Recent studies reported that serum anion gap could be regarded as a prognostic biomarker for patients admitted to intensive care units. However, the association between AG and mortality in cerebral...

Established reference intervals (RIs) of coagulation parameters generally based on the general population are not applicable to specific women. In order to accurately evaluate the coagulation status of non-pregnant women and pregnant women, specific RIs should be established. Our study recruited 465 non-pregnant women and 1972 pregnant women aged 20–45 years. Eight tests including antithrombin (AT), protein C (PC), free protein S (fPS), lupus anticoagulant (LA), D-dimer, fibrin/fibrinogen degradation products (FDP), coagulation factor VII (FVII), and factor VIII (FVIII) were performed on ACL TOP automated coagulation instrument. The RIs for these tests were established in non-pregnant and pregnant women at different gestational weeks. Compared to the non-pregnant group, the medians of AT and fPS were lower, while the medians of PC, LA normalized ratio, D-dimer, FDP, FVII, and FVIII were higher. During pregnancy, AT and fPS activity showed a decreasing trend, with the increase of gestational age. PC activity, LA normalized ratio, D-dimer concentrations, FDP concentrations, FVII, and FVIII activity presented an increasing trend, with the increase of gestational age. The non-pregnant women-specific RIs and the gestational age-specific RIs of AT, PC, fPS, LA normalized ratio, D-dimer, FDP, FVII, and FVIII needed to be established for accurate clinical diagnoses.

Gut microbiota have been linked to immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and Henoch–Schönlein purpura (HSP) in recent studies, but a cause-and-effect relationship is unclear. We used Mendelian randomization (MR) to assess causal relationships between gut microbiota and HSP/ITP using summary statistics from the GWAS dataset of the international MiBioGen and FinnGen consortium. The IVW method was used as the main evaluation indicator. MR analysis of 196 intestinal flora and HSP/ITP/sTP phenotypes showed that 12 flora were potentially causally associated with ITP, 6 with HSP, and 9 with sTP. The genes predicted that genus Coprococcus3 (p = 0.0264, OR = 2.05, 95% CI 1.09–3.88)and genus Gordonibacter (p = 0.0073, OR = 1.38; 95% CI 1.09–1.75) were linked to a higher likelihood of developing ITP. Additionally, family Actinomycetaceae (p = 0.02, OR = 0.51, 95% CI 0.28–0.90) and order Actinomycetales (p = 0.0199, OR = 0.50, 95% CI 0.28–0.90) linked to reduced HSP risk. Genus Ruminococcaceae UCG013 (p = 0.0426, OR = 0.44, 95% CI 0.20–0.97) negatively correlated with sTP risk. Our MR analyses offer evidence of a possible cause-and-effect connection between certain gut microbiota species and the likelihood of HSP/ITP.

Studies suggest that semen quality is declining globally, however, the debate remains open due to the possible effects of ethnic and geographical differences. This study aimed to explore whether semen quality of sperm donor candidates has changed in Henan Province, China from 2009 to 2019. In this retrospective study, we included 23,936 sperm donor candidates who were recruited by the Henan Human Sperm Bank of China between 2009 and 2019. To minimize intra-individual bias, we included only the first ejaculate provided by each sperm donor candidate. The following parameters were measured: volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, progressive motility, and total motility. After adjustment for age, body mass index (BMI), and sexual abstinence duration, we evaluated changes in main semen parameters over time using multiple linear regression analyses. The sperm concentration decreased from 62.0 million/mL in 2009 to 32.0 million/mL in 2019 (P < 0.001), with an average annual rate of 3.9%. The total sperm count decreased from 160.0 million in 2009 to 80.0 million in 2019 (P < 0.001), with an average annual rate of 4.2%. The progressive motility decreased from 54.0% in 2009 to 40.0% in 2019 (P < 0.001), with an average annual rate of 2.5%. The total motility decreased from 60.0% in 2009 to 46.0% in 2019 (P < 0.001), with an average annual rate of 1.9%. Our results indicated that semen quality among sperm donor candidates had decreased during the study period in Henan Province, China.

Studies characterizing the epidemic of Mycoplasma pneumoniae ( M. pneumoniae ) in Henan Province are scarce. Our research investigated the epidemiological changes of M. pneumoniae and macrolide-resistant mutations of M. pneumonia e (MRMP) among children under 18 years from January 2017 to December 2024. The study was categorized into three stages based on the COVID-19 timeline (pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic) to analyze the impact of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on M. pneumoniae in Henan Province. Among 27,056 children, 28.36% tested positive for M. pneumoniae , with the lowest positivity rate in 2022 (12.56%) and the highest in 2023 (35.01%). The positivity rate was greatest in the 6–17 years (41.08%) and lowest in ≤1 year (12.38%). Epidemic seasons were predominantly in autumn (36.71%) and winter (23.12%). The MRMP rate increased from 36.68% in 2018 to 87.16% in 2023, averaging 71.00%. The positivity rate of M. pneumoniae was 26.12% during the pre-pandemic stage, significantly declined during the pandemic stage (14.97%), and rebounded to a high level in the post-pandemic stage (31.88%). The MRMP rate also increased across the three stages: 46.74%, 72.63%, and 83.31%, respectively. These results indicate a significant influence of COVID-19 NPIs on the transmission of M. pneumoniae and MRMP. IMPORTANCE: M. pneumoniae is a significant cause of community-acquired pneumonia with a high MRMP rate in China. Various NPIs in the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted the prevalence of M. pneumoniae and could have important implications for M. pneumoniae prevention and control strategies. Our study documented M. pneumoniae and MRMP detection before, during, and post the COVID-19 pandemic in Henan, China, from 2017 to 2024, aiming to investigate the impact of NPIs on M. pneumoniae transmission and continue to monitor the evolution of the epidemiological characteristics of M. pneumoniae infection after the pandemic when restrictive measures are no longer needed.