BackgroundThe aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of sublingual administration of Dermatophagoides farinae drops for the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR) accompanied by adenoid hypertrophy and the effect on immune function in children.Material/MethodsEosinophil counts in peripheral blood before and after treatment were determined; serum levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE), total IgE (T-IgE), immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4), interleukin-2 (IL-2), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) before and after treatment were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.ResultsThe total effective rate in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). In both the study and control groups, symptom scores, medication scores, eosinophil counts in the peripheral blood, and serum levels of IgE, T-IgE, and IL-6 were significantly lower than those before treatment (P<0.05), while the serum levels of IgG4 and IL-2 were significantly higher than those before treatment (P<0.05). After treatment, symptom scores, medication scores, eosinophil counts in the peripheral blood, and serum levels of IgE, T-IgE, and IL-6 in the study group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05), while the serum levels of IgG4 and IL-2 were significantly higher in the study group than those in the control group (P<0.05).ConclusionsSublingual administration of D. farinae drops improved the clinical symptoms of pediatric AR caused by Dermatophagoides mites and improved the immune functions in children.

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ObjectiveTo evaluate the parathyroid function in maintenance hemodialysis patients from 4 hemodialysis centers and to analyze the cause of the dysfunction.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included patients with chronic renal disease undergoing maintenance hemodialysis treatment at 4 hemodialysis centers in Changchun, China, between March 2014 and August 2015. A total of 337 patients were asked to complete a questionnaire including their name, gender, age, hemodialysis duration, the use of calcium carbonate and vitamin D3 supplements, health education status, hemofiltration frequency, appetite, and education level. Serum intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), phosphorus, total calcium, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatinine (Cre) levels were obtained from clinical information. Patients with iPTH data were divided into 2 groups: Normal group: the patients with an iPTH level < 100 pg/ml (28 subjects); Abnormal group: the patients with an iPTH level > 100 pg/ml (136 subjects). Intergroup differences were analyzed using the t-test. The enumeration data were analyzed by the χ2 test.ResultsThe iPTH levels were not monitored for 173 maintenance hemodialysis patients (51.3%) but for 164 patients (48.7%). Of the 164 patients, 28 (17.1%) had a normal serum iPTH level, while the other 136 (82.9%) had an abnormal iPTH level. The maintenance hemodialysis duration and phosphorus levels in the Abnormal group were higher than those in the Normal group (P < 0.05). The appetites of patients in the Abnormal group were better than those of patients in the Normal group (P < 0.05).ConclusionsA lower proportion of patients on hemodialysis had a normal iPTH level. The phosphorus levels of patients on hemodialysis should be controlled via dietary interventions.

BACKGROUND In China, Internet plus healthcare is believed to be able to break the predicament of medical information asymmetry and unreasonable medical resource allocation and solve the difficulty and high cost of getting medical service problems. However, the new development trends of China’s Internet hospitals under the effect of COVID-19 pandemic have not yet been systematically studied. OBJECTIVE The aim of this research was to review the development status quo of China’s Internet hospitals and summary their challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and predict their future trends. METHODS Data on Internet hospitals were acquired through the Baidu search engine for results up until December 31, 2020. Then, more detailed information from the official websites and apps of 264 online hospitals were obtained according to the results of the search. Finally, a database for descriptive analysis was formed. RESULTS As of December 31, 2020, the number of registered Internet hospitals nationwide has reached 1004. Among these registered Internet hospitals, the sponsors are various, where public hospitals are becoming the main force in the construction of Internet hospitals, accounting for nearly 70%. They can be roughly divided into three types in terms of development pattern: Internet hospital independently built by hospitals (H-type), Internet hospital jointly established by hospitals and enterprises (H+I-type), and Internet hospital independently set up by enterprises relying on physical medical institutions (I-type), where H-type is the mainstream form, accounting for 61.0%. CONCLUSIONS Although the COVID-19 pandemic has promoted the development of Internet hospitals and the government has put forward management measures such as availability of medical insurance coverage, they still had not yet matured and faced various issues.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a head and neck epithelial carcinoma that is unusually prevalent in Southeast Asia. Noncoding RNAs, including lncRNA and miRNA, and their target genes are considered vital regulators of tumorigenesis and the progression of NPC. However, the detailed underlying mechanisms of GAD1 involved in the regulation of NPC need to be further elucidated. In the present study, we identified that GAD1 was significantly upregulated in NPC tissues. GAD1 overexpression is promoted, while genetic knockdown of GAD1 suppresses proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion of NPC cells. Bioinformatics analysis and a luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that GAD1 is a direct target gene of miR-24-3p. In NPC tissues, miR-24-3p was downregulated and the lncRNA CYTOR was upregulated. CYTOR was sponged to suppress the function of miR-24-3p. CYTOR regulates GAD1 expression via modulating miR-24-3p. The CYTOR/miR-24-3p/GAD1 axis is converged to modulate the growth, migration, and invasion of NPC cells. In conclusion, the study identified a novel axis for the regulation of NPC cell growth, providing new insights into the understanding of NPC.