Objective To isolate Toxoplasma gondii T. gondii strains from stray cats and explore their prevalence in Xu?zhou City. Methods The sera of 41 stray cats were collected to detect the antibodies of T. gondii by using a commercial enzyme?linked immunosorbent ELISA kit. The tissues including the heart brain and tongue from these cats were digested by acid pep?sin solution and inoculated to Kunming mice. These suspicious isolates were subsequently identified by a specific PCR method. Results A total of 11 strains were isolated from 41 stray cats which were confirmed by the PCR results. Moreover 17 cats 41.5% were found to be positive with the antibodies of T. gondii. Conclusion A high prevalence of T. gondii infection was found in Xuzhou City which indicates that the stray cats infected with T. gondii would be an important infection source that may infect humans and other animals in this area.

Objective To observe the splenocytes immune response elicited by different concentrations of recombinant Toxo?plasma gondii profilin(rTgPRF)through the nasal route,and determine the optimal dose. Methods Fifty female BALB/c mice were randomly divided into 5 groups. The immunized groups were intranasally administered with 10,20,30μg or 40μg of rTgPRF that was separately dissolved in 20μl of phosphate?buffered saline(PBS)on days 0,14,and 21 respectively,while the control mice were given PBS solution instead. Two weeks after the last immunization,all mice were killed. Under asceptic conditions,the spleens from the immunized mice were dissected,and then the splenocyte proliferative responses in vitro were tested by CCK?8 kit. The levels of IFN?γ,IL?2,IL?4 and IL?10 of splenocyte culture supernatant were detected by ELISA. Re?sults Compared to the control group,the splenocytes from the 30μg and 40μg groups exhibited a significantly higher prolifer?ative response to rTgPRF(P<0.05),and SI from the 30μg rTgPRF group was higher than that from the 40μg group(P<0.05). The levels of IFN?γin all the immunized groups(P<0.05)and IL?2 in the 20,30μg and 40μg groups were significant?ly stronger than those in the control(P<0.05),and the 30μg group presented the highest concentrations of IFN?γ(P<0.01) and IL?2(P<0.01). There were no statistical differencesa mong the groups in the levels of IL?4 and IL?10. Conclusions The intranasal immunization with rTgPRF can induce the splenocyteproliferation and Th1?type mediated immunity. The best immu?nized dose is confirmed as 30μg.

OBJECTIVE:To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of Buzhong yiqi wuling decoction combined with western medicine in the treatment of chronic congestive heart failure(CHF). METHODS:120 CHF patients were divided into observation group and control group by random number table method,with 60 cases in each group. Control group received conventional western medicine treatment as rest,low salt diet and diuretics. Observation group was additionally given Buzhong yiqi wuling decoction,one dose a day,at twice,on the basis of control group. Treatment course of 2 groups lasted for 2 weeks. Average TCM symptom score, level of plasma NT-proBNP,6 min walk test(6MWT)distance before and after treatment,clinical efficacy and the occurrence of ADR were compared between 2 groups. RESULTS:Before treatment,there was no statistical significance in average TCM symptom score,level of plasma NT-proBNP and 6MWT distance between 2 groups(P>0.05). After treatment,average TCM symptom score and level of plasma NT-proBNP of 2 groups were decreased significantly,and the observation group was more significant than the control group,with statistical significance(P<0.05);6MWT distance of 2 groups were improved significantly compared to before treatment,and the observation group was significantly longer than the control group,with statistical significance(P<0.05). After treatment,total effective rate of observation group(93.33%)was significantly higher than that of control group(83.33%),with sta-tistical significance(P<0.05). No obvious ADR was found in 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS:Buzhong yiqi wuling decoction is an ef-fective prescription to treat CHF,and can relieve clinical symptoms,improve the cardiac function,decrease NT-proBNP level and en-hance the patient exercise tolerance with good safety.

Background: and Purpose This study aimed to determine the changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) in patients who received different durations of hemodialysis (HD) using arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging. Methods: The study included 46 patients who received HD and 24 demographically similar healthy controls (HCs). Patients who received HD were divided into three subgroups based on its duration: HD-1 (n=15, dialysis duration ≤24 months), HD-2 (n=16, dialysis duration >24 and ≤72 months), and HD-3 (n=15, dialysis duration ≥73 months). All subjects completed the Mini Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment tests, and the patients who received HD underwent laboratory tests. Group-level differences in the global and regional CBFs between patients who received HD and HCs were assessed. Correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the associations among CBF, clinical variables, and cognitive function. Results: Compared with HCs, global and regional CBFs were significantly increased in the HD-1 and HD-2 groups (p<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the HD-3 group (p>0.05). However, compared with the HD-1 group, the HD-3 group had significantly decreased global and regional CBFs (p<0.05). The cognitive function was worse in patients who received long-term HD than in HCs. Increased dialysis duration and hemoglobin level were predictive risk factors for decreased CBF in patients who received long-term HD. Conclusions Patients who received long-term HD with normal CBF had worse cognitive function, which may be related to increased dialysis duration.

Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of renal leukocyte chemotactic factor 2 amyloidosis (ALECT2).Methods:The patients with renal ALECT2 diagnosed by renal biopsy in Peking University First Hospital, Shanxi Medical University Second Hospital and Shanxi Bethune Hospital from January 2001 to October 2021 were retrospectively enrolled. According to whether the patients had concurrent glomerular diseases, they were classified into two groups: isolated ALECT2 group and ALECT2 with concurrent renal diseases group. Clinicopathological data of the two groups were compared. Light microscopy, immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy were applied to investigate pathological characteristics of renal tissues. Mass spectrometry was used to analyze the composition of renal amyloid deposits. Gene sequencing was employed to detect the leukocyte chemotactic factor 2 ( LECT2) gene sequence in peripheral blood of the patients. Results:Sixteen patients with ALECT2 were enrolled in this study and nine of them had concurrent renal diseases. The age of 16 patients was (65.00±8.45) years old. The sex ratio of males to females was 7 to 9. Most of patients were Han ethnicity (15/16). Eight patients came from Shanxi province. Fifteen patients presented with varying degree of proteinuria [2.16(1.07, 4.72) g/24 h]; 5 patients had nephrotic syndrome; 11 patients had renal insufficiency; 12 patients had microscopic hematuria. Part of patients also had hypertension (12/16) and diabetics (6/16). Compared with isolated ALECT2, the ALECT2 group with concurrent renal diseases had a higher proportion of nephrotic syndrome (5/9 vs 0/7, P=0.034). Renal biopsy results showed that all patients (16/16) had amyloid deposits in the interstitium of renal cortex with varying degree of inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrosis, and glomeruli (12/16) and arterioles (14/16) were involved by amyloid deposits. The amyloid deposits were strongly congophilic and immunohistochemistry for LECT2 was positive. By semi-quantitative analysis, the proportions of glomerular and overall amyloid loads in ALECT2 with concurrent renal diseases group were lower than those in isolated ALECT2 group (both P<0.05). Electron microscopy revealed randomly oriented and non-branching fibrils with a diameter of 8-12 nm. The LECT2 peptides were detected by mass spectrometry in renal amyloid deposits of 8 patients, and homozygous G allele of LECT2 was found in 7 patients by gene sequencing. Complete follow-up data of 13 patients showed that 2 patients died, 1 patient developed end-stage renal disease at the time of renal biopsy, and most of the rest patients had stable renal function (8/10). Conclusions:Patients with renal ALECT2 mainly present with proteinuria, along with a high incidence of renal insufficiency, microscopic hematuria, and concurrent renal diseases. The pathologic feature is the preferential deposition of amyloid in renal cortical interstitium.

Objective:To explore the significance of serum thyroglobulin (Tg) in the decision-making of response to 131I therapy and subsequent treatment for distant metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DM-DTC). Methods:Between January 2018 and December 2019, a total of 62 papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) patients (20 males and 42 females, age: (38.1±15.9) years) with pulmonary metastasis from Peking Union Medical College Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups (non-radioactive iodine (RAI)-avid group and RAI-avid group) according to the post-treatment whole body scan (Rx-WBS). The serum Tg response to 131I therapy including Tg change and Tg change speed was compared between two groups, and the relationship between serum Tg change speed and structural progression was explored by binary logistic regression analysis. The Tg response to different treatment schemes ( 131I treatment or follow-up) was compared in non-RAI-avid group. χ2 test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare data between different groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to find the best threshold of Tg change speed to predict the structural progress. Results:After 131I treatment, increased Tg level was found in 60.0% (15/25) patients in non-RAI-avid group ( n=25), while only 21.6%(8/37) patients in RAI-avid group ( n=37; χ2=9.417, P=0.002). Non-RAI-avid group showed an overall increased Tg trend, with a speed of 0.05(-0.16, 0.15) μg·L -1·month -1, while RAI-avid group showed a general decreased Tg trend, with a speed of -0.18(-1.95, 0.01) μg·L -1·month -1 ( U=265.000, P=0.005). A significant correlation between Tg change speed and structural response (odds ratio ( OR)=53.005, P<0.001) was found. When Tg change speed was more than 0.135 μg·L -1·month -1, structural progression could be well predicted with the sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 97.1%. In comparison to non-RAI-avid patients with merely follow-up, further 131I treatment for such patients did not yield significant benefit in terms of Tg change and Tg change speed ( χ2=0.071, U=394.000; both P>0.05). Conclusions:The serum Tg monitoring can be more sensitive in evaluating the therapeutic response to 131I for DM-DTC patients in whom response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST) might not be sensitive enough to reflect the minor change. For patients with non-RAI-avidity, Tg evaluation will offer more sensitive evidence to tailor the necessity of further 131I treatment.