Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the typing of adenovirus (AdV) infection in children hospitalized with acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) and its clinical characteristics. Methods: Samples from 7832 hospitalized children with ARTIs from January 2021 to June 2022 were tested by multiplex PCR for AdV. AdV hex neighborhood genes were amplified and sequenced for typing by nested PCR. Results: Three hundred twenty-eight cases were positive for AdV with rate of 4.48% (328/7832). No statistical difference in the rate of AdV detection was observed in different ages (P > 0.05). Among the 328 cases, 305 cases underwent amplification and sequence determination of AdV five-neighborhood, six-neighborhood and fibronectin genes. Only 237 cases were sequenced successfully for all 3 genetic fragments. The typing results of 231 cases with 3 genes were consistent, with 49.78% (115/231) of type 3, 41.56% (96/231) of type 7 and 8.66% (20/231) of other types identified. The main clinical symptoms in 231 children hospitalized with ARTI who were AdV positive were cough, sputum not easily coughable, Wheezing or shortness of breath and fever. Clinical diagnoses of 231 cases included: acute bronchitis 3.03% (7/231), capillary bronchitis 16.45% (38/231), pneumonia (mild/severe) 76.62% (177/231) (68.40% (158/231) in mild and 8.23% (19/231) in severe cases), bronchial asthma combined with pulmonary infection 3.46% (8/231). Higher percentage of shortness of breath, multilobar infiltration, and pleural effusion were found in type 7. Calcitoninogen in type 7 were significantly higher than those of type 3 and other types, and the white blood cell count was lower than those of type 3 and other types, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: AdV type 3 and 7 were frequently found in hospitalized children with acute lower respiratory tract involvement. AdV type 7 seems to be associated with more severe outcome.

Ki-67 is one of the most useful markers to evaluate cell proliferative activity and has been widely used in tumor treatment and research. However, its role in human laryngeal carcinoma remains poorly defined. The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of Ki‑67 in human laryngeal squamous carcinoma and the effect of Ki‑67 gene silencing by small interfering (si)RNA on the proliferation of human laryngocarcinoma HEp2 cells. Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction were performed to examine the expression of Ki‑67 in human laryngeal squamous carcinoma tissues and adjacent non‑cancer tissues from 50 patients with laryngeal squamous carcinoma. RNA interference was used to knock down the expression of Ki‑67 in the HEp2 cell line, and the proliferation of the treated cells was observed in vitro. Western blot analysis was used to determine the expression levels of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and E‑cadherin in the treated cells. The expression of Ki‑67 in the laryngeal squamous carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that of the adjacent non‑tumor tissues (P=0.028). The high expression of Ki‑67 in cancer was significantly correlated with cervical lymph node metastasis and clinical outcomes (all P<0.001). The silencing of Ki‑67 resulted in the inhibition of proliferation of the HEp2 human laryngocarcinoma cells (P<0.001). In addition, compared with the control group, the expression levels of EGFR and E‑cadherin in the Ki‑67 siRNA‑treated cells were significantly decreased (P<0.001) and increased (P<0.001), respectively. These results suggested that Ki‑67 is important in regulating the proliferation of human laryngocarcinoma HEp2 cells and that the mechanism may at least partially be associated with the upregulation of EGFR and the downregulation of E‑cadherin. Overall, Ki‑67 can be used as an important indicator for judging clinical progress and estimating prognosis in human laryngeal squamous carcinoma.

The amino acid-based formulae were extensively added to diet of children for the treatment of Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP), and the nutrition and growth situation of children were evaluated after giving new dietary intervention. Patients were randomly divided into restricted diet group (n=30) and dietary guidance group (n=30). Besides, 30 cases with bronchiolitis who had normal diet were selected as the control group. The dietary questionnaire was designed to record the types and intakes of various foods taken by children every day, and the intake levels of nutrients were analyzed. Physical examination, biochemical analysis of blood and urine routine were carried out to evaluate the effect of dietary guidance on their growth and development. The results showed that restricted diet group had lower levels of nutrient intake and the actual/recommended percentage. However, overall nutrient intake level of the dietary guidance group was higher, basically equal to the recommended intake level. Besides, the actual intake and actual/recommended percentage of nutrients of dietary guidance group were significantly higher than those of restricted diet group (p<0.05). Dietary guidance can improve nutrients and protein intake of children with HSP, and reduce the relapse of rash and incidence of complications.