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Objective: To characterize the plasma renin activity (PRA) and plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) and aldosterone/renin ratio (ARR) in patients with aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA)., Methods: We retrospectively analysed the data of PRA, PAC and ARR from 80 patients with APA, 70 patients with essential hypertension (EH) and 26 individuals with normal blood pressure (NBP). Patients with hypertension were further divided into taking anti-hypertensive drug group (D) and non drug treatment group (ND). All participants received at least one following tests:ARR screening test, supine-upright position test and saline load test.Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used for exploring the best cut-off value of ARR and low PRA., Results: The median and percentages of PRA (ng×ml(-1)×h(-1), 1 ng×ml(-1)×h(-1) = 1 µg×L(-1)×h(-1)), PAC (ng/dl, 1 ng/dl = 27.7 pmol/L) and ARR (ng×dl(-1)/ng×ml(-1)×h(-1)) between NBP and EH (ND) groups showed no differences.Over 90% supine PRA ≥ 0.52 and 100% upright PRA ≥ 0.52 in the above two groups. On the contrary, 90% APA (ND) patients upright PRA <0.52. The lowest supine and upright ARR in APA (ND) patients was ≥ 24.2 and ≥ 37.5 respectively. ROC analysis suggested that the best screening cut-off values for APA were supine ARR ≥ 26.0, upright ARR ≥ 37.0; and low PRA cut-off value for APA were supine PRA <0.50 and upright PRA < 0.63 respectively. The sensitivity and specificity for APA diagnosis were about 88.2% and 61.5% when PAC ≥ 10.0 after saline load test., Conclusions: The distinguishing features of PRA, PAC and ARR can be used as a diagnostic indexs for the exclusive diagnosis of APA in various clinical tests. And low PRA cut-off values exist in APA patients.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and distribution of human enteroviruses (HEVs) among healthy children in Shenzhen, China., Method: Clinical specimens were obtained from 320 healthy children under 5 years old in Shenzhen, China from 2010 to 2011. The specimens were evaluated using real-time PCR and cell cultures. The positive specimens were further tested using reverse transcription-seminested PCR (RT-snPCR). Molecular typing and phylogenetic analysis were based on the sequence determined., Results: Among the 320 samples, 34 were tested positive for HEVs (10.6%) and 22 different serotypes were identified using RT-snPCR. PV1 and PV2 were also detected. The predominant serotype observed was EV71 (17.6%), followed by CV-B4 (14.7%). HEV-B was detected most frequently, with an overall prevalence of 47.1%. HEV-A and HEV-C were found in 32.3% and 20.6% of the samples, respectively. No HEV-D was identified. Molecular phylogeny indicated that all EV71 strains were of C4 genotype., Conclusion: Although a variety of HEVs was detected in healthy children, HEV-B was relatively more prevalent than other HEV species. Considering HEV-A is more prevalent than HEV-B among patients with hand-foot-mouth disease, additional long-term surveillance of HEV is warranted in both asymptomatic and symptomatic populations.