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Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to spread worldwide, with high infectivity and mortality rates. The global pandemic poses a serious risk to public health and is of significant concern to the medical community. The current study was performed to delineate the clinical characteristics of cases with redetectable viral RNA post-discharge following hospital discharge during the quarantine period. Methods: Data on 51 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were extracted through March 2, 2020. Findings: Median age was 57·0 (21–90) years, and 43% patients were female. Median time from initial symptoms to first discharge was 28 days and nine days from discharge to redetectable viral RNA. All patients were symptom-free, except one case presenting with fever and two with cough. Basic disease was observed in 47·1% patients, with hypertension being the most common manifestation. Laboratory and radiological findings were normal for the majority of patients. The median titers of anti-viral IgM and IgG antibodies in COVID-19 patients were 23·19 AU/mL and 170·36 AU/mL, respectively. No significant differences were observed between patients classified into the “persistence” and “non-persistence” groups based on the status of RNA positivity. The median length of hospital stay for patients that had reached the composite endpoint was 16·5 d and nine days in the persistence and non-persistence groups, respectively. Interpretation: The viral RNA for some symptom-free patients post-discharge can be positive with normal T cell subset and detectable IgG. More attentions should be paid to patients with re-detectable RNA of COVID-19. Funding Statement: None. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Army Medical University. Written informed consent was waived in light of the urgent need to collect clinical data

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and miR-124 have been reported to play important roles in regulation of inflammation. However, the underlying anti-inflammatory mechanisms remain not well understood. In the present study, we demonstrated that the expression level of PPARγ is positively correlated with that of miR-124 in patients with sepsis. Activation of PPARγ upregulates miR-124 and in turn inhibits miR-124 target gene. PPARγ bound directly to PPRE in the miR-124 promoter region, and enhanced the promoter transcriptional activity. PPARγ-induced miR-124 is involved in the suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokine in vitro and in vivo. These results suggest that PPARγ-induced miR-124 inhibits the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines is a novel PPARγ anti-inflammatory mechanism and also indicate that miR-124 may be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Background: Travelling to high altitude (HA) presents a risk of the high levels of pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) at altitude, which is associated with impaired exercise capacity and fatal HA pulmonary oedema. However, prediction of high levels of PAP at altitude is still unclear. Methods: Echocardiography and pulmonary function tests were performed on 121 healthy men at low altitude (LA) and 4100 m (5 ± 2 h after a 7 day ascent). Results: HA exposure increased the levels of FEV1/FVC ratio, FEF25%, 50%, 75%, MMEF, mPAP, total pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (SPAP). More smokers and lower forced expiratory flow at 25% of forced vital capacity (FEF25%) at LA were observed in subjects with mPAP≥30 mmHg than those with mPAP Conclusions: Thus, these findings suggest that subjects with low FEF25% values at LA are susceptible to high levels of PAP at altitude but not the incidence of AMS following short-term HA exposure, especially in smokers.