Objective To study the killing effects of fractional proteins from Microtus fortis (Mf) serum on schistosomula of Schistosoma japonicum. Methods Mf serum proteins were separated into albumin and globulin by means of salt out of ammonium sulfamate. The globulin was then separated into 4 big and 12 small fractional proteins through Sephacryl S-300 column chromatography and electrophoresis elution. The killing effects were observed in vitro in cultivation in which the purified fractional proteins and schistosomula of S. japonicum were incubated together for 48 h. Results The mortality rate of schistosomula acted by Mf globulin was 59.2% and when added with complements was 68.4%. The killing effects of the 2nd and 3rd big fractional proteins were the same as that of Mf globulin. Three small fractional proteins (3.2, 3.3, 3.4) showed the higher killing effects which made the mortality rate of schistosomula 45.1%, 57.6% and 67.2%, respectively. The fractional protein of 100-135 kDa also showed the same killing effect as that of Mf globulin. Globulin from BALB/c mice sera had no significant effect on schistosomula. There was no significant difference in the mortality rate of schistosomula acted by both albumins. Conclusions Mf globulin has significant killing effects on schistosomula of S.japonicum in vitro and 100-135 kDa fractional protein may be an important effective molecule.

Objective To develop a rapid kit applied to the field for detection of antibody to schistosome in human sera. Methods A new kit for rapid detection of antibody to schistosome was developed through improving the dot immunogold filtration assay (DIGFA). A total of 100 cases of sera from chronic schistosomiasis patients and 140 from healthy people, HBV patients and the people infected with other parasites were detected by the kit. The sensitivity, specificity, Youden's index and Kappa value were utilized as the evaluation standard. Results The sensitivity of detecting antibody to schistosome, specificity, Youden's index and Kappa value were 92% , 95.08% , 0.87 and 0.87, respectively. The cross reaction to patients with clonorchiasis was 5%. Conclusion DICFA kit is practical for antibody to schistosome detection in the field because of its advantages such as smaller serum needed and faster in reaction.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the agreement and correlation between hepatic vein pressure gradient (HVPG) and portal vein pressure (PVP) in patients with portal hypertension,and explore their clinical value.

METHODSA total of 46 patients with portal hypertension were directly measured the free hepatic pressure, wedged hepatic pressure, portal vein pressure before and after TIPS therapy. The agreement and correlation of HVPG and PVP were analyzed, and explore their clinical value.

RESULTSThere is no significant agreement or correlation between HVPG and PVP in 5 patients, whose third hilar have large communicating branches between portal vein and Inferior vena cava, or with obvious umbilical vein opened. The HVPGs were significantly agreed with portal vein pressure in other 41 patients. There is no significant difference of HVPG or PVP between earlyTIPS and not early-TIPS groups. In addition, the portal vein pressures after TIPS were significantly decreased compared with that before TIPS.

CONCLUSIONThe HVPG can well show the PVP except these with obvious communicating branches between portal vein and Inferior vena cava in third hilar, and TIPS can effectively decrease the portal vein pressure in patients with portal hypertension.

Objective Toexplorethevalueofmulti-parameterquantitativeanalysisofspectralCTimaging (GSI)indifferentiatingrenal fat-poorangiomyolipoma(fpAML)andchromophobecellrenalcarcinoma(CCRC).Methods 42patientswithrenaltumor,including 25caseswithfpAMLand17caseswithCCRC,wereretrospectivelyanalyzed.Allofthem werescannedinGSImode.Themorphology differencesbetweenthefpAMLgroupandtheCCRCgroupwereanalyzed.GSIViewersoftwarewasusedtocalculatetheiodineconcentration (IC),thenormalizediodineconcentration(NIC),thesloperateofthespectrumenergycurveinthecorticalphase(CP)andmedullaryphase (MP),respectively.Thedifferencesofthoseparameterswerecomparedbetweenthetwogroupsusingthetwo-simplettest.Results Somecharacteristicsigns,suchas"blackspots"sign,cracksignandnecrosishadthevaluefordifferentialdiagnosis.IntheCP,theIC ofthefpAMLandCCRCgroupwere30.20±5.25vs19.97±4.01,theNICswere0.45±0.10vs0.32±0.06,andthesloperatesof spectrumenergycurveswere3.45±1.23vs2.42±0.48,respectively.IntheNP,theICofthefpAMLandCCRCgroupwere27.84± 8.07vs22.94±4.46,theNICswere0.58±0.17vs0.46±0.11,andthesloperatesofthespectrumenergycurveswere3.24±1.25vs 2.69±0.47,respectively.Thereweresignificantdifferencesbetween2groups(P<0.05).TheNICintheCPprovidedhighsensitivity (75%)andspecificity(86%)indifferentiatingfpAMLfrom CCRC,andtheareaundertheROCcurvewas0.886.Conclusion The focalcysticandnecrotic,enhanceduniformityanddegree,"blackspots"sign,cracksignand multi-parametersofGSI,includingIC, NIC,andthesloperateofthespectrumenergycurvecouldplayimportantroleindifferentialdiagnosisbetweenfpAMLandCCRC.

Objective ToexploretheMRIfeaturesanddifferentialdiagnosisofgemistocyticastrocytoma(GemA).Methods The MRIfeaturesof10casesofGemAprovedbysurgeryandpathologywereinvestigatedretrospectively(thelocationoftumor,tumor shape,boundary,signalandenhancement)andtheliteraturewasreviewed.Results All10casesofGemA weresupratentorialand solitary.Ofthese10cases,7caseswerelocatedinthefrontallobe,5casesinthetemporallobe,6casesinmultiplelobesandinvaded theoppositebraintissuesthroughcorpuscallosum.8casesweresolidGcystic,8casespresentedwithunclearboundary,only2cases hadclearboundary.Therewasnoedemaormildedemain7casesandobviousedemain3cases.Thesolidpartoftumorswereisointense orslighthypointenseonT1WI,only1caseshowedhighintensityonT1WI,isointenseorslighthyperintenseonT2WI.CTsuggested calcificationin2cases.6casesweremildlyenhanced,4casesweremarkedlyenhanced.MRSshowed(n＝4)thatCHopeakwasmildly ormoderatelyincreased,NAApeakwassignificantlyreduced,theaverageratioofCho/NAA was2.91.DWIshowedhyperintenseor slighthyperintense(n＝3),theADCaveragevalueoftumorROIwasabout(1.150±0.081)×10－3 mm2/s.1caseofSWIsequence showedthickeningandcircuitousvascularshadow.Conclusion AsMRIofGemAischaracterizedbyhighandlowgradegliomas,the preoperativediagnosisisdifficult.Combiningenhancementwithfunctionalexamination,itisexpectedtoimprovetheaccuracyofpreoperative diagnosisofGemA.

Objective To explore the MRI findings of diffuse midline gliomas with H3K27M mutation, and help us understand this new entity and improve the accuracy of diagnosis. Methods The clinical and imaging data of 17 diffuse midline gliomas with H3K27M mutation confirmed by pathology were retrospectively collected from July 2016 to April 2018 in Guangdong Sanjiu Brain Hospital. All patients were performed with pre?contrast and post?contrast MRI examination. All images were analyzed according to the location, shape, boundary, solid or cystic, signal feature, enhancement feature, and degree of edema. Results (1) Location:Six cases located in thalamus,4 cases located in brainstem,1 located in hypothalamus, 6 cases had multiple lesions in the midline and/or involving one or more brain. (2) Morphology and boundary:Seven cases had regular shape and clear boundary, 10 cases had irregular shapes and unclear boundaries. (3) Necrosis, cystic degeneration, hemorrhage: Twelve cases had necrosis or cystic degeneration in varying degree, 4 cases had hemorrhage. (4) Signal and enhancement features: The solid component showed slightly?low or low signal on T1WI, and slightly?high or high signal on T2WI; the cystic component showed obvious low signal on T1WI and obvious high signal on T2WI. T1WI enhancement:Eight cases showed uneven light?moderate enhancements, and all cases were adults; Six cases showed significant enhancements with large or small rings; Three cases showed uneven obvious enhancement. (5) Peritumoral edema: Fourteen cases had mild peritumoral edema,1 case had moderate peritumoral edema,2 cases had obvious peritumoral edema. Conclusion The MRI findings of diffuse midline gliomas with H3K27M mutation had certain characteristics,which can help to improve the level of diagnosis and differential diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic basis for 7 patients with Alström syndrome. METHODS: DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples of the patients and their parents. Whole exome sequencing was carried out for the patients. Suspected variant was verified by Sanger sequencing and bioinformatic analysis. RESULTS: Genetic testing revealed 12 variants of the ALMS1 gene among the 7 patients, including 7 nonsense and 5 frameshift variants, which included c.5418delC (p.Tyr1807Thrfs*23), c.10549C>T (p.Gln3517*), c.9145dupC (p.Thr3049Asnfs*12), c.10819C>T (p.Arg3607*), c.5701_5704delGAGA (p.Glu1901Argfs*18), c.9154_9155delCT (p.Cys3053Serfs*9), c.9460delG (p.Val3154*), c.9379C>T (p.Gln3127*), c.12115C>T (p.Gln4039*), c.1468dupA (p.Thr490Asnfs*15), c.10825C>T (p.Arg3609*) and c.3902C>A (p.Ser1301*). Among these, c.9154_ 9155delCT, c.9460delG, c.9379C>T, and c.1468dupA were unreported previously. Based on the standards and guidelines of American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, the c.9379C>T and c.12115C>T variants of the ALMS1 gene were predicted to be likely pathogenic (PVS1+PM2), whilst the other 10 variants were predicted to be pathogenic (PVS1+ PM2+ PP3+PP4). CONCLUSION ALMS1 variants probably underlay the Alström syndrome in the 7 patients, and genetic testing can provide a basis for the clinical diagnosis of this syndrome. The discovery of four novel variants has expanded the mutational spectrum of Alström syndrome.
Alstrom Syndrome/genetics* ; Cell Cycle Proteins/genetics* ; Humans ; Mutation ; Pedigree ; Whole Exome Sequencing

High cholesterol is one of the important factors inducing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Drug therapy is the main method for reducing cholesterol, but has the disadvantages such as high cost and side effects. Studies have shown that intestinal bacteria play important roles in cholesterol metabolism. However, there are few reports on the screening and functional evaluation of cholesterol-lowering intestinal bacteria. In this study, 36 bile-tolerant bacteria were screened from healthy people stool through culturomics using bovine bile acid or artificial mixed bile acids as substrates. Taking Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) as a positive control, three bile acid concentration groups (0 g/L, 0.3 g/L, 3 g/L) were set up to evaluate the cholesterol-lowering ability of bile-tolerant bacteria in vitro. Ten bacteria (including Proteus mirabilis, Providencia stuartii, Proteus vulgaris et al) were identified as the dominant cholesterol-lowering bacteria. Six of the above bacteria, Proteus mirabilis, Providencia stuartii, Proteus vulgaris, Proteus penneri, Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica, Providencia rettger, were evaluated for their ability to reduce triglycerides in vitro and tolerance to artificial gastric juice. Comparing with strain LGG, the six bacteria showed better triglyceride-lowering ability in vitro. With the decrease of pH value of artificial gastric juice and the increase of treatment time, the survival rate of six bacteria decreased. The above screening experiments and functional evaluation provide a basis for further development of potential cholesterol-lowering bacterial products.
Animals ; Cattle ; Cholesterol ; Gammaproteobacteria ; Humans ; Proteus mirabilis ; Providencia