Biofilms are communities of surface-associated bacteria or fungi embedded in a self-produced extracellular polymeric matrix that are notoriously difficult to be eradicated and are sources of many recalcitrant infections. Treatment for biofilm infection with any individual drug is always less effective, while the combinations of different types of drugs are superior to monotherapy concerning the removing of biofilms. This paper focus on research progress in recent years for synergistic effect of drugs in combination against biofilms formed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans.

Objective To detect Ureaplasma urealyticum (Uu) and Mycoplasma hominis (Mh) in urogenital tract of healthy elementary and high school students,and to determine the biovars and serotypes of Uu isolates.Methods Urine specimens were collected from 957 healthy school children,including 404 elementary school students,260 junior high school students and 293 senior high school students,and submitted for Uu and Mh culture in selective liquid medium.Thc specimens positive for Uu and (or) Mh culture were subsequently subjected to PCR.The biovars and serotypes of Uu were determined.Results Uu was detected in 4.81％ (46/957) of the school children.Among the 46 Uu positive specimens,32 (69.57％) harbored Ureaplasma Parvum (biovar 1 ),14 (30.43％) Ureaplasma urealytieum (biovar 2); 12 (2.97％) were from elementary school students,including 9(75.00％) cases of Ureaplasma Parvum and 3(25.00％) Ureaplasma urealytieum,8(3.08％) were from junior high school students,including 5 cases of Ureaplasma Parvum and 3 Ureaplasma urealytieum,26 (8.87％) were from senior high school students,including 18 (69.23％) cases of Ureaplasma Parvum and 8 (30.77％)Ureaplasma urealytieum.Mh was positive in 9 (0.94％) school students,including 1 elementary school student,1 junior school student and 7 senior high school students.The detection rate of Uu was significantly higher in females than in males in all the 3 groups (elementary school,junior and senior high school) of students.Conclusions Mh and Uu are commensals in urogenital tract of elementary and high school students without symptoms.Ureaplasma Parvum is the predominant biovar in this population,though Ureaplasma urealytieum accounts for a significant proportion,which implies that Uu is commensal in healthy elementary and high school students,and females are more liable to be colonized than males.

Foreign Bodies ; diagnosis ; Glottis ; Humans ; Infant

Objective As important transcription factors, SOX2, TWIST and SNAIL are closely related to breast cancer me?tastasis. The aim of this study was to explore the expressions of SOX2, TWIST and SNAIL in breast cancer and the relationship between the three factors. Methods We collected 74 specimens of breast cancer and another 74 from paired normal tissue from January 2012 to January 2013. Using immunohistochemistry, we determined and compared the expression of SOX2 in the breast cancer and normal tissues. We also detected the expressions of TWIST and SNAIL proteins and analyzed the relationship of SOX2, TWIST and SNAIL ex?pressions with the clinicopathological characteristics of breast cancer as well as the correlation between the three proteins. Results The expression of SOX2 was significantly higher in the breast cancer than in the normal tissues (25.7% vs 8.1%, P=0.004) and corre?lated with the grade, lymph node metastasis, and TNM stage of breast cancer ( P<0.05) , while the expressions of TWIST and SNAIL were significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and clinical TNM stages of the malignancy ( P<0.05) . The protein expression of TWIST was correlated positively with those of SOX2 ( Cc=0. 325, P<0.005) and SNAIL (Cc=0.308, P<0.008), and so was that of SNAIL with that of SOX2 (Cc=0.275, P<0.018). Conclusion The SOX2 protein is highly expressed in breast cancer. The expres?sions of SOX2, TWIST and SNAIL are closely related to lymph node metastasis of the malignancy and the three factors are interacted coor?dinatively in the metastasis of breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE:To establish a method for the determination of related substances in bisacodyl raw material and enteric-coated tablet. METHODS:HPLC was performed on the column of Hibar C18 with mobile phase of acetonitrile-20 mmol/L ammonium acetate (acetic acid adjust pH to 5.0)(55∶45,V/V),detection wavelength was 265 nm,flow rate was 1.0 ml/min, column temperature was 30℃,and the injection volume was 20 μl. RESULTS:The linear range of bisacodyl was 0.25-5.0 mg/ml (r=0.999 9);the limits of detection and quantification were 19-25 ng and 61-68 ng for bisacodyl and impurity A,B,C,D and E;RSDs of precision,stability and reproducibility tests were lower than 2%;recovery was 99.50%-101.00%(RSD=0.5%,n=9). CONCLUSIONS:The method is specific, sensitive and reproducible, and can be used for the determination of related substance in bisacodyl raw material and enteric-coated tablet.

Objective To explore the status of mutations of k-ras gene in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and to make theory preparation for the k-ras mutation detection in diagnosis laboratory. Methods The Genomic DNA was extracted, mutation analysis of k-ras was detected by PCR and bi-direction sequencing in the 56 specimens. Results Rate of k-ras mutation was 46.63 % (26/56) including 76.92 % (20/26) located at codon 12, and 23.08 %(6/26) located at codon 13, and no mutation was found at both codons simultaneously. G>A transition is the most common type of k-ras mutation,GGT>GAT (G12D) is the predominant mutation at codon 12 and GGOGAC (G13D) at codonl3. Chi-square analysis revealed the k-ras mutation was significantly correlated to the gender of the patients. Conclusion The k-ras mutation is mainly located at the codon 12, G>A transition is the most type of k-ras mutation in CRC. k-ras mutation seems to correlate with the gender of CRC patients.

Objective To investigate the clinical effects of acupuncture combined with enema in the treatment of acute pelvic inflammatory, and its effects on uterine hemodynamics and seurm levels of high mobility group box-1 protein (HMGB1), toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). Methods A total of 66 patients with acute pelvic inflammatory were enrolled in the study, randomly divided into the combination treatment group (n=33) and conventional treatment group (n=33). The patients in the combination treatment group were given with acupuncture combined with enema on the basis of conventional therapy. After 10 d treatment, the effective rate was observed. The changes of serum HMGB1 and TLR4 were compared and analyzed. Results After 10 d treatment, the total effective rate was 90.91% (30/33) in the combination treatment group, and 69.70% (23/33) in the conventional treatment group. There were statistically significant differences between the two groups (χ2=8.246,P<0.05).After treatment,the left Vmax(39.16 ± 0.73 cm/s vs.35.47 ± 0.83 cm/s),right Vmax(41.23 ± 1.12 cm/s vs.36.24 ± 0.75 cm/s),left PI(2.23 ± 0.25 cm/s vs.3.11 ±0.45 cm/s),right PI(2.17 ± 0.22 cm/s vs. 2.62 ± 0.23 cm/s),left RI(0.48 ± 0.08 cm/s vs.0.73 ± 0.13 cm/s)and right RI(0.43 ± 0.11 cm/s vs.0.71 ± 0.16 cm/s)of the combined treatment group were significantly superior to the conventional treatment group (all P<0.01). The levels of serum HMGB1(17.45 ± 5.01 ng/ml vs.21.32 ± 6.15 ng/ml,t=2.803)and TLR4(1.05 ± 0.64 ng/ml vs. 1.75 ± 0.91 ng/ml, t=3.614) in the combination treatment group were significantly lower than those in conventional treatment group (all P<0.01). Conclusions Acupuncture combined with traditional Chinese medicine enema treatment of acute pelvic inflammatory disease is better, improve the uterine hemodynamics. The mechanism may be related to inhibit the release of HMGB1, TLR4 and its induced inflammatory response.

Objective To detect the expressions of osteopontin (OPN) and inerleukin-18 in patients with bullous pemphigoid (BP),and to analyze their relationship with clinical and laboratory indices.Methods Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to quantify the serum levels of osteopontin (OPN) and inerleukin (IL)-18 in 30 patients with BP and 30 health controls.Results The serum level of OPN was statistically higher in the patients than in the healthy controls ((8.29 ± 2.76) vs.(3.88 ± 1.41 ) ng/ml,P ＜ 0.01 ),and was positively correlated with the severity of BP (r =0.658,P ＜ 0.01 ) and with some laboratory indices in the patients.Increased serum IL-18 level was observed in patients complicated by cardiovascular diseases compared with those without cardiovascular diseases ((37.49 ± 6.43) vs.(31.10 ± 5.40) pg/ml,P ＜ 0.01).Moreover,the BP patients with diabetes,tumor,hepatic and renal impairment displayed an enhanced level of serum OPN and IL-18 than those without (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions OPN may be positively correlated with the severity of BP,while IL-18 may be involved in the development of complications of BP.

Objective To evaluate the relationship between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway in spinal dorsal horns of rats with neuropathic pain.Methods Twenty male Sprague-Dawley rats,aged 2 months,weighing 160-320 g,were randomly divided into 4 groups (n =5 each):sham operation group (group S); chronic constrictive injury (CCI) group; normal saline group (NS group); VEGF antibody group.Neuropathic pain was induced by CCI.The animals were anesthetized with intraperitoneal 10％ chloral hydrate 350 mg/kg.The left sciatic nerve was exposed and 4 ligatures were placed on the sciatic nerve at 1 mm intervals.In group S,the left sciatic nerve was only exposed but not ligated.In VEGF antibody group,VEGF antibody 0.3μg/15 μl was injected intrathecally every 2 days for 4 times starting from 2 h after CCI,while the equal volume of normal saline was injected in NS group.Paw withdrawal threshold to von Frey filament stimulation (PWMT) and paw withdrawal latency to nociceptive thermal stimulation (PWTL) were measured at 1 day before CCI (T1),and 1,3,5 and 7 days after CCI (T2-5).The rats were sacrificed after PWMT and PWTL were measured and the L4-6 segments of the spinal cord were removed for determination of phosphorylated ERK (p-ERK) expression in spinal dorsal horns by immunohistochemistry and Western blot.Results Compared with group S,PWMT and PWTL were significantly decreased at T2-5,and the p-ERK expression in spinal dorsal horns was up-regulated in CCI and VEGF antibody groups (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with CCI group,PWMT and PWTL were significantly increased at T3-5,and the p-ERK expression in spinal dorsal horns was down-regualted in VEGF antibody group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion VEGF in the spinal dorsal horn is involved in the development and maintenance of neuropathic pain in rats through activating ERK signaling pathway.

Objective Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common but usually under-diagnosed in hospitalized patients,of the impact of which on patients is still unclear.The paper was aimed to investigate the impact of delayed recognition of AKI on short-time prognosis of patients through a propensity score matched study.Methods From Oct 2013 to Sep 2014,1401 adult hospitalized patients with AKI in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were divided into delayed recognition group and timely-diagnosed group according to propensity score matching (1∶ 1) without replacement method.Primary endpoint was 30-day all-cause mortality,and secondary endpoints included recovery of kidney at discharge,length of hospitalization,length of intensive care unit stay and hospital costs.Results There were significant differences in age,department distribution,complications,stage of AKI,Charlson index,APACHE Ⅱ score,SOFA score between the two groups before matching.After matching,there were no significant difference in demographic data,department distribution,complications,stage of AKI,Charlson index,APACHE Ⅱ score,SOFA score between the two groups except in blood urea nitrogen (P=0.039) and use of diuretics (P=0.018).Delayed recognition of acute kidney injury was not associated with 30-day all-cause mortality in univariate (P=0.711) and multivariate Logistic regression analyses.The secondary endpoints did not differ in two groups.Conclusion Delayed acute kidney injury recognition did not associate with poor short-term outcomes in adult hospitalized patients.