged from 5 to 173 months. Among the patients, IL12RB1 mutations were identified in 22, IFNGR1 mutations in 5, STAT1 mutations in 2, and IFNGR2 mutation in 1. The medium age at onset was 3 months. BCG infection involved multiple organs, including regional infection (8/30; 26.7%) or distant or disseminated infection (22/30; 73.3%). Ten percent (30/324) of patients with BCG infection had a confirmed MSMD diagnosis. Protein expression of IL12RB1 or IFNGR1 was decreased in all patients with IL12RB1 or IFNGR1 mutation, respectively, as indicated by flow cytometry. In addition, 77.8% of patients received rhIFN-γ treatment, which can improve the prognosis of patients with IL12RB1 deficiency. Two patients received stem cell transplantation. Twenty-five patients remained alive at the time of publication., Conclusion: MSMD is an important cause of BCG infection. Flow cytometric detection of IL12RB1 and IFNGR1 expression is very useful for rapid MSMD diagnosis. rhIFN-γ therapy is effective in patients with MSMD, particularly improving prognosis in those with IL12RB1 deficiency.

Purpose: We aimed to report the characteristics of leukocyte adhesion deficiency-I (LAD-I) and four novel mutations in the ITGB2 gene in a Chinese cohort., Methods: Seven patients with LAD-I were reported in our study. Clinical manifestations and immunological phenotypes were reviewed. The expression of CD18 was detected by flow cytometry. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and Sanger sequencing were performed to identify gene mutations., Results: The mean onset age of all the patients was 1.3 months. Recurrent bacterial infections of the skin and lungs were the most common symptoms. Most patients (6/7) had delayed cord separation. The number of white blood cells (WBC) was increased significantly, except that two patients had a mild increase in the number of WBC during infection-free periods. The expression of CD18 was very low in all patients. Homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in the ITGB2 gene were identified in each patient. Four mutations were novel, including c.1794dupC (p.N599Qfs*93), c.1788C>A (p.C596X), c.841-849del9, and c.741+1delG. Two patients had large deletions of the ITGB2 gene. Five patients were cured by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT)., Conclusions: This study reported the clinical and molecular characteristics of a Chinese patient cohort. It is helpful in understanding the current status of the disease in China.

Deficiency of adenosine deaminase 2 (DADA2) is an autoinflammatory disease caused by autosomal recessive mutations in Cat Eye Syndrome Chromosome Region 1 (CECR1) gene. In this report, we aimed to describe the clinical manifestations, immunological features, genotype, and treatments of one Chinese patient with novel CECR1 gene mutations. This patient initially presented with recurrent fever and rashes from the age of 3 months, but no pathogen was found. She then developed dry gangrene of the fingers at 5 months of age. Laboratory examinations revealed elevated levels of C-reactive protein and thrombocytes. The expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-8 were both elevated. Sequencing results revealed that she had compound heterozygous mutations in CECR1 gene (c.1211T>C, p.Phe404Ser and c.1114 G>A, p.Val372Met). Subsequently, treatment with anti-IL-6 (tocilizumab) was started. However, she developed blurred vision in the right eye with occlusion of the central retinal artery, accompanied by unsteady gait. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed infarction of the right thalamus. Finally, she underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and is currently in remission. Our findings suggest that HSCT could cure this disease.

Purpose: Tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3, A20) is a negative regulator of the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway. It has recently been recognized that TNFAIP3 deficiency leads to early onset of autoinflammatory and autoimmune syndrome resembling Behçet's disease. Here, we report a novel mutation in TNFAIP3 in a Chinese patient, who had Behçet-like phenotype and persistent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) viremia., Methods: The clinical data were collected. Immunological function was detected. Gene mutation was detected by whole-exome sequencing (WES) and confirmed by Sanger sequencing. mRNA and protein levels were detected in the patient under lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation by real-time PCR and Western blot., Results: The patient is a 13-year-old boy, presenting with intermittent fever for 5 months, who also experienced diffuse lymphadenopathy, arthritis, and recurrent multiple gastrointestinal ulcers. EBV DNA was detected in the serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the patient. The immunological phenotype showed increased proportion of double-negative T cells (CD3+CD4-CD8-). A novel missense mutation (c.1428G > A) locating at the zinc fingers 2 (ZF2) domain of TNFAIP3 inherited from his mother was confirmed. Compared with age-matched healthy controls, decrease expression of A20 was observed in the patient. The NF-κB pathway was found to be overactivated, and the synthesis of TNF-α was upregulated in the patient-derived cells. However, cells from the mother showed a milder response to LPS than cells from the patient., Conclusions: The present research indicated that the TNFAIP3 mutation of c.1428G > A (p.M476I) leads to the reduced suppression of NF-κB activation and accounted for the autoinflammatory phenotype and persistent EBV viremia in the patient.

Purpose: We aimed to report the clinical manifestations and immunological features of activated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase δ syndrome 1 (APDS1) in a Chinese cohort. Moreover, we investigated the efficacy and safety of rapamycin therapy for Chinese patients with APDS1., Methods: Fifteen Chinese patients with APDS1 from 14 unrelated families were enrolled in this study. These patients were diagnosed based on clinical features, immunological phenotype, and whole-exome sequencing. Four patients were treated with rapamycin, and the clinical efficacy and safety of rapamycin were observed. The changes of phosphorylation of Akt and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway after rapamycin treatment were detected by flow cytometry and real-time PCR., Results: The common clinical manifestations of the patients included lymphadenopathy (93%), recurrent sinopulmonary infections (93%), hepatosplenomegaly (93%), and diarrhea (78%). Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) (80%) and fungus (Aspergillus) (47%) were the most common pathogens. Immunological phenotype included elevated Immunoglobulin (Ig) M levels (100%), decreased naive T cells, increased senescent T cells, and expanded transitional B cells. Whole-exome sequencing indicated that 13 patients had heterogeneous PIK3CD E1021K mutations, 1 patient had heterogeneous E1025G mutation and 1 patient had heterogeneous Y524N mutation. Gain-of-function (GOF) PIK3CD mutations increased the phosphorylation of the Akt-mTOR signaling pathway. Four patients underwent rapamycin therapy, experiencing substantial improvement in clinical symptoms and immunological phenotype. Rapamycin inhibited the activated Akt-mTOR signaling pathway., Conclusions: We described 15 Chinese patients with APDS1. Treatment with the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin improved patient outcomes.

Background: Analyses of amino acid/acylcarnitines in dried blood spots (DBS) and organic acids in urine are the primary tests for inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs). Automated tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) can rapidly and simultaneously detect numerous metabolic compounds with high precision and sensitivity., Methods: Three thousand four hundred and twenty-nine DBSs and 2781 urine samples were collected from our hospital patients with suspected IEMs, and analyzed for amino acid/acylcarnitines and organic acids by MS/MS and GC/MS, respectively. The results were used in a coincidental survey to determine the efficacy of these methods for the diagnosis of IEMs., Results: Nineteen different types of IEMs were detected in 121 affected cases (1.95% of 6210 samples). There were 66.12% amino acid disorders, 29.75% organic acid disorders and 4.13% with fatty acid oxidation disorders., Conclusions: the sick infants tested in this study had high prevalence rates of neonatal intrahepatic cholestasis, methylmalonic acidemia, hyperphenylalaninemia, tyrosinemia type I, and urea cycle disorders., Conclusion: The combined use of MS/MS and GC/MS is an appropriate tool for screening of IEMs in sick infants., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: The Friedewald formula (FF) is useful for calculating serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) values, but has a remarkable deviation and limitation especially in hypertriglyceridemia. We modify the formula which is now more suitable for LDL-C calculation., Methods: 2180 cases were classified into three groups according to their TG concentrations (A: < 200 mg/dl, n = 1220; B: 200-400 mg/dl, n = 480; C: 400-1000 mg/dl, n = 480). The concentrations of LDL-C were measured or estimated by 1) a direct measurement (DM); 2) the FF; and 3) our modified Friedewald formula (MFF): LDL-C (mg/dl) = Non-HDL-C x 90% - TG x 10%., Results: Linear regression showed a significant correlation (P < 0.001) between the measured and calculated LDL-C values. Bland-Altman plots indicated that the methods (DM/MFF) were in better agreement than those (DM/FF). The LDL-C/Non-HDL-C ratio in FF calculated values was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than that in MFF or DM values, while no significant difference between MFF and DM was found. In Group A and Group B, 4.26% and 14.79% of the MFF calculated values had more than 20% deviation from those measured by DM. These percentages were significantly lower than those calculated by FF, where 7.30% and 25.63% were observed, respectively (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001). The MFF calculated values were all positive even in Group C., Conclusions: Compared with the FF calculation, serum LDL-C values estimated by our modified formula are closer to those measured by a direct assay. The modification significantly diminishes the interference caused by hypertriglyceridemia.