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During dupilumab treatment, Patient 1 presented with injection site reactions, manifesting as local mild erythema, swelling, which resolved without special treatment. Dear Editor, Atopic dermatitis (AD) is one of the most common skin disorders in children, with a prevalence of 25%-30%, and up to 33% of patients develop moderate to severe AD.1 Systemic treatment options may be needed in cases of moderate to severe AD, but none of the currently available medications is a long-term treatment option, as they are all restricted by potential drug toxicity. Off-label use of dupilumab for the treatment of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis in children aged below 6 years of age: a case series. [Extracted from the article]

The last two decades have witnessed two large-scale pandemics caused by coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). At the end of 2019, another novel coronavirus, designated as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), hit Wuhan, a city in the center of China, and subsequently spread rapidly to the whole world. Latest reports revealed that more than 800 thousand people in over 200 countries are involved in the epidemic disease by SARS-CoV-2. Due to the high mortality rate and the lack of optimum therapeutics, it is crucial to understand the biological characteristics of the virus and its possible pathogenesis to respond to the SARS-CoV-2. Rapid diagnostics and effective therapeutics are also important interventions for the management of infection control. However, the rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 exerted tremendous challenges on its diagnostics and therapeutics. Therefore, there is an urgent need to summarize the existing research results to guide decision-making on the prioritization of resources for research and development. In this review, we focus on our current understanding of epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnostics and therapeutics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this paper is to assess the role of gender on survival rate and causes of death and organ damage in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients in China from 2009 to 2015. Methods: We conducted a multicenter cohort study to analyze the differences in outcome data between male and female SLE patients. A group of 1494 SLE patients who fulfilled the 1997 American College of Rheumatology SLE classification criteria were enrolled in the Chinese Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Treatment and Research Group (CSTAR) registry from April 2009 to February 2010. All enrolled patients were followed up at least once per year from 2009 to 2015. For patients who could not attend the outpatient clinic, follow-up was conducted by telephone interview. We collected demographic data, clinical manifestations and damage scores (System Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index (SDI)). Survival rates were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: This study included 1352 women and 142 men. The five-year survival rates were 92.0% for men and 97.6% for women. The survival rates of males were significant lower than for females (p = 0.019). Male patients received methylprednisolone pulse therapy and cyclophosphamide significantly more than female patients (p = 0.010). During follow-up, 12 male patients and 66 female patients died. The most common cause of death was infection (41.7%) for men and active SLE disease (27.3%) for women. At the end of the study, the major accumulated organ damages included renal (8.5%) and musculoskeletal (7.7%), and nervous system (5.6%) for men and renal (8.8%) and musculoskeletal (6.7%) for women. There were no significant differences in SDI scores between the two groups at baseline and at the end of the study. Conclusions: Male SLE patients had lower survival rates than female patients. Male patients received more methylprednisolone pulse and cyclophosphamide therapy. The most common causes of death were infection for male patients and active SLE disease for female patients. The major accumulated organ damages were renal, musculoskeletal, and nervous system both for male and female SLE patients in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Targeted therapy using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has emerged as a widely used form of immunotherapy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Membrane-associated glycoprotein CD317 has been preferentially overexpressed by multiple myeloma cells, and its humanized mAb has been previously used in clinical trials. However, overexpression of CD317 in HNSCC and its correlation with tumor immunity is still uncertain. Here, the immunoreactivity of CD317 was detected in human HNSCC tissue microarrays, which contained 43 oral mucosa samples, 48 dysplasia samples, and 165 primary HNSCC. We found that CD317 expression was up-regulated in HNSCC tumor cells, and the CD317 expression level was independent of the histological grade, tumor size, and lymph node metastasis. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that patients with high expression of CD317 had a poor prognosis compared with patients with low expression. Furthermore, CD317 overexpression in HNSCC was correlated with immune checkpoint molecules PD-L1, B7-H3, and B7-H4 and tumor-associated macrophage markers (CD68 and CD163). We also observed that CD317 was overexpressed in immunocompetent mouse HNSCC tissue compared with normal tissue. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that CD317 overexpression indicates poor prognosis and is correlated with immune-related components in this patient cohort. CD317 may serve as a potential target for effective immunotherapy of HNSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study evaluates the relative importance of two components of QRS prolongation, myocardial conduction velocity and travel distance of the electrical wave front (i.e. path length), for the prediction of acute response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in left bundle branch block (LBBB) patients.Methods and Results: Thirty-two CRT candidates (ejection fraction <35%, LBBB) underwent cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging to provide detailed information on left ventricular (LV) dimensions. Left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) was used as a primary measure for path length, subsequently QRSd was normalized to LV dimension (i.e. QRSd divided by LVEDV) to adjust for conduction path length. Invasive pressure-volume loop analysis at baseline and during CRT was used to assess acute pump function improvement, expressed as LV stroke work (SW) change. During CRT, SW improved by +38 ± 46% (P < 0.001). The baseline LVEDV was positively related to QRSd (R = 0.36, P = 0.044). Despite this association, a paradoxical inverse relation was found between LVEDV and SW improvement during CRT (R = -0.40; P = 0.025). Baseline unadjusted QRSd was found to be unrelated to SW changes during CRT (R = 0.16; P = 0.383), whereas normalized QRSd (QRSd/LVEDV) yielded a strong correlation with CRT response (R = 0.49; P = 0.005). Other measures of LV dimension, including LV length, LV diameter, and LV end-systolic volume, showed similar relations with normalized QRSd and SW improvement.Conclusion: Since normalized QRSd reflects myocardial conduction properties, these findings suggest that myocardial conduction velocity rather than increased path length mainly determines response to CRT. Normalizing QRSd to LV dimension might provide a relatively simple method to improve patient selection for CRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Previous studies comparing early laparoscopic cholecystectomy ( ELC) with delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy ( DLC) for acute cholecystitis were incomplete. A meta-analysis was undertaken to compare the cost-effectiveness, quality of life, safety and effectiveness of ELC versus DLC. Methods PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library and Web of Science were searched for randomized clinical trials ( RCTs) that compared ELC (performed within 7 days of symptom onset) with DLC (undertaken at least 1 week after symptoms had subsided) for acute cholecystitis. Results Sixteen studies reporting on 15 RCTs comprising 1625 patients were included. Compared with DLC, ELC was associated with lower hospital costs, fewer work days lost (mean difference ( MD) -11·07 (95 per cent c.i. -16·21 to −5·94) days; P < 0·001), higher patient satisfaction and quality of life, lower risk of wound infection (relative risk 0·65, 95 per cent c.i. 0·47 to 0·91; P = 0·01) and shorter hospital stay ( MD −3·38 (−4·23 to −2·52) days; P < 0·001), but a longer duration of operation ( MD 11·12 (4·57 to 17·67) min; P < 0·001). There were no significant differences between the two groups in mortality, bile duct injury, bile leakage, conversion to open cholecystectomy or overall complications. Conclusion For patients with acute cholecystitis, ELC appears as safe and effective as DLC. ELC might be associated with lower hospital costs, fewer work days lost, and greater patient satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intraglandular injection of botulinum toxin type A (BoNT/A) is an effective treatment for sialorrhea. Despite numerous experimental and clinical studies on inhibition of saliva section by BoNT/A, the proteolysis of synaptosomal-associated protein 25 (SNAP-25) following BoNT/A treatment has not yet been confirmed in the salivary gland after injection of BoNT/A. More important, it is not known whether BoNT/A exerts a direct effect in acinar cells. Here, we show that injection of BoNT/A into the rat submandibular gland (SMG) decreased salivary flow in a dose-dependent manner; the inhibitory effect lasted at least 4 wk, and salivary flow recovered to normal levels by 12 wk. During the inhibitory period, SMG neurons and synapses expressed lower levels of full-length SNAP-25, and cleavage of SNAP-25 was observed, as indicated by detection of reduced molecular weight SNAP-25 using Western blotting. In addition, the water channel aquaporin 5 (AQP5) was downregulated and abnormally distributed in rat SMG after injection of BoNT/A. The direct effects of BoNT/A on AQP5 expression and distribution were assessed in vitro to exclude the influence of BoNT/A-induced inhibitory neurotransmission. In stable GFP-AQP5-transfected SMG-C6 cells, treatment with BoNT/A reduced the cell surface protein level of AQP5 in a dose- and time-dependent manner without affecting total AQP5 protein expression. Cell surface biotinylation and immunofluorescence demonstrated translocation of AQP5 from the membrane to the cytoplasm, which was confirmed by decreased levels of AQP5 protein in the membrane fraction and increased levels in the cytoplasmic fraction, suggestive of AQP5 redistribution. Taken together, these results indicated that BoNT/A reversibly decreased saliva secretion in rat SMGs through not only the presynaptic SNAP-25 cleavage but also the postsynaptic AQP5 redistribution. These data provide the first evidence for a direct effect of BoNT/A on the salivary gland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biological relationships among self-renewal, tumorigenicity and lineage differentiation of human osteosarcoma-initiating cells (OSIC) remain elusive, making it difficult to identify and distinguish OSIC from osteosarcoma-forming cells (OSFC) for developing OSIC-targeted therapies. Using a new inverse-lineage tracking strategy coupled with serial human-to-mouse xenotransplantation, we identified a subpopulation of osteosarcoma cells with OSIC-like properties and sought to distinguish them from their progeny, OSFC. We found that serial transplantation of cells from different osteosarcoma cell lines and primary osteosarcoma tissues progressively increased the CD49f+ subpopulation composing the bulk of the osteosarcoma mass. These CD49f+ cells displayed characteristics of OSFC: limited in vivo tumorigenicity, weak lineage differentiation, more differentiated osteogenic feature and greater chemo-sensitivity. By contrast, their parental CD49f−CD133+ cells had an inhibited osteogenic fate, together with OSIC-like properties of self-renewal, strong tumorigenicity and differentiation to CD49f+ progeny. Hence, the CD49f−CD133+ phenotype appears to identify OSIC-like cells that possess strong tumorigenicity correlated with an impaired osteogenic fate and the ability to initiate tumor growth through the generation of CD49f+ progeny. These findings advance our understanding of OSIC-like properties and, for the first time, provide a much-needed distinction between OSIC and OSFC in this cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L. Zhou, B. Wei, C. Xing, H. Xie, X. Yu, L. Wu, S. Zheng. Polymorphism in 3′-untranslated region of toll-like receptor 4 gene is associated with protection from hepatitis B virus recurrence after liver transplantation Transpl Infect Dis 2011: 250-258. All rights reserved Hepatitis B virus (HBV) recurrence is one of the more severe complications following liver transplantation. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a key role in human immunity by recognizing various bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the TLRs are thought to have an impact on the susceptibility to some pathogens. This study focused on the association between polymorphisms in the TLRs and HBV recurrence after liver transplantation in Han Chinese patients. A total of 41 tag SNPs in TLRs were detected by the snapshot technique in 125 patients with primary HBV-related diseases receiving liver transplantation in our center from 2004 to 2008. By comparing the genetic variations and clinical data between the HBV recurrence patients and nonrecurrence patients, we found that the variant genotype of rs11536889 (TLR4) was significantly associated with HBV recurrence after liver transplantation ( P=0.040, odds ratio was 0.390, 95% confidence interval 0.159-0.957). Our findings indicate that polymorphism in 3′-untranslated regions of the TLR4 gene may be related to protection from HBV recurrence after liver transplantation in Han Chinese patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background and objective: Zoledronate has been reported to inhibit the proliferation, adhesion and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells. In the present study, we assessed whether systemic and local delivery of zoledronate would be sufficient to prevent intimal hyperplasia. Methods: Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned into four groups: non-treated group, systemic zoledronate-treated group, local collagen-treated group and local zoledronate-treated group. All four groups underwent balloon injury to the right common carotid artery. The left uninjured carotid arteries of the non-treated group were considered as normal artery samples. Twenty-one days after arterial injury and treatment, the right and left common carotid arteries were fixed, sectioned, stained and measured by computer-aided image analysis. Results: At 3 weeks, there was a 59% reduction of the intima/media area ratio in the systemic zoledronate-treated group compared with the non-treated group (P < 0.01). There was an 87% reduction of the intima/media area ratio in the local zoledronate-treated group compared with the local collagen-treated group (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Both systemic and local delivery of zoledronate correspond to a significant reduction in intimal hyperplasia seen at 3 weeks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Tacrolimus has shown promising results in the treatment of various dermatological diseases, including hair loss. The direct effect of tacrolimus on hair follicles and its underlying mechanisms have rarely been investigated. In this study, we investigated the effects of topical tacrolimus on anagen in the hair cycle and on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) mRNAs in mouse skin. Topical tacrolimus 0.1% ointment was applied to one side of the skin of depilated C57BL/6 mice. Skin samples from both sides were taken during the study. Vegf and Igf-1 mRNA were determined by quantitative RT-PCR. No obvious difference in skin colour, hair cycling or histological features was found between the treated and untreated skin, but the levels of Vegf mRNA and Igf-1 mRNA were markedly decreased in the treated skin in late anagen, compared with those in untreated skin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autotransplantation of the submandibular gland is effective for severe keratoconjunctivitis sicca. However, most transplants show decreased secretion shortly after the operation, which leads to obstruction of Wharton's duct. The hypothesis that decreased catecholamine release due to denervation contributes to hypofunction in the early phase was tested in transplanted glands in rabbits. We found that salivary flow, expression of β1- and β2-adrenoceptor, and the maximum binding capacity were markedly decreased in the transplanted glands. Isoproterenol significantly reversed the decreased secretion, enhanced the expressions of β1- and β2-adrenoceptor, and ameliorated the atrophy of acinar cells. The contents of cAMP and phospho-ERK 1/2 were increased after isoproterenol treatment. These results indicate that lack of β-adrenoceptor stimulation is involved in early dysfunction of the transplanted gland. Isoproterenol treatment moderates structural injury and improves secretory function in the transplanted submandibular gland through up-regulating β1- and β2-adrenoceptor expression and post-receptor signal transduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To evaluate whether short-axis function plays a part in determining left ventricular (LV) geometric and functional improvement after cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CAT). Methods and results: 39 patients who received CAT were enrolled. 2D speckle tracking echocardiography was performed at baseline and three months after CAT to assess mean systolic circumferential (8-circum), radial (c- radial) and longitudinal (c-long) strain and torsion. Aesponders of reverse remodelling )n = 21) had higher baseline mean c-circum than non-responders (p<0.05), who also had improvement in mean c-circum and mean c-radial (both p<0.05) after CAT. Also, the increase in mean c-circum correlated with increase in ejection fraction (r = 0.57, p<0.001) and decrease in mid-cavity width (r= -0.52, p = 0.001). A baseline mean c-circum of ≥6.5% predicted a gain in ejection fraction ≥5%, with a sensitivity of 73% and a specificity of 71%. The baseline c-long was not different between the two groups, and remained unchanged after CAT. The torsion did not improve in responders, but was worsened in non-responders (p<0.05). Conclusions: The improvement of LV short-axis function but not long-axis function or torsion contributes to the improvement in LV global function and geometry at three-month follow up. A relatively preserved mean c-circum of ≥6.5% might be useful to predict favourable responses after CAT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Micronutrient deficiencies during pregnancy may be linked to poor newborn health and poor host defences against infection. We assessed newborn morbidity to determine the effect of four combinations of antenatal micronutrient supplements. Design: Cluster-randomised, double-masked, controlled trial. Setting: Rural community in Nepal. Interventions: Women received daily supplements from early pregnancy through to 3 months postpartum of vitamin A alone (control) or vitamin A with folic acid, folic acid plus iron, folic acid plus iron plus zinc or a multiple micronutrient supplement containing these and 11 other nutrients. Main outcome measures: Infants were visited in their home at birth )n = 3927) and for each of 9 days thereafter to elicit a 24-h history of nine infant morbidity symptoms, measure infant respiratory rate and axial temperature, and assess the infant for chest indrawing. At 6 weeks of age, infants were visited again in their homes to elicit a 30-day and 7-day history of 10 morbidity symptoms using parental recall. Results: Maternal micronutrient supplementation had no effect on 10-day morbidity or morbidity 30-day and 7-day morbidity assessed at 6 weeks of age all relative risks were close to 1. Symptoms of birth asphyxia increased by about 60% )p<0.05) in infants of women who received the multiple micronutrient supplement compared with the control. Symptoms of combinations of sepsis, preterm and birth asphyxia were associated with 8- to 14-fold increased odds of 6-month infant mortality. Conclusions: None of the combinations of antenatal micronutrient supplements tested improved symptoms of neonatal morbidity in the first 10 days of life or at 6 weeks of age. Further research is needed to elucidate the association and mechanism of increased risk of birth asphyxia following maternal multiple micronutrient supplementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silymarin, derived from the milk thistle plant, Silybum marianum, has been traditionally used in the treatment of liver disease. Our previous study demonstrated that silymarin has an anti-apoptotic effect against UV irradiation. In this study, SIRT1, a human deacetylase that was reported to promote cell survival, was activated by silymarin (5 × 10- 4 mol/L) in UV-irradiated human malignant melanoma, A375-S2 cells, followed by down-regulated expression of Bax and decreased release of cytochrome c. Cleavage of procaspase-3 and digestion of its substrates, the inhibitor of caspase-activated DNase (ICAD) and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), were also reduced. Consistent with its protective effect on UV-induced apoptosis, silymarin (5 × 10- 4 mol/L) also increased G2/M phase arrest, possibly providing a prolonged time for efficient DNA repair. Consequently, that silymarin protected A375-S2 cell against UV-induced apoptosis was partially through SIRT1 pathway and modulation of the cell cycle distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients results in modest cure rates. Gene expression patterns in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 29 patients coinfected with HIV and HCV were used to predict virological response to therapy for HCV infection. Prediction analysis using pretherapy samples identified 79 genes that correctly classified all 10 patients who did not respond to therapy, 8 of 10 patients with a response at the end of treatment, and 7 of 9 patients with sustained virological response (86% overall). Analysis of 17 posttreatment samples identified 105 genes that correctly classified all 9 patients with response at the end of treatment and 7 of 8 patients with sustained virological response (94% overall). Failure of anti-HCV therapy was associated with elevated expression of interferon-stimulated genes. Gene expression patterns may provide a tool to predict anti-HCV therapeutic response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquagenic syringeal acrokeratoderma (ASA) is a rare acquired disorder that develops predominantly in young women. It is clinically characterized by a burning sensation and whitish discolouration on the hands and rarely on the soles after brief immersion in water, which resolves within a short time after drying. Topical aluminium chloride and salicylic acid are reportedly beneficial in some cases. In total, 20 female and 8 male patients with ASA have been reported previously. We present another male patient, who failed to respond to treatment with antihistamines and topical steroids, but responded well to formalin 3% in alcohol without any side-effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a 22-year-old Chinese woman who has been diagnosed with acrokeratoelastoidosis (AKE) on her hands and feet. It mentions that AKE's lesions often begin in early childhood or adolescence, but most cases during the second or third decades of life. It cites several treatments for AKE including topical liquid nitrogen cryotherapy, salicylic acid and clobetasone.

A letter to the editor is presented which discussed a clinical case of a 63-year-old man whose imaging outcome showed presence of two huge Urinomas related to the extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy treatment.

The article presents a case study of a 19-year-old Chinese woman having one-year history of painful papular lesions and later diagnosed to have primary cutaneous aggressive epidermotropic CD8+ T-cell lymphoma. The patient's skin lesions have partially resolved after receiving four cycles of chemotherapy, which consists of cyclophosphamide, bleomycin and vincristine. However, the patient develops respiratory insufficiency and died from respiratory failure.

Studies relating the magnesium (Mg) content of calcified skeletons to temperature often report unexplained deviations from the signature expected for inorganically grown calcite. These "vital effects" are believed to have biological origins, but mechanistic bases for measured offsets remain unclear. We show that a simple hydrophitic peptide, with the same carhoxyl-rich character as that of macromolecules isolated from sites of calcification, increases calcite Mg content by up to 3 mole percent. Comparisons to previous studies correlating Mg content of carbonate minerals with temperature show that the Mg enhancement due to peptides results in offsets equivalent to 7° to 14°C. The insights also provide a physical basis for anecdotal evidence that organic chemistry modulates the mineralization of inorganic carbonates and suggest an approach to tuning impurity level in controlled materials synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To compare the safety of evacuated bottle-assisted thoracentesis with wall suction-assisted thoracentesis.Materials and Methods: An institutional review board-approved, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant retrospective study of 161 consecutive patients who underwent 191 evacuated bottle-assisted thoracenteses from 1 January 2012 to 30 September 2012, and 188 consecutive patients who underwent 230 wall suction-assisted thoracenteses from 1 January 2013 to 30 September 2013 was conducted. All procedures used imaging guidance. Primary diagnosis, age, gender, total fluid volume removed, and adverse events (AE) up to 30 days post-procedure were recorded and graded using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events 4.0 (CTCAE)2.Results: Overall AE rates were 42.9% (82/191) for the evacuated bottle group and 19.6% (45/230) for the wall suction group (p<0.0001). Grade I AE occurred more commonly in the evacuated bottle group than in the wall suction group, [41.9% (80/191) and 18.3% (42/230)], respectively (p<0.0001). No significant differences were observed in grade 2 [0.5% (1/191) and 0% (0/230), p=0.45] or grade 3 AE [0.5% (1/191) and 1.3% (3/230), p=0.63] between the evacuated bottle and wall suction groups, respectively. No grade 4 or 5 AE occurred. Excluding transient chest pain and cough, there was no statistical difference in overall AE rate between the evacuated bottle and wall suction groups [11% (21/191) and 8.3% (19/230), p=0.4].Conclusion: Image-guided thoracentesis performed with wall suction is safe when compared to evacuated bottles. The use of wall suction, in comparison to evacuated bottles, may decrease the incidence of transient chest pain or cough. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To investigate the effectiveness of 10-day bismuth-containing quadruple (B-quadruple) treatment as first-line therapy in patients with Helicobacter pylori –related chronic gastritis. Methods A randomized controlled trial was conducted from October 2011 to December 2013 in Zhejiang, China, including patients with H. pylori –related chronic gastritis who were randomly provided either 10-day omeprazole-based triple therapy (OM-triple; omeprazole 20 mg twice daily, clarithromycin 500 mg twice daily and amoxicillin 1 g twice daily) or 10-day B-quadruple therapy (OM-triple + bismuth subcitrate 120 mg four times daily). H. pylori status, pathologic findings and dyspeptic symptoms were assessed at baseline and after 3 months. The primary outcome was H. pylori eradication rates by intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses. The secondary outcomes were the histologic and symptomatic benefits from H. pylori eradication. Results A total of 351 patients with H. pylori –related chronic gastritis were recruited. The eradication rates of the OM-triple and B-quadruple groups were 58.4% (108/185) and 86.1% (143/166) respectively according to ITT analysis (p <0.01). PP rates of H. pylori eradication were 63.2% (108/171) and 92.3% (143/155) respectively (p <0.01). According to the PP analysis, active and chronic inflammation in gastric mucosa was substantially improved in all treated patients ( n = 326). However, pathologic atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia did not regress in both groups ( n = 326). The reduction of dyspeptic symptoms score was significantly higher in the B-quadruple group than in the OM-triple group (0.59 ± 0.057 vs. 0.39 ± 0.046) (p <0.01). Conclusions Ten-day B-quadruple therapy is more effective than OM-triple therapy as first-line therapy for patients with H. pylori –induced chronic gastritis in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Kidney transplantation (KTX) has become one of the most effective therapies of choice for pediatric patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The extent to which HLA mismatching influences graft survival following KTX has not been clarified. Patients and Methods The effect of HLA amino acid residue matching on graft survival was assessed in 36 pediatric patients in whom complete donor-recipient HLA data were available. HLA-A, -B, -DR and HLA-A+B+DR loci residue mismatches were separately analyzed. Results HLA-A, -B, -DR residue mismatches showed no significant statistical differences on kidney graft survival probability. When analyzing HLA-A+B+DR loci residue mismatches, the presence of 3 to 4 residue mismatches significantly increased the relative risk of graft rejection ( P = .0292). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] CEF reduces the mortality rate and improves the neurological scores after SAH. [•] Neuroprotection of CEF is possibly mediated by increasing EAAT2 expression. [•] CEF modulates EAAT2 expression via PI3K/Akt/NF-κB signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]