This study aimed to evaluate the predictive validity of the day-1 PELOD-2 and day-1 "quick" PELOD-2 (qPELOD-2) scores for in-hospital mortality in children with sepsis in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a developing country. The data of 516 children diagnosed as sepsis were retrospectively analyzed. The children were divided into survival group and non-survival group, according to the clinical outcome 28 days after admission. Day-1 PELOD-2, day-1 qPELOD-2, pediatric SOFA (pSOFA), and P-MODS were collected and scored. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted, and the efficiency of the day-1 PELOD-2, day-1 qPELOD-2 score, pSOFA, and P-MODS for predicting death were evaluated by the area under the ROC curve (AUC). The day-1 PELOD-2 score, day-1 qPELOD-2 score, pSOFA, and P-MODS in the non-survivor group were significantly higher than those in the survivor group. ROC curve analysis showed that the AUCs of the day-1 PELOD-2 score, day-1 qPELOD-2 score, pSOFA, and P-MODS for predicting the prognosis of children with sepsis in the PICU were 0.916, 0.802, 0.937, and 0.761, respectively (all p < 0.05). Both the day-1 PELOD-2 score and day-1 qPELOD-2 score were effective and able to assess the prognosis of children with sepsis in a PICU of a developing country. Additionally, the day-1 PELOD-2 score was superior to the day-1 qPELOD-2 score. Further studies are needed to verify the usefulness of the day-1 qPELOD-2 score, particularly outside of the PICU.

Asthma is a chronic airway inflammatory disease in children characterized by airway inflammation, airway hyperresponsiveness and airway remodeling. Childhood asthma is usually associated with allergy and atopy, unlike adult asthma, which is commonly associated with obesity, smoking, etc. The pathogenesis and diagnosis of childhood asthma also remains more challenging than adult asthma, such as many diseases showing similar symptoms may coexist and be confused with asthma. In terms of the treatment, although most childhood asthma can potentially be self-managed and controlled with drugs, approximately 5–10% of children suffer from severe uncontrolled asthma, which carries significant health and socioeconomic burdens. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the pathogenesis of childhood asthma from a new perspective. Studies have revealed that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are involved in the regulation of respiratory diseases. In addition, altered expression of ncRNAs in blood, and in condensate of sputum or exhalation affects the progression of asthma via regulating immune response. In this review, we outline the regulation and pathogenesis of asthma and summarize the role of ncRNAs in childhood asthma. We also hold promise that ncRNAs may be used for the development of biomarkers and support a new therapeutic strategy for childhood asthma.

This study aimed to evaluate the predictive validity of the day‐1 PELOD‐2 and day‐1 “quick” PELOD‐2 (qPELOD‐2) scores for in‐hospital mortality in children with sepsis in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a developing country. The data of 516 children diagnosed as sepsis were retrospectively analyzed. The children were divided into survival group and non‐survival group, according to the clinical outcome 28 days after admission. Day‐1 PELOD‐2, day‐1 qPELOD‐2, pediatric SOFA (pSOFA), and P‐MODS were collected and scored. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted, and the efficiency of the day‐1 PELOD‐2, day‐1 qPELOD‐2 score, pSOFA, and P‐MODS for predicting death were evaluated by the area under the ROC curve (AUC). The day‐1 PELOD‐2 score, day‐1 qPELOD‐2 score, pSOFA, and P‐MODS in the non‐survivor group were significantly higher than those in the survivor group. ROC curve analysis showed that the AUCs of the day‐1 PELOD‐2 score, day‐1 qPELOD‐2 score, pSOFA, and P‐MODS for predicting the prognosis of children with sepsis in the PICU were 0.916, 0.802, 0.937, and 0.761, respectively (all p < 0.05). Both the day‐1 PELOD‐2 score and day‐1 qPELOD‐2 score were effective and able to assess the prognosis of children with sepsis in a PICU of a developing country. Additionally, the day‐1 PELOD‐2 score was superior to the day‐1 qPELOD‐2 score. Further studies are needed to verify the usefulness of the day‐1 qPELOD‐2 score, particularly outside of the PICU. A finalidade de nosso estudo foi avaliar a validade preditiva dos escores PELOD‐2 no dia 1 e “quick” PELOD‐2 no dia 1 com relação à mortalidade hospitalar em crianças com sepse em uma UTIP de um país em desenvolvimento. Foram analisados retrospectivamente os dados de 516 crianças diagnosticadas com sepse. As crianças foram divididas em grupo sobrevida e grupo não sobrevida de acordo com o desfecho clínico de 28 dias após internação. Foram coletadas e pontuadas as variáveis PELOD‐2 no dia 1, qPELOD‐2 no dia 1, pediatric Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (pSOFA) e Pediatric Multiple Organ Dysfunction Score (P‐MODS). A curva da característica de operação do receptor (ROC) foi plotada e a eficiência preditiva do PELOD‐2 no dia 1, o escore qPELOD‐2 no dia 1, pSOFA, P‐MODS com relação a óbito foram avaliados pela área abaixo da curva (AUC) da curva ROC. O escore PELOD‐2 no dia 1, escore qPELOD‐2 no dia 1, pSOFA e P‐MODS no grupo não sobrevida foram significativamente maiores do que os no grupo sobrevida. A análise preditiva da curva ROC mostrou que as AUCs do escore PELOD‐2 no dia 1, escore qPELOD‐2 no dia 1, pSOFA e P‐MODS com relação ao prognóstico de crianças com sepse na UTIP foi 0,916, 0,802, 0,937 e 0,761, respectivamente (todas p < 0,05). Tanto o escore PELOD‐2 no dia 1 e o escore qPELOD‐2 no dia 1 foram válidos e conseguiram avaliar o prognóstico de crianças com sepse em uma UTIP de um país em desenvolvimento. Além disso, o escore PELOD‐2 no dia 1 foi superior ao escore qPELOD‐2 no dia 1. São necessários estudos adicionais para verificar a utilidade do escore qPELOD‐2 no dia 1, principalmente fora da UTIP.

Background: The pediatric sequential organ dysfunction（pSOFA）score, C-reactive protein（CRP）and procalcitonin（PCT）play an important role in the prognosis assessment of children with sepsis. This study explores the value of their combined application, so as to provide a more comprehensive diagnosis method for the early diagnosis and prognosis evaluation of pediatric sepsis.Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study method was used to collect and analyze the clinical data of 289 children who were hospitalized and diagnosed with sepsis in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of the Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University from August 2018 to August 2019. The 28-day survival outcome was divided into survival group and death group. Compare the differences in various physiological and laboratory data of the two groups of children within the first 24 hours after admission to PICU; Use binary logistic regression to analyze high-risk factors that affect the prognosis of children with sepsis; The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was drawn, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the role of pSOFA score combined with CRP and PCT in the early diagnosis and prognosis evaluation of children with sepsis.Results: A total of 289 children were included in the study, 254 cases (87.9%) in the survival group and 35 cases (12.1%) in the death group; There were statistically significant differences between the two groups of children in age, whether to continuously pump vasoactive drugs, mechanical ventilation time, Glasgow coma score, gastrointestinal function, and serum PCT concentration (all P<0.05);Binary logistic regression showed that: pSOFA score and continuous intravenous pumping of vasoactive drugs are high-risk factors for poor prognosis in children with sepsis (P<0.05);The AUC of CRP and PCT in predicting the death of children with sepsis were 0.547 (95%CI: 0.488-0.606), 0.667 (95%CI: 0.609-0.721); and pSOFA+CRP, pSOFA+PCT and pSOFA scores The AUC for predicting the death of children with sepsis was 0.947 (95%CI: 0.914-0.970), and the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05);Conclusions: The pSOFA score is of high value for the prognostic evaluation of children with sepsis; but the pSOFA score combined with CRP and PCT can not improve the prognostic evaluation ability of children with sepsis.