Objective To express TmpA recombinant antigen of Treponema pallidum in E.coli and to develop an Enzyme linked Immunoassay (EIA) based on the recombinant antigen for diagnosing syphilis. Methods The target TmpA gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR products of the gene were inserted into pBluescript T vector, and then expressed in E.coli, using pQE 30 system. Then the recombinant antigen was purified by an affinity chromatography and used for the development of EIA. Results The antigenicity of the recombinant antigen was identified by western blotting (WB) and EIA. The sensitivity and specificity of EIA were 100%(10/10) and 100% (20/20), respectively. The positive rates of anti TmpA antibodies were 91.67% (11/12) for the patients with Ⅰ phase of syphilis and 100% for the patients of Ⅱ and late stage of the disease. Conclusions The TmpA recombinant protein can be used to diagnose syphilis since 97.2% (35/36) of patients with syphilis were positive for the anti TmpA antibody by EIA.

Objective To explore the neural mechanism underlying the craving of heroin addicts induced by picture-cue and the correlation between the brain activation degree in nucleus accumbens (NAc)/the ventral striatum and the scores of patients' self-report craving. Methods Twelve active heroin addicts and 12 matched healthy controls underwent fMRI scan while viewing drug-related pictures and neutral pictures presented in a block design paradigm after anatomical scanning in GE 3.0 T scanner. The fMRI data were analyzed with SPM 5. The change of craving scores was tested by Wilcoxon signed rank test. The Pearson correlation between the activation of NAc/the ventral striatum and the heroin craving score was tested by SPSS 13.0. Results The craving scores of heroin addicts ranged from 0 to 3.70(median 0.15) before exposed to drug cue and 0 to 5.10(median 3.25) after viewing drug-related pictures and showed statistical significance(Z = -2.666, P < 0.05). There were 16 activated brain areas when heroin dependent patients exposed to visual drug-related cue vs. neutral visual stimuli. The activation brain regions belonged to two parts, one was limbic system (amygdale, hippocampus, putamen, anterior cingulate cortex and caudate), another was brain cortex (middle frontal cortex, inferior frontal cortex, precentral gyrus, middle temporal cortex, inferior temporal cortex, fusiform gyrus, precuneus and middle occipital gyrus). The MR signal activation magnitude of heroin addicts ranged from 0.19 to 3.50. The result displayed a significant positive correlation between the cue-induced fMRI activation in NAc/the ventral striatum and heroin craving severity (r=0.829, P < 0.05). Conclusion Heroin shared the same neural circuitry in part with other drugs of abuse for cue-induced craving, including brain reward circuitry, visualspatial attention circuit and working memory region. In addition, the dysfunction of NAc/the ventral striatum may attribute to heroin-related cue induced craving.

Objective:To observe the curative effect and temperature safety management of ginger mud moxibustion of different thickness on ankylosing spondylitis patients with kidney yang deficiency type, and to explore the best curative effect combination and safety combination of ginger mud thickness in Du Meridian moxibustion.Methods:From March 2020 to March 2021, 90 patients with ankylosing spondylitis of kidney yang deficiency type who were treated with Du moxibustion in the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine were selected. According to the thickness of ginger paste, they were randomly divided into 2 cm-thick ginger mud thickness group, 3 cm-thick ginger mud thickness group and 4 cm-thick ginger mud thickness group when the diameter and height of moxa wool were the same as 2 cm, 30 cases in each group. They were treated with Fu Yang Du moxibustion once a week for 60 minutes each time. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), traditional Chinese medicine syndrome score were used to evaluate the curative effect of spinal function before and after the intervention for 6 weeks. The time when moxibustion temperature reached 43 ℃ and moxibustion temperature maintained at 43-45 ℃ were analyzed for safety evaluation.Results:After moxibustion, VAS scores of 2 cm-thick ginger mud thickness group, 3 cm-thick ginger mud thickness group and 4 cm-thick ginger mud thickness group were 2.89 ± 0.96, 2.01 ± 0.69, 2.93 ± 1.23, BASDAI scores were 3.51 ± 0.94, 2.69 ± 0.68, 3.13 ± 0.96 and BASFI scores were 1.71 ± 0.99, 0.99 ± 0.36, 1.61 ± 0.50, the traditional Chinese medicine syndrome scores were 15.97 ± 4.61, 12.08 ± 3.21, 13.79 ± 3.58. The scores of the three groups were statistically significant ( F values were 6.51-19.22, all P<0.05) . After the intervention, there were significant differences in the scores between 2 cm-thick ginger mud thickness group and 3 cm-thick ginger mud thickness group, 2 cm-thick ginger mud thickness group and 4 cm-thick ginger mud thickness group, 3 cm-thick ginger mud thickness group and 4 cm-thick ginger mud thickness group ( t values were -6.61-4.56, all P<0.05). Conclusions:Du moxibustion is an effective method to treat ankylosing spondylitis of kidney yang deficiency type. The best curative effect and safety combination is moxa velvet diameter height 2 cm, ginger mud thickness 3 cm.

Seasonal influenza epidemics and influenza pandemics caused by influenza A virus (IAV) has resulted in millions of deaths in the world. The development of anti-IAV vaccines and therapeutics is urgently needed for prevention and treatment of IAV infection and for controlling future influenza pandemics. Hemagglutinin (HA) of IAV plays a critical role in viral binding, fusion and entry, and contains the major neutralizing epitopes. Therefore, HA is an attractive target for developing anti-IAV drugs and vaccines. Here we have reviewed the recent progress in study of conformational changes of HA during viral fusion process and development of HA-based antiviral therapeutics and vaccines.
Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Epidemics ; Hemagglutinins ; physiology ; Humans ; Influenza A virus ; immunology ; Influenza Vaccines ; immunology ; Influenza, Human ; immunology ; therapy ; Pandemics

BACKGROUNDBased on the excellent medical care and management system for Chinese veterans, as well as the detailed medical documentation available, we aim to construct a Chinese Veteran Clinical Research (CVCR) platform on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and carry out studies of the primary disabling NCDs.

METHODSThe Geriatric Neurology Department of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital and veterans' hospitals serve as the leading and participating units in the platform construction. The fundamental constituents of the platform are veteran communities. Stratified typical cluster sampling is adopted to recruit veteran communities. A cross-sectional study of mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) disorders are performed in two stages using screening scale such as the Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal cognitive assessment, followed by systematic neuropsychological assessments to make clinical diagnoses, evaluated disease awareness and care situation.

RESULTSA total of 9 676 among 277 veteran communities from 18 cities are recruited into this platform, yielding a response rate of 83.86%. 8 812 subjects complete the MNS subproject screening and total response rate is 91.70%. The average participant age is (82.01±4.61) years, 69.47% of veterans are 80 years or older. Most participants are male (94.01%), 83.36% of subjects have at least a junior high school degree. The overall health status of veterans is good and stable. The most common NCD are cardiovascular disorders (86.44%), urinary and genital diseases (73.14%), eye and ear problems (66.25%), endocrine (56.56%) and neuro-psychiatric disturbances (50.78%).

CONCLUSIONWe first construct a veterans' comprehensive clinical research platform for the study of NCDs that is primarily composed of highly educated Chinese males of advanced age and utilize this platform to complete a cross-sectional national investigation of MNS disorders among veterans. The good and stable health condition of the veterans could facilitate the long-term follow-up studies of NCDs and provide prospective data to the prevention and management of NCDs.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Disease ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Male ; Veterans ; statistics & numerical data