Objective: The purpose was to confirm the significance of Anti-endothelial cell antibodies(AECA) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and validate the effect of methylprednisolone intervention.

The purpose of our study was to screen the plasma cytokines to find possible indicators of disease progression and prognosis of patients with infection. With a prospective cohort study, selected patients were divided into sepsis group and non-sepsis group. Demographic and clinical information were collected. Blood samples were tested for the levels of plasma cytokines and metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS). 30-day follow-up information was recorded, and data was analyzed by SPSS22.0 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL). A total of 95 patients were selected. After propensity score matching of age and gender, 36 patients with sepsis and 36 with non-sepsis were enrolled. 30-day follow-up data exhibited that 41 patients died and 31 survived. Patients with sepsis and 30-day death had higher plasma levels of cytokines, including macrophage-stimulating factor (M-CSF), monocyte chemoattractant protein-3 (MCP-3), etc., than patients with non-sepsis and 30-day survival, respectively. M-CSF > 8.21pg/ml was an independent risk factor for 30-day death, and the reads of pathogens in mNGS reports was positively correlated with the plasma concentrations of various cytokines, including M-CSF.

Since December 2019, the outbreak of pneumonia infected by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in China, it caused serious public health event and thus caused worldwide attention. Recent researches revealed that the blockage of small airways by mucus plug is considered to be an important pathophysiological change in COVID-19 patients. So far, there is no definite and effective treatments have been presented for COVID-19. Vitamin C is widely available and has shown the potential inhibiting the airway mucus secretion, but its effect on improving the outcome of COVID-19 patient is unclear.

With the expansion of 2019 novel coronavirus disease(COVID-19), large of suspected cases were reported. This essay compares the clinical features of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections and other viral infections among the suspected COVID-19 patients, and attempts to explore an ideal diagnostic model of COVID-19. 60 viral pneumonia patients from 86 suspected patients were enrolled and grouped into two: the COVID-19 group (19 cases) and other viral infections group (41 cases). Compare and analyze the blood test results, biochemical indicators and chest CT scan changes of patients. 60 patients were mainly young and middle-aged men, of which 60%were infected with influenza virus, and 31.6%were infected with SARS-COV-2 according to pathogenic distribution. And we found statistic differences among blood cell counts and blood biochemistry between the two groups. The COVID-19 patients' chest CT showed that the lung lesions were mainly bilateral nodule or appeared to be patchy and ground glass shadowed. While most of the lung lesions caused by other virus were mainly unilateral patchy shadow (P＜0.05). We found a new multi-marker PTG, which composed of platelet-to-neutrophil ratio(PNR), total bilirubin(TBIL) and ground-grass density, The area sunder curves(AUC)of PTG was 0.908, the sensitivity was 73.17%and the specificity was 94.44%. The ratio of blood RT to its sub-group and chest CT were considered as important reference in differential diagnosis. The PTG, with extremely high specificity and sensitivity in early differential diagnosis of COVID-19 and other viral pneumonia, had a significant clinical value.

The detection of viral nucleic acid by real time RT-PCR is the main confirmative diagnostic method for COVID-19 in clinical practice in China and worldwide. However, its sensitivity is unclear. Here we report two cases in a family in Guizhou, southwestern China. The father had a history of long stay in Wuhan. Surprisingly, although the son was diagnosed positive using the nasopharyngeal swab specimen and the rRT-PCR method, the father was diagnosed negative continuously for multiple times. Only after the alveolar lavage fluid sample was used, the father's rRT-PCR diagnosis turned positive. Their CT diagnosis and clinical symptoms did not completely align with their rRT-PCR diagnostic results. The underlying mechanisms and their implications to clinical practice are discussed.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has swept across all countries in the world within half a year, which is taking the world by surprise. We reported an elderly, severe, complicated COVID-19 case, describing the clinical manifestations, laboratory examinations, CT findings, diagnosis, treatment and dynamic disease course. 3D post-processing technique was used to reconstruct different pulmonary lesions, and it was found to be useful for highlighting and observing them, thereby helping diagnose and distinguish different diseases.

Most of the clinical research on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) has focused on patients in Wuhan, Hubei, China. This study describes the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients outside of Hubei. Eighteen confirmed COVID-19 patients at Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital were included. They were divided into nonsevere and severe groups, and their epidemiological characteristics, demographics, clinical manifestations, and laboratory results were reviewed and compared. All patients were infected through human-to-human transmission, and 9 were imported cases. The clinical features were mainly cough (16 [89%]), fever (11 [61%]), and sputum production (9 [50%]). Most patients had bilateral pneumonia. There were significant differences in the level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (179 [142-193] vs 289 [260.25-368.75]), level of serum ferritin (267.2 [100.5-675.2] vs 614.85 [528.5-870.78]), lymphocyte count (1.52 [1.40-1.60] vs 0.59 [0.47-1.05]), and CD cell count (1576 [1040-1696] vs 444 [312-592] CD3+ T cells, 692 [420-708] vs 144 [128-320] CD4+ T cells, 796 [632-892] vs 228 [152-284] CD8+ T cells) between the nonsevere group and the severe group (P <0.05). As of Feb. 11th, 9 people had been discharged after treatment. This study suggests that COVID-19 cases often occur in clusters. Patients with severe COVID-19 had abnormalities in inflammation and immune indicators. Most patients outside Hubei had a good prognosis.

A cluster of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was successively reported in Wuhan, China.The major presentations of patients are fever, fatigue, and dry cough.No cases have been reported with night sweats as the first symptom.This article presents a case that was diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia with night sweats as the first symptom.Chest CT showed patches of ground-glass opacity, and qRT-PCR results of SARS-CoV-2 were positive.After treatment, the patient did not present with night sweats again, the chest CT showed that the ground-glass opacity was completely absorbed, and the SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test results were negative.This case suggests that night sweats might be the first and major symptom of COVID-19 pneumonia.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel infectious disease that spreads rapidly around the world and endangers global public health. Because of the lack of specificity of previously identified CT images, such as peripheral and subpleural ground glass opacities, early diagnosis is still a big challenge for radiologists. How to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and make diagnosis as early as possible is a problem concerned by the medical field. This article reports two important CT manifestations in COVID-19 patients, and investigates the pathogenesis and clinical significance of them. Single or multiple CT scans in COVID-19 patients confirmed at our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The presence of vascular enlargement sign and bronchiolectasis sign on CT images were evaluated with the help of sophisticated post-processing techniques. A total of 14 patients (6 men and 8 women; mean ± standard deviation age: 41.51 ± 20.98 years) with 34 CT series were included. Vascular enlargement sign at a distribution of interior or the edge of pulmonary lesions was observed in all CT series (34/34, 100%). Bronchiolectasis sign was observed in 30 CT series (88%), with 4 series (4/7, 57.1%) in early stage, 16 series (16/16, 100%) in progressive stage, 5 series (5/5, 100%) in severe stage and 9 series (9/9, 100%) in absorption stage. The occurrence of bronchiolectasis sign in COVID-19 patients was significantly different between early stage and non-early stage (P=0.005). This study suggests that the vascular enlargement sign and bronchiolectasis sign are two important CT features in COVID-19 patients and may be of great significance in early diagnosis and guiding treatment decisions.

Social insects, such as the honey bee and ants, form vast colonies that are only rivalled by human settlements. Living in dense, often stationary groups is prone to increase disease transmission. Yet, social insect queens and certain worker types can lead lengthy lives compared to the life span of most solitary insects. Social insects appear to have modified insulin/insulin like signaling pathway that regulates insect life history. This modification results in extremely elevated levels of the multifunctional lipoprotein vitellogenin in the individuals with longer life span. Vitellogenin is an egg-yolk precursor, but it also regulates caste-related behaviors in social insects, has shielding effects in inflammation and infection, and it is a mediator of transgenerational immunity. Here, we compile what is known about the life span and immune actions of vitellogenin and the evolution of this protein in the honey bee and ants. Recently we identified proteins homologous to vitellogenin in several Hymenopteran species, and showed that at least one of these vitellogenin-like proteins can have a protective role similar to vitellogenin in the honey bee. The newly identified vitellogenin homologs hint that the regulation of social insect life span can be more complex than thought before.