This study investigated the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi,Anaplasma phagocy tophilum,Rickettsia typhi,Orientia tsutsugamushi,Leptospira interrogans,Francisella tularensis,and Babesia spp.in small mammals in the Qinghai plateau region,to provide a scientific basis for the prevention and control of local zoonotic diseases.Small mammals were cap-tured with snap traps at six sampling sites in the Qinghai plateau region.Liver,spleen,and kidney tissues were collected for detection of six bacterial pathogens with real-time PCR.Conventional PCR(cPCR)was used for Babesia detection,and the positive PCR products were sequenced and analyzed.The differences in pathogen detection rates among species and habitats were analyzed with x2 test or Fisher's exact test.In to-tal,235 small mammals from 15 species were captured.B.burgdorferi,L.interrogans,and Babesia were detected in 11 spe-cies of small mammals,whereas A.phagocytophilum,R.typhi,O.tsutsugamushi,and F.tularensis were not detected.B.burgdorferi was detected in 41 small mammals from nine species(Cricetulus longicaudatus,Apodemus peninsulae,Ochotona curzoniae,Mus m usc ulus,Meriones meridians,Microtus arvalis,Cricetidae,Ochotona cansus,and Allactaga sibirica),with an infection rate of 17.45％(41/235).L.interrogans was detected in eight small mammals from four species(C.longicaudatus,M.musculus,M.arvalis,and Microtus oeconomus),with an infection rate of 3.40％(8/235).Babesia was detected in only one Mustela altaica,with an infection rate of 0.85％(1/235).Statistically significant differences were ob-served in the detection rates of pathogens among small mammal species(x2=200.54,P＜0.05).Among habitats,the detection rate of B.burgdorferi was highest in the forest(Fisher's exact test,P＜0.05).B.burgdorferi and L.interrogans co-infection was observed in three M.arvalis and two C.longicaudatus.In addition,one Babesia sequence was obtained,which clustered with Babesia vulpes in the phylogenetic tree.B.burgdorferi,L.interrogans,and Babesia were the main pathogens prevalent in small mammals in the Qinghai plateau region and have potential to cause human diseases.Local authori-ties should strengthen the surveillance of corresponding zoonotic diseases,and formulate corresponding prevention and control measures.

Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) are the major components of Panax notoginseng, with multiple pharmacological activities but poor oral bioavailability. PNS could be metabolized by gut microbiota in vitro, while the exact role of gut microbiota of PNS metabolism in vivo remains poorly understood. In this study, pseudo germ-free rat models were constructed by using broad-spectrum antibiotics to validate the gut microbiota-mediated transformation of PNS in vivo. Moreover, a high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) was developed for quantitative analysis of four metabolites of PNS, including ginsenoside F1 (GF1), ginsenoside Rh2 (GRh2), ginsenoside compound K (GCK) and protopanaxatriol (PPT). The results showed that the four metabolites could be detected in the control rat plasma, while they could not be determined in pseudo germ-free rat plasma. The results implied that PNS could not be biotransformed effectively when gut microbiota was disrupted. In conclusion, gut microbiota plays an important role in biotransformation of PNS into metabolites in vivo.
Animals ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; Biotransformation ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Feces ; microbiology ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; drug effects ; physiology ; Ginsenosides ; blood ; Male ; Panax notoginseng ; chemistry ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sapogenins ; blood ; Saponins ; administration & dosage ; metabolism ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Objective To investigate the clinical manifestation and the characteristics of laboratory examinations of invasive Scedocporium infection.Methods The clinical data of 8 patients infected with Scedosporium from January 2011 to April 2017 were collected and retrospective analysis combined with related literatures was performed.Results Among the 8 patients,6 strains of S.apiospermum,1 strains of Peudallescheria boydii and 1 strains of S.prolificans were detectable.The predisposing factors of Scedosporium infection were trauma,environmental exposure and hypoimmunity.The septahypha in specimens could be direcdy observed under microscopic examination with positive rate 100％.The growth speed of cultured colony was relatively fast and the invasiveness was strong.The colony of Scedosporium displayed various forms from white cashmere to black yeast sample.The color was gradually become dark from the center of colony with lengthening time of cultivation.Scedosporium could be identified by microscopic morphology combining culture technique.Conclusion The course of invasive Scedosporium infection may progress rapidly with serious and dangerous illness state.The most common infection of Scedosporium should be induced by S.apiospernum.The knowledge and understanding for Scedosporium infection should be strengthened to improve the level of diagnosis and treatment.

The difference between doctor selection needs of the public and medical service at present was analyzed according to the questionnaire investigation of doctor selection habit of the public. The association between the focus on doctor personal information and the importance of different factors influencing doctor selection was analyzed ac-cording to the information searching methods used by the public when they selected their doctor. The effective pre-cision search approaches and methods on the Internet medical platform were proposed, including information searching methods on innovation platform, standardizing the weight of different kinds of information, and perfecting the pushing and recommending mechanisms for doctor selection searching results.

Bartonella species can infect a variety of mammalian hosts and cause a broad spectrum of diseases in humans, but there have been no reports of Bartonella infection in Ochotonidae. This is the first study to detect Bartonella in plateau pikas in the Qinghai plateau, providing baseline data for the risk assessment of human Bartonella infection in this area. We obtained 15 Bartonella strains from 79 pikas in Binggou and Maixiu areas of Qinghai with a positive rate of 18.99%. Based on the phylogenetic analysis of the Bartonella citrate synthase (gltA) gene sequences, most strains were closely related to B. taylorii (3/15) and B. grahamii (12/15). The latter is a pathogenic strain in humans. Our results suggest that a corresponding prevention and control strategy should be taken into consideration in the Qinghai province.
Animals ; Bartonella ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Bartonella Infections ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; transmission ; veterinary ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Lagomorpha ; Male ; Phylogeny

BACKGROUNDGastric cancer ranks high among the most common causes of cancer-related death worldwide. This study was designed to explore key genes involved in the progression of normal gastric epithelial cells to moderate gastric epithelial dysplasia (mGED) and to gastric cancer.

METHODSTwelve pairs of mGED tissues, gastric cancer tissues, and normal gastric tissues were collected by gastroscopy. Total RNA was then extracted and purified. After the addition of fluorescent tags, hybridization was carried out on a Gene chip microarray slide. Significance analysis of microarrays was performed to determine significant differences in gene expression between the different tissue types.

RESULTSMicroarray data analysis revealed totally 34 genes that were expressed differently: 18 highly expressed (fold change > 2; P < 0.01) and 16 down-regulated (fold change > 2; P < 0.01). Of the 34 genes, 24 belonged to several different functional categories such as structural molecule activity, extracellular regions, structural formation, cell death, biological adhesion, developmental processes, locomotion, and biological regulation that were associated with cancer. The remaining 10 genes were not involved in cancer research. Of these genes, the expression levels of Matrix metalloproteinase-12 (MMP12), Caspase-associated recruitment domain 14 (CARD14), and Chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1) were confirmed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. A two-way clustering algorithm divided the 36 samples into three categories and the overall correct classification efficiency was 80.6% (29/36). Almost all of these genes (31/34) showed constant changes in the process of normal gastric epithelial cells to mGED to gastric cancer.

CONCLUSIONSThe results of this study provided global gene expression profiles during the development and progression from normal gastric epithelial cells to mGED to gastric cancer. These data may provide new insights into the molecular pathology of gastric cancer which may be useful for the detection, diagnosis, and treatment.

Adult ; Aged ; Epithelial Cells ; metabolism ; Gastric Mucosa ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Stomach ; metabolism ; pathology ; Stomach Neoplasms ; genetics ; Transcriptome ; genetics

Background Gastric cancer ranks high among the most common causes of cancer-related death worldwide.This study was designed to explore key genes involved in the progression of normal gastric epithelial cells to moderate gastric epithelial dysplasia (mGED) and to gastric cancer.Methods Twelve pairs of mGED tissues,gastric cancer tissues,and normal gastric tissues were collected by gastroscopy.Total RNA was then extracted and purified.After the addition of fluorescent tags,hybridization was carried out on a Gene chip microarray slide.Significance analysis of microarrays was performed to determine significant differences in gene expression between the different tissue types.Results Microarray data analysis revealed totally 34 genes that were expressed differently:18 highly expressed (fold change＞2; P＜0.01) and 16 down-regulated (fold change ＞2; P ＜0.01).Of the 34 genes,24 belonged to several different functional categories such as structural molecule activity,extracellular regions,structural formation,cell death,biological adhesion,developmental processes,locomotion,and biological regulation that were associated with cancer.The remaining 10 genes were not involved in cancer research.Of these genes,the expression levels of Matrix metalloproteinase-12 (MMP12),Caspase-associated recruitment domain 14 (CARD14),and Chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1)were confirmed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR.A two-way clustering algorithm divided the 36 samples into three categories and the overall correct classification efficiency was 80.6％ (29/36).Almost all of these genes (31/34) showed constant changes in the process of normal gastric epithelial cells to mGED to gastric cancer.Conclusions The results of this study provided global gene expression profiles during the development and progression from normal gastric epithelial cells to mGED to gastric cancer.These data may provide new insights into the molecular pathology of gastric cancer which may be useful for the detection,diagnosis,and treatment.

Objective To detect the internal arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) in 73 maintenance hemedialysis patients, as to explore the recirculation, blood flow and cardiac output of the internal AVF and provide basis for the hemodialysis project. Methods Internal AVF of 73 maintenance hemodialysis patients was detected 30 minutes after the initiation and 30 minutes before the end of the hemodialysis. Patients with low blood flow ( AF < 600 ml/min) were followed up. Results Fistula function was successfully monitored in 73patients, in which 1 case ( 1. 4% ) was found to have recirculation rate > 50%. 15 patients (20. 5% ) had AF <600 ml/min and 18 patients (24.7%) had AF > 1 600 ml/min. During 12 months follow up with the 15 patients (AF <600 ml/min), 6 cases (40%) had occlusion, 7 cases (46.7%) maintained unobstructed and 2 cases underwent kidney transplant. There was statistical significance in terms of internal fistula flow, cardiac output, cardiac index and center blood volume between 30 minutes after the initiation and 30 minutes before the end of the hemodialysis. Conclusions AVF detection plays an important role in the monitor of AVF function in hemodialysis patients. The possibility of AVF occlusion increases in patients with lower blood flow. The recirculation rate is low when AVF obtains enough blood flow and the internal fistula interval is not a major factor.

Acute Disease ; Adolescent ; Age Factors ; Asthma ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Bronchi ; physiology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Peak Expiratory Flow Rate

It was recently shown that several new synthetic 2-alkylsulfanyl-6-benzyl-3, 4-dihydropyrimidin-4(3H)-one (S-DABO) derivatives demonstrated anti-HIV-1 activity. Three of the derivatives namely RZK-4, RZK-5 and RZK-6 were used in this study to explore their inhibitory effects on a variety of HIV strains. These compounds at a concentration of 200 microg mL(-1) almost completely inhibited the activity of recombinant HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. All of the three compounds reduced replication of HIV-1 laboratory-derived strains, low-passage clinical isolated strain, and the drug resistant strain. In particular RZK-6 showed potent activity against the HIV-1 drug resistant strain. In general, the antiviral activities are similar in magnitude to nevirapine (NVP), which is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor approved by FDA. The therapeutic indexes of these compounds were remarkable, ranging from 3704 to 38462 indicating extremely low cytotoxicity. These results suggest that the three S-DABO derivatives in this study have good potential for further development in anti-HIV-1 therapy. It may be particularly useful to target at the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors resistant HIV-1 strain.
Anti-HIV Agents ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Benzyl Compounds ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Cell Line ; Drug Resistance, Viral ; HIV Reverse Transcriptase ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism ; HIV-1 ; drug effects ; Humans ; Pyrimidinones ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Virus Replication ; drug effects