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Background Sepsis is a leading cause of pediatric morbidity and mortality worldwide. The aim of this study was to explore the association of decreased mitochondrial respiratory chain enzyme activities with the risk for pediatric sepsis, and explore their association with mortality among affected children. Methods A total of 50 incident cases with sepsis and 49 healthy controls participated in this study. The level of serum coenzyme Q10 was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography, and selected mitochondrial respiratory chain enzymes in WBC were measured using spectrophotometric. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results The levels of CoQ10, complex II, complex I + III and FoF1-ATPase were significantly higher in healthy controls than in children with sepsis (p p p = 0.001, p = 0.004 and 0.001, respectively) in children with sepsis. Conclusions Our findings indicate the promising predictive contribution of low serum CoQ10 and complex I + III to the risk of pediatric sepsis and its associated mortality during hospitalization among Chinese children. Trial registration The trial was registered with www.chictr.org.cn, number ChiCTR-IOR-15006446 on May 05, 2015. Retrospectively registered.

The mechanisms underpinning Kawasaki disease (KD) are incompletely understood. There is an unmet need for specific biomarkers for the early diagnosis of KD.Eighty-five KD patients suffering from acute-phase and subacute-phase KD, 40 healthy children, and 40 febrile children comprised the study cohort. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure plasma levels of C1q, C1q-circulating immune complex (C1q-CIC), mannan-binding lectin-associated serine protease (MASP)-1, factor B, C4d, C3d, C5a, C5b-9 and CD59.Plasma concentrations of factor B and C5a in the acute phase were lower than those in healthy and febrile control groups (all P0.05). Compared with acute-phase KD patients, plasma concentrations of C1q, factor B, and C3d in KD patients were increased significantly (P0.05), but those of C4d, MASP-1 and CD59 decreased significantly (P0.05), in patients with sub-acute KD.These data suggest that more than one pathway in the complement system is activated in KD. Importantly, decreased plasma concentrations of factor B and C5a in the acute phase (6-10 d) could be employed as biomarkers for the early diagnosis of KD.

Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is a potential candidate gene for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Examining the susceptibility VDR gene for CAP is essential for early intervention, prevention of related complications, and improvement of outcome. A case-control study was performed to examine the association between rs2239185 of VDR gene and CAP among children in Chinese Han population. Polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing were used to genotype rs2239185 in 91 CAP children and 94 healthy children. For rs2239185, individuals with TT genotype showed a significantly higher risk of CAP than those with CC plus CT genotypes (P = 0.008). The occurrence of T allele of rs2239185 was significantly more frequent in CAP children than those in normal controls (P = 0.045).We found through stratification analysis that CAP children with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), leukocyte count (WBC) >10 × 109/L, C-reactive protein (CRP) >25 mg/L, procalcitonin (PCT) >2 ng/mL, and pediatric critical illness score

To study the effects of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) on the left ventricular expression of MMP-8, MMP-13, and TIMP-1 in a rat model of congenital heart disease.Male SD rats underwent abdominal aorta-inferior vena cava shunt operation. H2S donor NaHS (56 μmol·kg(-1)·d(-1), ip) was injected from the next day for 8 weeks. At 8 weeks, the hemodynamic parameters, including the left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP), the left ventricular peak rate of contraction and relaxation (LV ± dp/dtmax) and the left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP) were measured. The left ventricular tissues were dissected out, and hydroxyproline and collagen I contents were detected with ELISA. The expression of MMP-8, MMP-13, and a tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in the tissues was measured using real-time PCR, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry, respectively.The shunt operation markedly reduced LVSP and LV ± dp/dtmax, increased LVEDP, hydroxyproline and collagen I contents, as well as the mRNA and protein levels of MMP-8, MMP-13, and TIMP-1 in the left ventricles. Chronic treatment of the shunt operation rats with NaHS effectively prevented the abnormalities in the hemodynamic parameters, hydroxyproline and collagen I contents, and the mRNA and protein levels of MMP-13 and TIMP-1 in the left ventricles. NaHS also prevented the increase of MMP-8 protein expression, but did not affect the increase of mRNA level of MMP-8 in the shunt operation rats.H2S suppresses protein and mRNA expression of MMP-8, MMP-13, and TIMP-1 in rats with cardiac volume overload, which may be contributed to the amelioration of ventricular structural remodeling and cardiac function.

Sixteen 17-nucleotide DNA sequences have been used to determine the sequence effect on random coil DNA proton chemical shifts. Based on the proton chemical shifts measured for the central nucleotides in 64 triplets and the correction factors determined for the next nearest neighbor effects, a parameter set has been derived for predicting random coil DNA proton chemical shifts. The root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) between the predicted and the observed aromatic H6/H8 proton chemical shifts of ∼200 data from 22 random coil DNA sequences was determined to be 0.02 ppm with a correlation coefficient of 0.998. For the H1′, H2′, H2′′ and H3′ sugar protons, the RMSD values between the predicted and the experimental shifts were found to be 0.02, 0.03, 0.03 and 0.02 ppm, respectively.