ObjectiveTo investigate the association of bacterial translocation (BT) with cachexia and its impact on the outcome of gastric cancer patients.MethodsSixty cachectic gastric cancer patients,50 age- and sex-matched non-cachectic gastric cancer patients,and 55 healthy controls were enrolled in this study between January 2008 and July 2009.Polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect bacterial DNA in the peripheral blood of cancer patients and healthy controls,Cytokine levels were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Flow cytometry was used to detect immune indicators.All the enrolled patients were followed up for two years,and the two-year survival rate was calculated.ResultsThe BT ratio was significantly higher in cachectic patients than in non-cachectic patients (25.0％ vs.8.0％,P =0.019) and healthy controls (25.0％ vs.0.0％,P =0.000).BT-positive cachectic patients had significantly higher levels of IL-1α,IL-6,TNF-α,and IFN-γ compared with BT-negative cachectic patients ( P =0.012,0.003,0.036,and 0.017,respectively ) and BT-positive non-cachectic patients ( P =0.011,0.034,0.000,and 0.022,respectively).The two-year survival rate in BT-positive cachectic patients was significantly lower than in BT-negative cachectic patients (P =0.023 ).The levels of CD3 +T,CD4+ T,natural killer cells,and CD4 + T/CD8 + T in gastric cancer patients were significantly lower than in healthy controls ( P =0.023,0.031,0.016,0.041,respectively),whereas CD8 + T level was significantly higher in gastric cancer patients than in healthy controls (P =0.038).ConclusionBT may contribute to the development of cancer cachexia and influence the long-term survival of locally advanced gastric cancer patients.

Objective To establish a rapid,accurate,specific quantitative assay for detecting B.pertussis,and apply to clinical diagnosis.Methods According to the specific sequence of B.pertussis IS481 gene,the primers and the fluorescence probe were designed and synthesized.Then a fluorescence quantitative PCR for detecting B.pertussis was developed.The specificity,sensitivity and reproducibility of the method were evaluated.255 specimens including 225 nasopharyngeal swabs from suspected pertussis patients and 30 normal nasopharyngeal swabs were detected by fluorescence quantitative PCR.Results A rapid specific quantitative method for detecting B.pertussis was established.The standard curve of the method indicated that there was a good linear relationship between the CT value and the template concentration with the correlation coefficient being 0.998.The linear range of the system was from 102 to 108 copies/μl and the minimum was 102 copies.It had a high sensitivity and good specificity.The intra.and inter-assay coefficients of variation were 5.78%-16.7% and 8.25%-14.9% respectively.The fluorescence quantitative PCR identified 41 positive results for specimens from suspected pertussis patients and results of 30 normal specimens were all negative.Conclusions The method can quantitatively detect the B.pertussis rapidly with high sensitivity and specificity,it can be applied to clinical diagnosis.