Objective A very high prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is observed in Minnan population in China.We aimed to explore the genetic characteristics of RA in Minnan population and genetic mechanisms of RA by studying the associations of three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT-4) (rs7574865),the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA)-4 (rs3087243) and chromosome 9p21.3(rs1333049) with RA in Minnan population.Methods A case-control study of 119 RA patients and 125 normal controls from Quanzhou were enrolled.SNPs (rs7574865,rs3087243,rs1333049) were genotyped by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and analyzed by SPSS 18.0.x2-test was applied to compare allele and genotype frequeneies betweeen cases and controlsLogistic regression models were used to analyze the SNPs.Results The results showed the genotype distributions of STAT4 genes were significantly different between case and control groups (P＜0.01).Compared with the GT heterozygous genotype,TT and GG homozygosity carriers had a lower risk (OR=0498 and 0.300,P=0.018 and P=0.002 respectively).There was not statistical difference in genotypes and allele in CTLA-4 (rs3087243) between RA patients and healthy controls (x2=4.083,P=0.130),but compared with the AG genotyoe,GG homozygosity carriers had a lower risk on basis of statistics (OR=0.580,P=0.04).There was not statistical difference in genotypes and allele in the chromosome 9p21.3 (rs1333049) (P＞0.05),but compared with the GG genotype carriers,CC and GC genotypes carriers had a lower risk on basis of statistics (OR=0.565,P=0.0495).Conclusion Chromosome 9p21.3 (rs1333049) and CTLA-4 rs3087243 G/A may not be associated with susceptibility to RA in Minnan popula-tions.This replication study confirmes that STAT4 rs7574865 G/T polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to RA in Minnan population.

Objective To investigate the clinical features of of patients with Staphylococcus aureus blood-stream infection and risk factors for septic shock.Methods A total of 51 patients diagnosed with Staphylococ-cus aureus bloodstream infection in the hospital from January 2018 to March 2023 were enrolled in the study.According to whether the patients developed septic shock,they were divided into septic shock group and non-septic shock group.The clinical data of the patients were collected,and the clinical laboratory indicators were detected on the day of blood culture samples were collected.Bacteria isolated from blood culture specimens of patients were identified and tested for drug sensitivity.The clinical data and clinical laboratory test indicators of the two groups were compared.Multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the independent risk factors of septic shock in patients with Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to analyze the predictive value of clinical laboratory test indicators for septic shock in patients with Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection.Results Septic shock occurred in 12 of 51 patients,with an incidence of 23.5％.The proportion of patients with diabetes,gouty arthritis,the proportion of patients with long-term glucocorticoid use,the proportion of patients with respiratory tract in-fection,the proportion of patients who died,and the hospitalization cost in the septic shock group were higher than those in the non-septic shock group,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).Long-term glucocorticoid use was an independent risk factor for septic shock in Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection(P＜0.05).The combination of C-reactive protein(CRP),albumin(Alb),neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio(NLR)and procalcitonin(PCT)had high value in predicting septic shock in patients with Staphylococ-cus aureus bloodstream infection,and the area under the ROC curve was 0.983.Conclusion Long-term use of glucocorticoids can lead to an increased risk of septic shock in patients with Staphylococcus aureus blood-stream infection.The combined detection of CRP,Alb,NLR and PCT has a higher predictive value than single detection for septic shock in patients with Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection.