Objective To make a nationwide external quality assessment of tests for isolation and identification of N.gonorrhoeae in medical and healthcare facilities at different levels,and to analyze current problems.Methods Lyophilized quality control samples were uniformly delivered to 252 medical and healthcare facilities providing sexually transmitted disease (STD) services at different levels.Test results were analyzed by the National Center for STD Control,China Center for Disease Control and Prevention,and evaluation results were fed back to participating laboratories.Results Finally,test results were received from 203 (80.56％) facilities.The comprehensive score averaged at 87.14,and facilities achieving a comprehensive score of 80 or greater amounted to 80.30％ (163/203).The coincidence rate was 53.69％ (109/203) for all of the 5 quality control samples,82.76％ (168/203) and 87.68％ (178/203) respectively for two quality control samples containing only N.gonorrhoeae,86.21％ (175/203) and 96.06％ (195/203) respectively for a sample containing Neisseria sicca and a sample containing Enterococcus faecalis,69.46％ (141/203)for a sample containing different species of Neisseria.Conclusion The external quality assessment reveals a disparity in the capability to isolate and identify Neisseria among medical and healthcare facilities providing STD services at different levels.

Objective To analyze the clinical features of 35 cases of Kennedy's disease and the correlation be?tween clinical features and CAG repeat size to strengthen the understanding of KD and to avoid misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis.Methods Clinical data, including clinical signs and symptoms ,serum lipid, serum sex hormone level, electro?myography, the number of CAGs and (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis muscular atrophy,ALS) rating scale were collected from 35 patients genetically diagnosed of Kennedy disease and proceed system analysis. Results Patients with KD were adult onset with the average age of (40.77 ± 8.57) years and the average confirmed course were (8.32 ± 4.17) years. Forty-two point nine percent of the patients had family history. Clinical features included medulla oblongata and spinal muscular atrophy and weakness, limbs tremor, perioral muscles twitch and endocrine function and metabolic disorders in some cases. Creatine kinase, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein, follicle estrogen and prolactin were significantly in?creased compared to healthy adults (P:0.000,0.018,0.000,0.000,0.003). The number of CAG repeat was negatively correlated with the onset age (r=-0.549, P=0.001) but not associated with the illness severity (ALS rating scale) (r=0.001, P=0.998). ALS score was negatively correlated with course of disease(r=-0.540, P=0.001).Conclusions Chinese KD pa? tients share similar clinical phenotypes with those of other races but exhibit slightly different clinical characteristics. The length of the CAG repeat influences age at onset but not the severity of disease. Severity of disease is related to the course of disease.

Objective To investigate the mechanism of efflux pump AcrAB-TolC involved in the cross-resistance between quaternary ammonium compounds ( QAC) and fluoroquinolones ( FQ) in Escherich-ia coli. Methods Seventy-eight Escherichia coli strains were isolated from clinical samples and then tested for the sensitivity to benzalkonium bromide by ager dilution method. Six strains were randomly selected and induced with benzalkonium bromide. Changes in the sensitivity of these strains to benzalkonium bromide and ciprofloxacin were analyzed after induction. Expression of the efflux pump genes acrA, acrB and tolC at mRNA level in the induced strains and their parent strains were detected by quantitative real-time PCR. Re-sults Among the 78 strains, the minimum inhibitory concentrations ( MIC) ranged from 8 μg/ml to 64μg/ml and 47. 4％ of strains have higher MIC than the standard strain. Compared with the parent strains, the induced strains showed higher expression of acrA and tolC genes, and the differences between the two groups were statistically significant. The MIC values of ciprofloxacin to the six induced strains were 4-8 times higher than those to their parent strains. Conclusions It was speculated that the increased expression of acrA and tolC genes at transcription level in the induced strains were related to the cross-resistance between quaternary ammonium compounds and fluoroquinolone antibiotics.

ObjectiveTo explore the possible mechanism of the Yiqi Jiedu formula （YQ） in treating ischemic stroke （IS） from the perspective of the microbial-gut-brain axis （MGBA）. MethodRats were randomly divided into five groups， with six in each group， including sham surgery group， model group， and low， medium， and high dose YQ groups （1， 5， and 25 mg·kg^-1）. Except for the sham surgery group， all other groups were established with a middle cerebral artery occlusion （MCAO） model using the thread occlusion method. The success of modeling was determined through neurobehavioral scoring， and the protective effect of YQ on IS was evaluated. Then， the changes in gut microbiota before and after MCAO modeling and YQ administration were compared using 16S rDNA sequencing technology， and the possible biological pathways related to the effect of this formula were analyzed. The expression of inflammatory factors such as interleukin-6 （IL-6）， interleukin-17A （IL-17A）， and interleukin-10 （IL-10） in serum was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. Western blot was used to detect the expression of tight junction proteins ZO-1 and Occludin in brain and intestinal tissue， and hematoxylin-eosin staining （HE） was used to observe pathological changes in the cerebral cortex and colon， so as to validate the possible mechanism of action. ResultYQ significantly improved the neurobehavioral score of MCAO rats （P<0.01） and played a good regulatory role in intestinal microbial disorders caused by enriched pathogens and opportunistic pathogens during the acute phase. Among them， significantly changed microorganisms include Morgentia， Escherichia Shigella， Adlercreutzia， and Androbacter. Bioinformatics analysis found that these bacteria may be related to the regulation of inflammation in the brain. Compared with the blank group， the detection of inflammatory factors in the serum of IS model rats showed an increase in inflammatory factors IL-6 and IL-17A （P<0.01） and a decrease in the content of anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the content of inflammatory factors IL-6 and IL-17A in the serum of the treatment group decreased （P<0.05）， and that of anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 increased （P<0.01）. The expression results of barrier proteins ZO-1 and Occludin in brain and intestinal tissue showed that the expression levels of both decreased in IS model rats （P<0.05）， while the expression levels of both increased in the treatment group （P<0.05）. ConclusionAcute cerebral ischemia can lead to an imbalance of intestinal microbiota and damage to the intestinal barrier， and it can increase intestinal permeability. YQ can regulate intestinal microbiota imbalance caused by ischemia， inhibit systemic inflammatory response， and improve the disruption of the gut-blood brain barrier， preventing secondary cascade damage to brain tissue caused by inflammation. The MGBA may be an important mechanism against the IS.