Recent advances in the detection of respiratory virus infection in humans

Respiratory tract viral infection caused by viruses or bacteria is one of the most common diseases in human worldwide, while those caused by emerging viruses, such as the novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV that caused the pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, China most recently, have posed great threats to global public health. Identification of the causative viral pathogens of respiratory tract viral infections is important to select an appropriate treatment, save people's lives, stop the epidemics, and avoid unnecessary use of antibiotics. Conventional diagnostic tests, such as the assays for rapid detection of antiviral antibodies or viral antigens, are widely used in many clinical laboratories. With the development of modern technologies, new diagnostic strategies, including multiplex nucleic acid amplification and microarray-based assays, are emerging. This review summarizes currently available and novel emerging diagnostic methods for the detection of common respiratory viruses, such as influenza virus, human respiratory syncytial virus, coronavirus, human adenovirus, and human rhinovirus. Multiplex assays for simultaneous detection of multiple respiratory viruses are also described. It is anticipated that such data will assist researchers and clinicians to develop appropriate diagnostic strategies for timely and effective detection of respiratory virus infections.     

Association of polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor gene with susceptibility to and severity of hand,foot, and mouth disease caused by coxsackievirus A16

Coxsackievirus A16 (CA16) remains the most common causative agent of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), and is related to high incidence and critical complications. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) activity might affect the outcome of CA16 infection. Our case-control research aims to evaluate the relationship between VDR polymorphisms in the gene encoding and susceptibility to and severity of HFMD due to CA16. Three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of VDR gene were selected according to functional prediction and linkage disequilibrium, and were examined utilizing the SNPscan method to identify possible associations with HFMD caused by CA16. A significant relationship was found in the HFMD cases of polymorphism rs11574129 (GA vs GG: odds ratio (OR) = 0.068, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.007-0.693, P = .023; GA + AA vs GG: OR = 0.322, 95%CI = 0.106-0.984, P = .047), and vitamin D levels in genotype AA were significantly higher than those in genotype GG (P < .05). These results suggest that VDR rs11574129 may influence genetic susceptibility to CA16-associated HFMD.     

The impact of COPD and smoking history on the severity of COVID-19: A systemic review and meta-analysis

Comorbidities are associated with the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This meta-analysis aimed to explore the risk of severe COVID-19 in patients with pre-existing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and ongoing smoking history. A comprehensive systematic literature search was carried out to find studies published from December 2019 to 22 March 2020 from five databases. The languages of literature included English and Chinese. The point prevalence of severe COVID-19 in patients with pre-existing COPD and those with ongoing smoking was evaluated with this meta-analysis. Overall 11 case series, published either in Chinese or English language with a total of 2002 cases, were included in this study. The pooled OR of COPD and the development of severe COVID-19 was 4.38 (fixed-effects model; 95% CI: 2.34-8.20), while the OR of ongoing smoking was 1.98 (fixed-effects model; 95% CI: 1.29-3.05). There was no publication bias as examined by the funnel plot and Egger's test (P = not significant). The heterogeneity of included studies was moderate for both COPD and ongoing smoking history on the severity of COVID-19. COPD and ongoing smoking history attribute to the worse progression and outcome of COVID-19.     

A study on clinical effect of Arbidol combined with adjuvant therapy on COVID-19

This study aims to explore the clinical effect of Arbidol (ARB) combined with adjuvant therapy on patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The study included 62 patients with COVID-19 admitted to the First Hospital of Jiaxing from January to March 2020, and all patients were divided into the test group and the control group according to whether they received ARB during hospitalization. Various indexes in the two groups before and after treatment were observed and recorded, including fever, cough, hypodynamia, nasal obstruction, nasal discharge, diarrhea, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), blood routine indexes, blood biochemical indexes, time to achieve negative virus nucleic acid, and so on. The fever and cough in the test group were relieved markedly faster than those in the control group (P < .05); there was no obvious difference between the two groups concerning the percentage of patients with abnormal CRP, PCT, blood routine indexes, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase (P > .05); the time for two consecutive negative nucleic acid tests in the test group were shorter than that in the control group; the hospitalization period of the patients in the test group and control group were (16.5 ± 7.14) days and (18.55 ± 7.52) days, respectively. ARB combined with adjuvant therapy might be able to relieve the fever of COVID-19 sufferers faster and accelerate the cure time to some degree, hence it's recommended for further research clinically.     

Quercetin alleviates neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury by inhibiting microglia-derived oxidative stress and TLR4-mediated inflammation

Inflammation Research - Microglia stimulated by oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) were treated with quercetin to investigate the effect on oxidative stress and the inflammatory response and to...     

数字化三维重建技术在隐神经营养血管皮瓣血供的可视化研究及临床应用

目的探讨数字化三维重建技术在隐神经营养血管皮瓣血供可视化研究的可行性及其临床应用效果。 方法新鲜捐献成人尸体1具,采用改良的明胶-氧化铅灌注方法进行灌注,灌注前和灌注后均用64排螺旋CT进行扫描,利用Mimics 10.01软件,获得血管、肌肉、骨骼以及皮肤的三维解剖结构图像,并对血管进一步分割,构建出单支血管及其分支,并对所构建的三维图像进行单独显示与组合显示,以设计切取隐神经营养血管皮瓣。在上述基础上,选择于2015年12月至2018年1月住院的小腿下段及足踝部皮肤软组织缺损需行隐神经营养血管皮瓣修复手术患者40例,随机分成A、B两组,每组20例,A组术前进行数字化重建,B组术前不予数字化重建。比较2组术后隐神经营养血管皮瓣存活率,手术所需时间,精确性以及皮瓣旋转点到内踝顶点距离。 结果灌注前数据可轻易重建出骨、肌肉、筋膜与皮肤,灌注后的数据可构建出血管,组合显示后可得到血管在某个局部的具体分布状况,为隐神经营养血管皮瓣的临床个性化设计与基础研究提供准确的血管解剖学基础。A组隐神经营养血管皮瓣经数字化重建后,可显示皮瓣主要血供,并能够清晰显示皮肤、肌肉与血管三维解剖关系;应用软件自带测量工具对血管、皮瓣进行测量,可以准确定位指导手术操作。术中探查血供与重建图像相符,体表定位准确。A组20例皮瓣均成活良好,伤口一期愈合,皮瓣质地良好,局部无瘢痕挛缩;B组20例皮瓣4例患者于术后出现皮瓣远端部分坏死,经二期清创换药和植皮术后愈合。术后随访3～12个月,A组皮瓣质地良好,外形满意,B组有6例皮瓣远端出现质硬瘢痕和轻度挛缩,行走时疼痛,后经手术松解植皮后好转。A组皮瓣成活率(100%)明显高于B组(70%),差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);A组手术所需时间[(114.05±10.36) min]明显短于B组[(123.20±11.91) min],差异有统计学意义(P<0.01);A组皮瓣切取精确性(0.17±0.03)明显高于B组(0.23±0.02),差异有统计学意义(P<0.01);A组皮瓣蒂部旋转点到内踝顶点距离[(4.14±0.38) cm]明显少于B组[(5.96±0.81) cm],差异有统计学意义(P<0.01)。 结论数字化三维重建技术为隐神经营养血管皮瓣临床手术的个性化设计提供了一个很好的辅助手段,临床应用修复小腿远端及足踝部软组织缺损效果满意,值得临床推广应用。     

Perfectionistic traits and self‐presentation are associated with negative attitudes and concerns about seeking professional psychological help

Numerous factors influence whether an individual is able and willing to seek professional help for psychological difficulties. One of these may be perfectionism, a multidimensional personality construct that has been linked to poor psychological adjustment. The current study investigated whether perfectionism traits and self‐presentational facets were associated with negative help‐seeking attitudes and concerns about psychotherapy. Samples of university (N = 299) and community (N = 77) men and women completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, Perfectionistic Self‐Presentation Scale, Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Help Scale, and Thoughts About Psychotherapy Survey. Various components of perfectionism were associated with both negative help‐seeking attitudes and concerns about psychotherapy. The findings suggest that perfectionistic behaviour may be an important dispositional factor that interferes with seeking and obtaining help for psychological difficulties. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.