Pulmonary Function by Spirometry in Children with Perinatal HIV Infection

Background: In an age of antiretroviral therapy, the life expectancy of children perinatally infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has significantly increased. At the same time, however, pulmonary pathologies secondary to opportunistic infections have decreased thanks to increased diagnostics and access to antiretroviral therapy (ART). Despite this, in these children an immune dysregulation is maintained due to chronic infection. There is evidence that these patients have increased probability of presenting with abnormalities in pulmonary function, mainly with chronic obstructive clinical pictures (25% - 40% of perinatally infected adolescents display some anomaly in the spirometry), which predisposes them to increased risk of chronic pulmonary disease. Since lung development occurs mainly during infancy, patients perinatally infected with HIV may suffer consequences. This can be secondary to opportunistic infections, chronic inflammation due to the virus, and immunologic effects of ART, mainly in non-industrialized countries, where late diagnosis is frequent. Methodology: An analytical, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted at Roosevelt Hospital Pediatric infectious disease clinic, from January to December 2019. A sample of 76 patients was obtained, out of a population of 362 patients. A total of 62 subjects, who met the criterion of reproducibility in the spirometry, were analyzed. Results were analyzed with percentages and the association of variables using the chi-squared test (χ2). Results: A decrease in pulmonary function was found in 34% of patients, mild obstructive pattern (16%) predominating. Significant association between basal viral load greater than 100,000 cp/ml and a decrease in Forced expiratory flow 25 - 75 (FEF 25-75) (p 0.046) and in relationship between forced expiratory volume and forced vital capacity (FEV1/ FVC p = 0.024) was observed, as well as a non-statistically significant relationship between advanced clinical stage at diagnosis and decreased pulmonary function. Conclusions: The prevalence of decreased pulmonary function related to advanced clinical stage and elevated basal viral load (>100,000 cps/ml) is higher than that reported in other studies (25%) and has an influence in the long-term decrease in pulmonary function.

Contributory roles of sarcopenia and myosteatosis in development of overt hepatic encephalopathy and mortality after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt

BACKGROUND Skeletal muscle abnormalities,such as muscle mass depletion(sarcopenia)and fatty infiltration of the muscle(myosteatosis),are frequent complications in cirrhotic patients scheduled for transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt(TIPS).AIM To investigate the association and predictive value of sarcopenia and myosteatosis for overt hepatic encephalopathy(HE)and mortality after TIPS.METHODS The records of cirrhotic patients who underwent the TIPS procedure at our hospital between January 2020 and June 2021 were retrospectively retrieved.The transversal psoas muscle thickness(TPMT)and psoas muscle attenuation(PMA)measured from the unenhanced abdominal computed tomography(CT)at the level of the third lumbar vertebrae were used to analyze the sarcopenia and myosteatosis,respectively.The area under curve(AUC)was used to evaluate the discriminative power of TPMT,PMA,and relevant clinical parameters.Furthermore,log-rank test was performed to compare the incidence of overt HE and survival between the different groups,and the association of risk factors with overt HE and mortality was analyzed using Cox proportional hazards regression models.RESULTS A total of 108 patients were collected.Among these patients,45.4%of patients developed overt HE after TIPS treatment.Furthermore,32.4%and 28.7%of these patients were identified to have myosteatosis and sarcopenia,respectively.Myosteatosis(51.0%vs 16.9%,P<0.001)and sarcopenia(40.8 vs 18.6%,P=0.011)were found to be more frequent in patients with overt HE,when compared to patients without overt HE.The receiver operating characteristics analysis indicated that the predictive power of TPMT and PMA in overt HE(AUC=0.713 and 0.778,respectively)was higher when compared to the neutrophil lymphocyte ratio(AUC=0.636).The cumulative incidence of overt HE was the highest in patients with concomitant sarcopenia and myosteatosis,followed by patients with myosteatosis or sarcopenia,while this was the lowest in patients without sarcopenia and myosteatosis.In addition,sarcopenia and myosteatosis were independently associated with overt HE and mortality after adjusting for confounding factors in post-TIPS patients.CONCLUSION CT-based estimations for sarcopenia and myosteatosis can be used as reliable predictors for the risk of developing overt HE and mortality in cirrhotic patients after TIPS.

肝细胞生长因子对过氧化氢诱导肝细胞凋亡的影响

背景:肝细胞生长因子对多种细胞具有保护作用。目的:观察肝细胞生长因子对过氧化氢诱导肝细胞凋亡的保护作用及其机制。方法:采用人LO2肝细胞系,随机分成3组:正常对照组为正常培养的LO2细胞;模型组加入100mmol/L过氧化氢作用LO2细胞4h;肝细胞生长因子组加入50mg/L肝细胞生长因子预处理LO2细胞24h,再加入100mmol/L过氧化氢继续培养4h后处理细胞。结果与结论:体外培养的LO2细胞经100mmol/L过氧化氢作用4h后,LO2细胞可出现明显的凋亡现象,表现为细胞存活率降低(P<0.01),Caspase-3蛋白表达增加(P<0.01),Bcl-2蛋白表达降低(P<0.01)。给予质量浓度50mg/L肝细胞生长因子预处理24h后再加入100mmol/L过氧化氢继续培养4h,LO2细胞的凋亡被显著抑制(P<0.01),说明肝细胞生长因子可通过增加LO2细胞Bcl-2的表达来抑制过氧化氢诱导的LO2细胞凋亡。

Differential diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 from community-acquired-pneumonia by computed tomography scan and follow-up

Objective Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)is currently the most serious infectious disease in the world.An accurate diagnosis of this disease in the clinic is very important.This study aims to improve the differential ability of computed tomography(CT)to diagnose COVID-19 and other community-acquired pneumonias(CAPs)and evaluate the short-term prognosis of these patients.Methods The clinical and imaging data of 165 COVID-19 and 118 CAP patients diagnosed in seven hospitals in Anhui Province,China from January 21 to February 28,2020 were retrospectively analysed.The CT manifestations of the two groups were recorded and compared.A correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between COVID-19 and age,size of lung lesions,number of involved lobes,and CT findings of patients.The factors that were helpful in diagnosing the two groups of patients were identified based on specificity and sensitivity.Results The typical CT findings of COVID-19 are simple ground-glass opacities(GGO),GGO with consolidation or grid-like changes.The sensitivity and specificity of the combination of age,white blood cell count,and ground-glass opacity in the diagnosis of COVID-19 were 92.7 and 66.1%,respectively.Pulmonary consolidation,fibrous cords,and bronchial wall thickening were used as indicators to exclude COVID-19.The sensitivity and specificity of the combination of these findings were 78.0 and 63.6%,respectively.The follow-up results showed that 67.8%(112/165)of COVID-19 patients had abnormal changes in their lung parameters,and the severity of the pulmonary sequelae of patients over 60 years of age worsened with age.Conclusions Age,white blood cell count and ground-glass opacity have high accuracy in the early diagnosis of COVID-19 and the differential diagnosis from CAP.Patients aged over 60 years with COVID-19 have a poor prognosis.This result provides certain significant guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of new coronavirus pneumonia.