Diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB) is a chronic diffuse airway inflammatory disease, which is strongly associated with the class I human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles. Here, we report a pair of sisters who have been suffering from chronic cough, expectoration and wheezing for many years. They were previously misdiagnosed as chronic bronchitis and bronchial asthma, and were recently diagnosed as diffuse panbronchiolitis. The 36-year-old elder sister suffered from diffuse panbronchiolitis complicated with pulmonary tuberculosis. The 30-year-old younger sister suffered from diffuse panbronchiolitis complicated with bronchial asthma and bronchiectasis. We have performed HLA genotyping research on the two sisters, their parents and younger brother. The results showed that all family members were positive for HLA-A24 and HLA-B13. The younger sister and mother were positive for HLA-A2. The younger brother and father were positive for HLA-A11. We suspect that the two sisters’ disease susceptibility may be caused by their parents’ consanguineous marriage. In this study, we reported the clinical characteristics of the two sisters with diffuse panbronchiolitis and shared the associated HLA genotyping results of this family cluster, hoping to provide reference for the etiology, diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that cannot be cured. Maresin 1 (MaR1) is a specific lipid synthesized by macrophages that exhibits powerful anti-inflammatory effects in various inflammatory diseases. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of MaR1 on allergic asthma using an ovalbumin- (OVA-) induced asthma model. Thirty BALB/c mice were randomly allocated to control, OVA, and MaR1 + OVA groups. Mice were sacrificed 24 hours after the end of the last challenge, and serum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and lung tissue were collected for further analysis. Western blotting was used to measure the protein level of IκBα, the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway, and the expression of NF-κB downstream inflammatory cytokines. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions (qRT-PCRs) were used to evaluate the expression levels of COX-2 and ICAM-1 in lung tissues. We found that high doses of MaR1 were most effective in preventing OVA-induced inflammatory cell infiltration and excessive mucus production in lung tissue, reducing the number of inflammatory cells in the BALF and inhibiting the expression of serum or BALF-associated inflammatory factors. Furthermore, high-dose MaR1 treatment markedly suppressed the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway, the degradation of IκBα, and the expression of inflammatory genes downstream of NF-κB, such as COX-2 and ICAM-1, in the OVA-induced asthma mouse model. Our findings indicate that MaR1 may play a critical role in OVA-induced asthma and may be therapeutically useful for the management of asthma.

Purpose:To verify the psychometrical properties of the Chinese-version VEnous INsufficiency Epidemiological and Economic Study-Quality of Life/Symptoms (VEINES-QOL/Sym) questionnaire, in Chinese patients with deep venous thrombosis.Methods:The English-version VEINES-QOL/Sym questionnaire was translated into Chinese by forward-translation, back-translation and cultural adjustment, and approved by the original authors. It was administered to patients with deep venous thrombosis of the two local hospitals in Nanchong from Jul 2017 to Jan 2018. The internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the Chinese version of VEINES-QOL/Sym questionnaire were evaluated. Main outcome measures were as follows: Reliability was tested using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, internal consistency reliability, retest reliability, split-half reliability . Validity was verified by structure validity, content validity and criterion-related validity.Results:In pilot study, a total of 132 participates completed the questionnaire. In validity sample, a total of 335 participates completed the questionnaire. The Chinese-version VEINES-QOL/Sym questionnaire has 25 items. And it had good internal consistency and stability (Cronbach’s α coefficients ranging from 0.877-0.930, split-half coefficients ranging from 0.792-0.913 and retest coefficients ranging from 0.891-0.987). The Chinese-version VEINES-QOL/Sym summary score had good criterion-related validity in the PCS (physical component summary) and MCS (mental component summary) of Chinese-version SF-36 (0.801 and 0.792). Four factors emerged from exploratory factor analysis, which named symptoms (Q1a-i, Q6), physical functioning (Q2, Q3a-d), role-physical (Q4a-d, Q5) and mental health (Q7a-e) respectively. ConclusionsThis questionnaire was shown to be reliable and valid in the Chinese language. We propose that the Chinese-version VEINES-QOL/Sym is a useful tool for local use.

Objective Identifying the biological subsets of severe COVID-19 could provide a basis for finding biomarkers for the early prediction of the prognosis of severe COVID-19 and poor prognosis, and may facilitate specific treatment for COVID-19. Methods In this study we downloaded microarray dataset GSE172114 from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database in NCBI, and screened differentially-expressed genes (DEGs) by using the limma package in R software. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were conducted, and the results were presented by volcano, Venn, heat, and enrichment pathway bubble maps in the R language package. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to explore and demonstrate the signal pathways related to severe COVID-19. Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) Network analysis and visualization were performed by using STRING and Cytoscape. Seven key protein expression molecules were screened by the MOCDE plug-in. Then, the cytoHubba plug-in was used to screen 10 candidate genes with maximal clique centrality (MCC) algorithm as the standard, and the intersection with the Venn diagram was used to obtain seven Hub genes. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were drawn to determine the area under the curve (AUC), and the predictive value of the key genes was evaluated. Results A total of 210 DEGs were identified, including 186 upregulated genes as well as downregulated ones. GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis were used, and the results were presented by volcano, Venn, heat, and enrichment pathway bubble maps in the R language package. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to explore and demonstrate the signal pathways related to severe COVID-19. Protein interaction network (PPI) analysis and visualization were performed by using STRING and Cytoscape. Seven key protein expression molecules were screened by the MOCDE plug-in. Then, the cytoHubba plug-in was used to screen 10 candidate genes with maximal clique centrality (MCC) algorithm as the standard, and the intersection with the Venn diagram was used to obtain seven Hub genes. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were drawn to determine the area under the curve (AUC), and the predictive value of the key genes was evaluated. The AUC of the PLSCR1 gene was 0.879, which was the most significantly upregulated key gene in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Conclusions Based on bioinformatics analysis, we found that the screened candidate gene, PLSCR1, may be closely related to the occurrence of severe COVID-19, and can thus be used for the early prediction of patients with severe COVID-19, and may provide meaningful research direction for their treatment.

Limited studies have been conducted on Chinese women's willingness to donate milk following perinatal loss. In this study, we explore the relationship among childbirth trauma, willingness to donate milk, and resilience in women following perinatal loss, and the mediating effect of resilience between childbirth trauma and willingness to donate milk. A cross‐sectional study was carried out throughout 4 months. We used convenience sampling methods and recruited 241 women following a perinatal loss from eight tertiary hospitals in Sichuan Province, China. Participants completed four questionnaires during a face‐to‐face individual interview: the general information questionnaire, the Willingness to Donate Milk Scale (WMDS), the City Birth Trauma Scale, and the Brief Resilience Scale. SPSS 20.0 was used to analyze the collected data. In our study, childbirth trauma was negatively correlated with the total and each dimension score of WMDS (p < 0.001). Resilience was positively correlated with the total and each dimension score of WMDS (p < 0.001). Resilience partially mediated the relationship between childbirth‐related symptoms and willingness to donate milk (β = −0.38, 95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.50 to −0.26), which accounted for 69.03% of the total effect. Resilience partially mediated the relationship between general symptoms and willingness to donate milk (β = −0.31, 95% CI: −0.40 to −0.21), which accounted for 66.89% of the total effect. Resilience partially mediated the relationship between childbirth trauma and willingness to donate milk in women following perinatal loss. Our findings suggest that resilience can play a significant role in mediating the relationship between childbirth trauma and willingness to donate milk in women following perinatal loss. These results could help healthcare professionals design interventions for physical and mental recovery after perinatal loss.