Objectives To explore the rate, characteristics, risk factors, and prognosis of children presenting with seizures as the main symptom of acute COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). Methods We conducted a systematic retrospective study to identify all children who presented to the emergency departments of a tertiary academic medical center between March 1st and December 31st 2020 and had a SARS-CoV-2 infection based on RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) from nasopharyngeal swab. Clinical and demographic data were extracted from the electronic medical records and reviewed. Results Total of 175 children were diagnosed with acute SARS-CoV-2 infection in the emergency departments during the study period. Of those, 11 presented with seizures. Age ranged from six months to 17 years and 4 were girls. Five presented with status epilepticus and responded to loading doses of anti-seizure medications. Six had fever. Seven had prior history of neurological disorder. Full recovery was the rule. Significance Unlike in adults, seizures occur early and may be the main manifestation of acute COVID-19 in children. Seizures, including status epilepticus, may occur without fever even in children with no history of epilepsy and are not associated with severe disease. A high index of suspicion is required for early diagnosis thus infection control measures can be taken.

Aims/Introduction: To investigate the effect of endurance training on hippocampus DJ-1 and cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB 2 ) protein and blood glucose concentration in diabetic rats. Materials and Methods: A total of 32 rats were randomly divided into diabetic (D), diabetic and exercise (DE), exercise (E) and control (C) groups. The endurance training was carried out five times per week for 6 weeks. The hippocampus DJ-1 and CB 2 were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Results: The level of DJ-1 in the D group was significantly higher than the other groups (P ≤ 0.01). However, the level of DJ-1 was not significantly different between the C, E and DE groups. In addition, the level of CB 2 was significantly lower in the D group compared with the other groups (P ≤ 0.01). Blood glucose was significantly higher in the D group compared with the DE group (P ≤ 0.05). Furthermore, a significant positive correlation between the level of DJ-1 and blood glucose was observed (r = 0.67, P ≤ 0.001). There was also a significant inverse correlation between the level of CB 2 and blood glucose (r = -0.77, P ≤ 0.001). Conclusions:The results of this study suggest that the level of DJ-1 and CB 2 might change in response to diabetes, and regular aerobic exercise could mediate the effect of DJ-1 and CB 2 on diabetes-induced neurodegenerative diseases.