Objective To investigate the clinical characters of death in AIDS patients with Penicilliosis marneffei (PSM), improving the diagnosis and treatment of PSM. Methods Retrospectively analyze the data of 27 AIDS patients died of PSM from January 2009 to December 2011 and review the relevant literatures in the past several years. Results The etiology diagnosis time ranged from 4 to 7 (4.9 ± 1.4) days from admission. There were 22 (81.5%) cases complicated with septic shock and 25 (92.6%) cases complicated with metabolic acidosis. There were 12 (44.4%) cases co-infected with pneumocyst pneumonia , 7 (25.9%) cases with TB. The main reasons accounting for the death were as follow:15(55.6%) cases died of septic shock, 5(18.5%) cases died of respiratory failure. Conclusion The death cases of AIDS patients with PSM showed the characters of relatively late etiology diagnosis and pathogenic therapy , mostly complicated with other opportunistic infections and often died of septic shock. Therefore, timely etiology diagnosis and earlier pathogenic therapy are the keys to treat the disease. Effectively controlling of the complications and co-infections may decrease the mortality.

Objective To observe the effects of exogenous sodium phosphocreatine (PCr) on cerebral repeffusion injury of rats after ischemia in order to explore the potential mechanism. Method Thirty-six healthy adult male Wistar rats with body weight 200- 220 g were randomly (random number) divided into sham operation group, ischemic reperfusion (I/R) group and PCr treatment group. The I/R model was established by using electro-cauterizing bilateral vertebral arteries and occluding bilateral common carotid arteries with atraumatic carotid clasps for 10 min, and then the clasps were released for 48 hours reperfusion. In sham operation group, bilateral common carotid arteries were exposed without occlusion. In PCr treatnent group, PCr in dose of 150 mg/kg was administered intravenously 60 min before the occlusion of bilateral common carotid arteries. Normal saline was administered intravenously instead of PCr into rats of I/R group. After reporfusion for 48 hours, the rats were sacrificed and brains removed for detections of neuron apoptosis by using TUNEL, malondialdebyde (MDA) level by using chromtometry and calmodulin (CaM) activity by using ELISA. Results Compared with sham operation group, TUNEL-positive cells, MDA level and CaM activity increased in I/R group and PGr treatment group ( P ＜0.01). Compared with I/R group, TUNEL-positive cells, MDA level and CaM activity were lower significantly in PCr treatment group ( P ＜ 0.01). Conclusions PCr can lessen cerebral ischemic reperfusion injury and neuron apoptosis, the mechanism maybe relates to the attenuation of abnormalities in calcium balance and reduction of oxygen free radicals by PCr.

AIM To explore the reversal effect of multidrug resistance (MDR) and the influence on topoisomerase (TOPO) activity by emulsion of seed oil of Bbrucea Javanica (ESOBJ) in vitro . METHODS Cytotoxic effects of ESOBJ against sensitive and resistance tumor cells were deter mined by MTT assay. Influences of ESOBJ on the catalytic activities of TOPO Ⅰ and TOPO Ⅱ were measured by TOPO Ⅰ mediated negatively super coiled pBR322 relaxation and TOPOⅡ mediated kDNA decatenation. RESULTS 0 025 g?L -1 of ESOBJ could reverse MDR in various MDR cell lines such as K562/A02?MCF 7/ADM and KB/VCR. DNA TOPO Ⅱ mediated kDNA decatenation experiment showed marked inhibitory action of ESOBJ on TOPO Ⅱ activity at the concentration of 0 31 g?L -1 and TOPO Ⅱ activity was totally inhibited by ESOBJ at the concentration of 2 5 g?L -1 . On the other hand, ESOBJ exhibited no influence on DNA TOPO I mediated pBR322 relaxation and on DNA directly. CONCLUSION ESOBJ could reverse MDR to a certain extent in vitro , and inhibit the activity of TOPO Ⅱ significantly.

Objective To detect the change of hepatitis C virus (HCV)RNA in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)and serum of patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC)during treatment with peg-interferon α-2a (Peg IFNα-2a)plus ribavirin (RBV),and to analyze the clinical significance of HCV RNA detection in PBMC.Methods The peripheral blood samples of 20 CHC patients who visited Department of Infectious Diseases in Guangzhou No.8 People′s Hospital from June 2013 to December 2014,were collected during treatment with Peg IFNα-2a+RBV at different time points (week 0,2,4, 12,24,36 and 48).Serum and PBMC were separated.Accurate fluorescence quantification assay (Cobas TaqMan real time polymerase chain reaction[PCR])was used to detect HCV RNA level in serum,while real-time PCR and nest-PCR were applied to detect HCV RNA in PBMC.Categorical data were analyzed byχ2 test.Results Accurate fluorescence quantification of serum HCV RNA showed that HCV RNA level decline rapidly after treatment (F = 148.06,P < 0.01 ),and 18 patients achieved HCV RNA undetectable at week 12 of treatment.The positive rate of nest-PCR was higher than real-time PCR (all P <0.01).Comparison of HCV RNA levels in serum and PBMC from 20 cases found that,the clearance rate of HCV RNA in PBMC was postponed.Two patients whose HCV RNA in PBMC kept detectable relapsed at week 24 after end of treatment.Conclusions HCV RNA can be detected in PBMC of CHC patients and the positive rate of nest-PCR is higher than real-time PCR.Antiviral therapy is effective on HCV both inside and outside PBMC,but the clearance rate of HCV RNA in PBMC is postponed compared with that in serum.Slow clearance of HCV in PBMC may be a risk factor for relapse after end of treatment.

Objective To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)-associated lipodystrophy syndrome (LD) in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) treated with HAART in China.Methods A total of 137 AIDS patients treated with HAART for more than 2 years were analyzed.Sixteen clinical parameters (including gender,age,baseline body mass index,baseline human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] viral load,stage of disease,routes of HIV transmission,baseline CD4+ T lymphocyte count,white blood cell count,fasting plasma glucose level,serum triglycerides level,serum cholesterol level and other laboratory results,and HAART regimens) that might be associated with HAART-LD occurrence were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards models.Results HAART regimens were significantly correlated with HAART-LD (P=0.031),while the remaining 15 factors were not associated with the risk of HAART-LD (all P＞0.05).Patients who received stavudine d4T)-containing regimen was 2.684 times more likely to develop HAART-LD than patients who received zidovudine (AZT)-containing regimen (95 ％ CI:1.302-5.531,P=0.007) ; HAART-LD prevalence rates were gradually increased with treatment duration in both groups.First HAART-LD was seen at 24 weeks in both d4T group and AZT group,and the prevalence rates were 2.7％,1.6％ at 24 weeks,27.0％,7.9％ at 48 weeks and 37.8％,15.9％ at 96 weeks respectively.The prevalence of HAART-LD in d4T group was much higher than that in AZT group and the difference was statistically significant (x2 =8.285,P=0.004).Conclusions HAART regimen is an independent predictor of HAART-LD.HAART-LD tend to occur more frequently in patients treated with d4T or AZT,especially d4T.Our study recommends to avoid the use of d4T-contained HAART regimen.

Objective To explore the risk factors for the prognosis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related lymphoma (ARL).Methods A total of 32 patients with ARL were enrolled in this study from Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital during August 2011 and July 2014,who were followed up for 2 to 48 months (median 9 months).The risk factors for the prognosis of ARL were analyzed by Logistic regression analysis.Results A total of 32 patients were included,among whom 27 were males and the rest were females,with a mean age of (42.8± 13.5) years (ranging from 4 to 70 years).Regarding the clinical staging at the initial diagnosis,6 cases (18.8 ％) were classified as stage Ⅰ,4 cases (12.5％) stage Ⅱ,5 cases (15.6％) stage Ⅲ,and 17 cases (53.1％) stage Ⅳ.As for international prognostic index (IPI) score,4 cases (12.5％) were in the low risk group (IPI 0-1),5 cases (15.6％) in the low-middle group (IPI 2),8 cases (25.0％) in the middle-high risk group (IPI 3),and 15 cases (46.9 ％) in the high risk group (IPI 4-5).According to the pathological diagnosis,26 cases (81.2％) were B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL),4 cases (12.5％) were T cell NHL,and 2 cases (6.2％) were Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) nodular sclerosis.In total,23 cases (71.9％) had received highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) before the first hospital visit or within one month after the diagnosis of lymphoma.Sixteen (50.0％) cases received standard chemotherapy regimen formulated by the oncology specialists.A total of 17 patients died,with the mortality rate of 53.1％.By univariate analysis,the prognostic factors included age (OR=0.915,P=0.012),high lactate dehydrogenase (OR=1.006,P=0.021) value at baseline,receiving HAART (OR =12.444,P=0.011),and standard chemotherapy regimen (OR=13.000,P=0.001).By multivariate Logistic regression,receiving standard chemotherapy regimen (OR=0.035,P=0.022) was the only prognostic factor of ARL.Conclusions The mortality of ARL is high and the most common pathological type was NHL.The prognosis could be improved by standard chemotherapy regimen on the basis of HAART.

Objective To explore the diagnostic value of Talaromyces marneffei (T.marneffei)-specific mannose glycoprotein Mp1p antigen for T.marneffei infection in acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients.Methods All cases were recruited in this study from January 2012 to June 2015 in Guangzhou No.8 People′s Hospital, including 184 AIDS patients with T.marneffei infection confirmatively diagnosed by culture, and 205 controls including 176 AIDS patients without T.marneffei infection and 29 health controls.Double antibody sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and fluoroimmunoassay combined with double-antibody sandwich were both utilized to detect serum Mp1p antigen levels, and their sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing T.marneffei infection in patients with AIDS were analyzed.x2 test and t test were used for statistical analysis.Results The ratio of males to females and age of the study group were both comparable to those of the control group (x2=0.019, P=0.889;t=1.810,P=0.07, respecitvley).The sensitivities of double antibody sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and fluoroimmunoassay combined with double-antibody sandwich were 82.07%(151/184) and 83.15%(153/184), respectively (x2=0.076, P=0.783).The specificities were 93.17%(191/205) and 92.68%(190/205), respectively (x2=0.037, P=0.847).The accuracy values were 87.92%(342/389) and 88.17%(343/389), respectively (x2=0.012, P=0.912).The false positive rates were 6.83%(14/205) and 7.32%(15/205), respectively.The false negative rates were 17.93%(33/184) and 16.85%(31/184), respectively (x2=0.049, P=0.829).The positive predictive values were 91.52%(151/165) and 91.07%(153/168), respectively (x2=0.021, P=0.886).The negative predictive values were 85.27%(191/224) and 85.97%(190/221), respectively (x2=0.045, P=0.832).The Kappa values were 0.83 and 0.80, respectively.Conclusion Detection of serum Mp1p antigen of T.marneffei possesses high specificity and sensitivity, which may be utilized for rapid and early diagnosis of T.marneffei infection in patients with AIDS.

Objective To study the mRNA expression of apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme-catalytic polypeptide-like 3G (APOBEC3G) in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and its regulation by exogenous interferon-α (IFN-α).Methods Twenty-eight CHC patients were recruited as case group and 14 healthy subjects were recruited as control group.APOBEC3G mRNA level (the ratio of APOBEC3G mRNA to housekeep geue 18s rRNA) in PBMC was determined by TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR).APOBEC3G mRNA levels were also dynamically measured in CHC patients treated with pegylated interferon (IFN)-α 2a at week 0,2,4,12,24,36 and 48 of treatment,and the plasma levels of IFN-α were simultaneously detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).The data were analyzed by t test and analysis of variance using SPSS 11.0 software.Results The level of APOBEC3G mRNA in PBMC of CHC patients before treatment was 1.60× 10-4 ± 1.35 × 10-4,which was significantly lower than healthy controls 6.20 × 10-4 ±1.30 × 10-4 (t=3.147,P=0.003).The expressions of APOBEC3G mRNA were upregulated at week 12,24,36 and 48 of IFN treatment,which were 5.69×10-3±1.61×10-2,1.01×10-2±2.15×10-2,2.01×10-2±3.75×10-2 and 2.45× 10-2 ±4.08× 10-2,respectively,and all higher than that of pretreatment (F=3.46,5.67,10.27 and 25.65,respectively; P=0.042,0.030,0.010 and 0,respectively).IFN-α level in plasma were increased with treatment and reached the plateau at week 2 of the treatment until the end of observation.Conclusion Hepatitis C virus infection may be one of the reasons of APOBEC3G downregulation.

Objective To investigate the effect of ischemic postconditioning (IPO) on renal injury induced by intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) and the expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) in mice.Methods Thirty-six healthy male C57BL/6J mice,aged 9-12 weeks,were randomly divided into 3 groups ( n =12 each):sham operation group ( S group),I/R group,and IPO + I/R group ( group IPO).Intestinal I/R was produced by occlusion of superior mesenteric artery for 45 min followed by 2 h reperfusion.The mice underwent 3 cycles of 30 s reperfusion and 30 s ischemia at the end of 45 min ischemia before 2 h reperfusion.Blood samples were collected from carotid artery at 2 h of reperfusion and then the mice were sacrificed.The kidney was removed for microscopic examination.The pathological changes of the kidney were scored.The concentrations of serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN),creatinine (Cr) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL)were detected.The expression of Nrf2 and heme oxygenase- 1 ( HO- 1 ),superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity,and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA),TNF-α,IL-6 and IL-10 were determined in renal tissues.Results The concentrations of serum BUN,Cr and NGAL,MDA content and the expression of Nrf2 and HO- 1 were significantly higher,SOD activity was significantly lower,and the pathological score was significantly higher in group I/R that in group S ( P ＜ 0.05).The concentrations of serum BUN,Cr and NGAL and MDA content were significantly lower,the expression of Nrf2 and HO-1 and SOD activity were significantly higher,and the pathological score was significantly lower in group IPO that in group I/R ( P ＜0.05).There was no significant difference in the content of TNF-αα,IL-6 and IL-10 among all groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion IPO can alleviate the renal injury induced by intestinal I/R through promoting the expression of Nrf2 and up-regulating the expression of HO-1 in mice.

ObjectiveTo investigate the pathogens and prognostic factors of AIDS-associated severe pneumonia. MethodsClinical data were collected from 95 patients with AIDS-associated severe pneumonia admitted to Guangzhou No. 8 People' s Hospital from January 2005 to December 2008. The pathogens of pulmonary infections were investigated. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to study the relationships between the outcome and influencing factors. Results The most prevalent pathogen was Pneumocystis jirovecii (64/95, 67.4％ ), followed by bacteria (61/95, 64.2％ ),fungi ( 50/95, 52. 6％ ), mycobacterium tuberculosis ( 27/95, 28. 4％ ) and cytomegalovirus ( CMV ) (25/95, 26.3％ ). Among 95 cases, monocontamination was detected in 15 cases ( 15.8％ ), while mixed infection in 80 cases (84. 2％ ). Logistic regression analysis showed that mechanical ventilation, higher serum lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) level and severe underlying diseases were risk factors for the death of AIDS-associated severe pneumonia, and higher serum albumin level was the protective factor. Conclusion Pneumocystis jirovecii, bacteria and fungi are the main pathogens for AIDS-associated severe pneumonia, and mixed infection is popular.