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Introduction: Asthma is an inflammatory disorder of the airways and the symptoms of asthma could be exacerbated by Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection. Interleukin-2 and interleukin-4 have been implicated in immune and inflammatory reactions. We examined the associations of IL2 and IL4 polymorphisms and expression with the risks of asthma and M. pneumoniae infection in children.
Methods: 392 asthmatic children and 849 controls were recruited into the study. Eight polymorphisms in IL2 and IL4 were genotyped with Sequenom MassARRAY platform. M. pneumoniae infection and copy number was determined with fluorescence PCR. IL-2 and IL-4 serum expression levels were determined by using ELISA.
Results: We found a significant association of IL2 rs6534349 polymorphism with increased asthma risk (heterozygotes, P=.029; homozygous variants; P=.013) and of IL4 rs2227284 polymorphism with reduced asthma risk (heterozygotes, P=.026; homozygous variants; P=.001). Besides, the association of other polymorphisms, except rs2070874 polymorphism, became apparent when the asthmatic children were grouped according to GINA classification of asthma control and severity. In addition, IL-2 and IL-4 serum expression levels were significantly higher in M. pneumoniae negative (P=.038) and positive (P=.011) subjects respectively. This observation holds true among asthmatic patients (P=.016 for IL-2 and P=.042 for IL-4), but only the IL-4 observation remained correct among non-asthmatic controls (P=.032). We also observed that the rs6534349 GG genotype was significantly associated with increased odds of getting high load M. pneumoniae infection (P=.0376).
Conclusions: IL2 and IL4 could be important biomarkers for estimating the risks of asthma and M. pneumoniae infection in children.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.arbres.2014.11.004 | DOI Listing |
Int J Gen Med
September 2025
Department of Pediatric, The Affiliated Hospital to Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, Jilin, 130000, People's Republic of China.
Background: Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) is a common respiratory infection in children, current treatments are limited by resistance and side effects. This study aims to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of combining Qingke Mixture with azithromycin for treating MPP in children.
Methods: This prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial included 92 children diagnosed with MPP.
Front Immunol
September 2025
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Introduction: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA-R) encephalitis is a neuropsychiatric disorder with additional psychiatric features caused by NMDA-R immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This report presents the follow-up of a patient in whom we assumed mild NMDA-R encephalitis in the first psychotic episode.
Case Study: A patient with a prior episode of an acute polymorphic psychotic syndrome relapsed five and a half years later following a severe COVID-19 infection.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol
September 2025
Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Servicio y Departamento de Inmunología, Facultad de Medicina, Monterrey, NL, Mexico.
Natural killer (NK) cells are innate lymphocytes with cytotoxic activity against tumors and viruses. The pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has increased the investigation of their role in disease severity. However, their functional status and modulators remain controversial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Public Health
September 2025
Department of Personnel Strategies, Institute of Management, Collegium of Management and Finance, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw, Poland.
Introduction: Organizational resilience is of paramount importance for coping with adversity, particularly in the healthcare sector during crises. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of resilience-based interventions on the well-being of healthcare employees during the pandemic. In this study, resilience-based interventions are defined as organizational actions that strengthen a healthcare institution's capacity to cope with crises-such as ensuring adequate personal protective equipment and staff testing, clear risk-communication, alternative care pathways (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfect Drug Resist
September 2025
Department of Emergency, The Quzhou Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou People's Hospital, Quzhou, Zhejiang, 324000, People's Republic of China.
Introduction: Severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP) in immunocompromised patients is often caused by rare atypical pathogens, which are difficult to detect using conventional microbiological tests (CMTs) and can progress to sepsis in severe cases. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS), an emerging pathogen detection technique, enables rapid identification of mixed infections and provides valuable guidance for clinical treatment decisions. SCAP-induced sepsis caused by a six-pathogen co-infection has not been previously reported, but interpretation remains a challenge.
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