Interrelationship of rotavirus infection and Creatine Kinase-MB isoenzyme levels in children hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis in Guangzhou, China, 2012-2015

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase I clinical trial of rotavirus inactivated vaccine (Vero cell) in a healthy adult population aged 18-49 years to assess safety and preliminary observation of immunogenicity

We conducted a phase I, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial including healthy adults in Sui County, Henan Province, China. Ninety-six adults were randomly assigned to one of three groups (high-dose, medium-dose, and low-dose) at a 3:1 ratio to receive one vaccine dose or placebo. Adverse events up to 28 days after each dose and serious adverse events up to 6 months after all doses were reported. Geometric mean titers and seroconversion rates were measured for anti-rotavirus neutralizing antibodies using microneutralization tests. The rates of total adverse events in the placebo group, low-dose group, medium-dose group, and high-dose group were 29.17 % (12.62 %-51.09 %), 12.50 % (2.66 %-32.36 %), 50.00 % (29.12 %-70.88 %), and 41.67 % (22.11 %-63.36 %), respectively, with no significant difference in the experimental groups compared with the placebo group. The results of the neutralizing antibody assay showed that in the adult group, the neutralizing antibody geometric mean titer at 28 days after full immunization in the low-dose group was 583.01 (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 447.12-760.20), that in the medium-dose group was 899.34 (95 % CI: 601.73-1344.14), and that in the high-dose group was 1055.24 (95 % CI: 876.28-1270.75). The GMT of serum-specific IgG at 28 days after full immunization in the low-dose group was 3444.26 (95 % CI: 2292.35-5175.02), that in the medium-dose group was 6888.55 (95 % CI: 4426.67-10719.6), and that in the high-dose group was 7511.99 (95 % CI: 3988.27-14149.0). The GMT of serum-specific IgA at 28 days after full immunization in the low-dose group was 2332.14 (95 % CI: 1538.82-3534.45), that in the medium-dose group was 4800.98 (95 % CI: 2986.64-7717.50), and that in the high-dose group was 3204.30 (95 % CI: 2175.66-4719.27). In terms of safety, adverse events were mainly Grades 1 and 2, indicating that the safety of the vaccine is within the acceptable range in the healthy adult population. Considering the GMT and positive transfer rate of neutralizing antibodies for the main immunogenicity endpoints in the experimental groups, it was initially observed that the high-dose group had higher levels of neutralizing antibodies than the medium- and low-dose groups in adults aged 18-49 years. This novel inactivated rotavirus vaccine was generally well-tolerated in adults, and the vaccine was immunogenic in adults (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04626856).

Evaluation of creatine kinase (CK)-MB to total CK ratio as a diagnostic biomarker for primary tumors and metastasis screening

Objective

Creatine kinase (CK) and its myocardial band isoenzyme (CK-MB) were considered important diagnostic indicators for identifying suspected acute myocardial infarction. However, the serum level of CK-MB is frequently exaggerated in some pathological states without cardiogenic damage, like cancer. Sometimes, the CK-MB level is even greater than the total CK. This study intended to investigate the association between malignancy and an abnormally high ratio of CK-MB to total CK (CK-MB/CK) and to assess the diagnostic relevance of this ratio as a biomarker for cancer.

Methods

Patients hospitalized between September 2019 and September 2022 at Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital (Jinan, Shandong, China) with serum CK-MB activity greater than total CK activity (CK-MB/CK > 1.0) were recruited as research subjects. Then the demographic and clinical characteristics of these patients were systemically analyzed. The correlation between clinical characteristics (such as cancer types, tumor locations, and tumor metastasis) and laboratory test results (such as serum CK-MB activity, total CK activity, and the CK-MB/CK ratio) was also investigated.

Results

We found that over 44% of the patients with CK-MB/CK > 1.0 were diagnosed with malignancies, and the CK-MB/CK ratio in malignancies patients was significantly higher than in non-malignancies patients. The increase of CK-MB/CK ratio was most obvious in patients with colorectal carcinoma and prostatic carcinoma. Additionally, extremely elevated CK-MB/CK ratios were observed in individuals with metastatic neoplasms, especially in those who suffered from numerous sites of metastasis.

Conclusions

The serum CK-MB/CK ratio can be utilized as a readily accessible supplement diagnostic biomarker in screening for primary and metastatic cancers.

Creatine kinase-(MB) and hepcidin as candidate biomarkers for early diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis: a proof-of-concept study in Lambaréné, Gabon

Background

The present study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic utility of creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), hepcidin (HEPC), phospholipase A2 group IIA (PLa2G2A), and myosin-binding protein C (MYBPC1) for tuberculosis (TB). These four biomarkers are differentially regulated between quiescent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infected individuals (non-progressors to TB disease) and Mtb-infected TB disease progressors 6 months before the onset of symptoms.

Methods

We enrolled samples from patients experiencing moderate-to-severe pulmonary infections diseases including 23 TB cases confirmed by smear microscopy and culture, and 34 TB-negative cases. For each participant, the serum levels of the four biomarkers were measured using ELISA.

Results

The levels of CK-MB and HEPC were significantly reduced in patients with active TB disease. CK-MB median level was 2045 pg/ml (1455–4000 pg/ml) in active TB cases and 3245 pg/ml (1645–4000 pg/ml) in non-TB pulmonary diseases. Using the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, HEPC and CK-MB had the Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 79% (95% CI 67–91%) and 81% (95% CI 69–93%), respectively. Both markers correlated with TB diagnosis as a single marker. PLa2G2A and MYBPC1 with AUCs of 48% (95% CI 36–65%) and 62% (95% CI 48–76%) did not performed well as single biomarkers. The three markers’model (CK-MB-HEPC-PLa2G2A) had the highest diagnostic accuracy at 82% (95% CI 56–82%) after cross-validation.

Conclusion

CK-MB and HEPC levels were statistically different between confirmed TB cases and non-TB cases. This study yields promising results for the rapid diagnosis of TB disease using a single marker or three biomarkers model.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s15010-022-01760-8.

Clinical features and follow-up of pediatric patients hospitalized for COVID-19

OBJECTIVE

This report summarizes the clinical features and 1-month follow-up observations for pediatric patients who were hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan Women and Children's Hospital.

METHODS

The 1-month follow-up data included clinical manifestations and results from serum severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) IgG and IgM tests, reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2, lung computed tomography (CT) scans, and laboratory tests.

RESULTS

Between January 20 and March 15, 2020, 127 patients aged 0-15 years were hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment, including 3 severe cases and 124 mild or moderate cases. The main therapies included inhalation of aerosolized interferon-α (122/127) and additional antiviral drugs (28/127). Among the 81 patients who had pneumonia at admission, 35 with right lobe pneumonia had the longest hospital stay (mean 14.5 ± 7 days); 17 with left lobe pneumonia had the highest creatine kinase (154 ± 106 U/L) and creatine kinase myocardial band  (CK-MB, 43 ± 48 U/L) levels; and 29 with bilateral pneumonia had the highest white blood cell counts (8.3 ± 4 × 109 /L). Among the 46 patients who were successfully followed up 1 month after discharge, two notable findings were right lobe pneumonia in 22% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 11%-37%) of patients and persistently elevated serum creatine kinase and CK-MB levels. The median duration of elevated CK-MB was 45 days. The mean concentrations of serum SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM in 41 patients were 8.0 ± 7.5 and 98 ± 40 ng/ml, respectively. At follow-up, four patients retested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

CONCLUSIONS

The involvement of different lung lobes in patients with COVID-19 was associated with variations in the persistence of pneumonia and elevation of CK-MB levels and body temperature.

Rotavirus-related systemic diseases: clinical manifestation, evidence and pathogenesis

Rotaviruses, double-stranded, non-enveloped RNA viruses, are a global health concern, associated with acute gastroenteritis and secretory-driven watery diarrhoea, especially in infants and young children. Conventionally, rotavirus is primarily viewed as a pathogen for intestinal enterocytes. This notion is challenged, however, by data from patients and animal models documenting extra-intestinal clinical manifestations and viral replication following rotavirus infection. In addition to acute gastroenteritis, rotavirus infection has been linked to various neurological disorders, hepatitis and cholestasis, type 1 diabetes, respiratory illness, myocarditis, renal failure and thrombocytopenia. Concomitantly, molecular studies have provided insight into potential mechanisms by which rotavirus can enter and replicate in non-enterocyte cell types and evade host immune responses. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the extra-intestinal aspect of the rotavirus infectious process is largely being overlooked by biomedical professionals, and there are gaps in the understanding of mechanisms of pathogenesis. Thus with the aim of increasing public and professional awareness we here provide a description of our current understanding of rotavirus-related extra-intestinal clinical manifestations and associated molecular pathogenesis. Further understanding of the processes involved should prove exceedingly useful for future diagnosis, treatment and prevention of rotavirus-associated disease.

A multi-domain prognostic model of disorder of consciousness using resting-state fMRI and laboratory parameters

OBJECTIVES

Although laboratory parameters have long been recognized as indicators of outcome of traumatic brain injury (TBI), it remains a challenge to predict the recovery of disorder of consciousness (DOC) in severe brain injury including TBI. Recent advances have shown an association between alterations in brain connectivity and recovery from DOC. In the present study, we developed a prognostic model of DOC recovery via a combination of laboratory parameters and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

METHODS

Fifty-one patients with DOC (age = 52.3 ± 15.2 y, male/female = 31/20) were recruited from Hangzhou Hospital of Zhejiang CAPR and were sub-grouped into conscious (n = 34) and unconscious (n = 17) groups based upon their Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOS-E) scores at 12-month follow-ups after injury. Resting-state functional connectivity, network nodal measures (centrality), and laboratory parameters were obtained from each patient and served as features for support vector machine (SVM) classifications.

RESULTS

We found that functional connectivity was the most accurate single-domain model (ACC: 70.1% ± 4.5%, P = 0.038, 1000 permutations), followed by degree centrality, betweenness centrality, and laboratory parameters. The stacked multi-domain prognostic model (ACC: 73.4% ± 3.1%, P = 0.005, 1000 permutations) combining all single-domain models yielded a significantly higher accuracy compared to that of the best-performing single-domain model (P = 0.002).

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that laboratory parameters only contribute to the outcome prediction of DOC patients, whereas combining information from neuroimaging and clinical parameters may represent a strategy to achieve a more accurate prognostic model, which may further provide better guidance for clinical management of DOC patients.

Age- and Sex-Specific Reference Intervals for Myocardial Enzyme Activity in Healthy Chinese Han Population Aged 1∼<18 years

Age- and sex-specific reference intervals (RIs) for myocardial enzyme activity of children and adolescents are not available in China. Our study aimed to establish age- and gender-related RIs for AST, LDH, CK, and CKMB activity in healthy Chinese Han population aged 1∼<18 years. Healthy Han children and adolescents (n = 6322, 1∼<18 years old) were assessed from completed questionnaires and defined criteria from communities and schools in 5 administrative districts of Jilin Province from September 2017 to December 2018. Measurements of AST, LDH, CK, and CKMB activity were performed on the VITROS 5600 Integrated System. Percentiles of enzyme activity were completed by LMS. RIs were established by Medcalc according to the EP28-A3c guidelines issued by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. AST declined rapidly during 1∼<6 years and had been subsided during 11∼<18 years, though LDH decreased at a steady rate. CK activity stabilized while CKMB showed a downward trend. Sex differences started after age 12 when males presented higher results. There were significant differences comparing with domestic and other countries' experiments which applied similar methodologies. Enzymes were associated with age and sex, while age had greater impact. We established age- and sex-specific RIs of serum AST, LDH, CK, and CKMB activities for Chinese children and adolescents using the VITROS 5600 Integrated System for the first time. These data will lay the groundwork for the next horizon in pediatric RIs as well as improve test result interpretation for pediatric illness.

Isolation and characterization of a new candidate human inactivated rotavirus vaccine strain from hospitalized children in Yunnan, China: 2010-2013

AIM

To determine the distribution of rotavirus VP7 gene in hospitalized children in Yunnan, China.

METHODS

A total of 366 stool specimens were collected from hospitalized children in hospitals in Yunnan Province from September 2010 to December 2013. The genomic RNA electropherotypes and the G genotypes of the rotaviruses were determined. A phylogenetic analysis of the VP7 gene was performed. Rotavirus isolation was performed, and characterized by plaque, minimum essential medium, and all genes sequence analysis. Quantification of antibodies for inactivated vaccine prepared with ZTR-68 was examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and microneutralization assay.

RESULTS

Group A human rotavirus was detected in 177 of 366 (48.4%) stool samples using a colloidal gold device assay. The temporal distribution of rotavirus cases showed significant correlation with the mean air temperature. Rotaviruses were isolated from 13% of the rotavirus-positive samples. The predominant genotype was G1 (43.5%), followed by G3 (21.7%), G9 (17.4%), G2 (4.3%), G4 (8.7%), and mixed (4.3%) among a total of 23 rotavirus isolates. A rotavirus strain was isolated from a rotavirus-positive stool sample of a 4-month-old child in The First People’s Hospital of Zhaotong (2010) for use as a candidate human inactivated rotavirus vaccine strain and for further research, and was designated ZTR-68. The genotype of 11 gene segments of strain ZTR-68 (RVA/Human-wt/CHN/ZTR-68/2010/G1P[8]) was characterized. The genotype constellation of strain ZTR-68 was identified as G1-P[8]-I1-R1-C1-M1-A1-N1-T1-E1-H1. The VP7 and VP4 genotypes of strain ZTR-68 were similar to Wa-like strains.

CONCLUSIONS

A high prevalence of the G1, G2, and G3 genotypes was detected from 2010 to 2012. However, a dominant prevalence of the G9 genotype was identified as the cause of gastroenteritis in children in Yunnan, China, in 2013. A candidate human inactivated rotavirus vaccine strain, designated ZTR-68 was isolated, characterized, and showed immunogenicity. Our data will be useful for the future formulation and development of a vaccine in China.