This study aimed to establish human IFN-gamma (hIFN-gamma) in vitro release assay and to apply it in diagnosis of human tuberculosis. Human IFN-gamma gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant hIFN-gamma was purified and used as immunogen to immunize mice and rabbits respectively. Monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies were respectively developed and a sandwich ELISA was established. The heparized whole blood from 111 active tuberculosis patients and 292 clinical healthy controls were collected. The blood was stimulated with tuberculosis specific fused antigen ESAT-6/CFP-10 and the plasma was collected for IFN-gamma detection. The sensitivity for tuberculosis diagnosis was 95.5%, whereas the positive detection rate for the healthy controls was 16.7%. There was a significant difference between the patients and healthy controls (P<0.01) indicating that this assay had a high sensitivity and specificity, and thus could be promising in tuberculosis diagnosis.
Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Humans ; Interferon-gamma ; immunology ; secretion ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; immunology ; Rabbits ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; Tuberculosis ; diagnosis ; immunology

Epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis shows a high degree of consistency with the law of transmission among wei （卫）-qi-ying （营）-blood， in terms of the onset of the season， contagiousness， symptoms， pathogenesis， as well as characteristics of the transmission. It is proposed to use epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis as an example to explore the underlying disease of wei-qi-ying-blood syndrome differentiation system. Epidemic meningitis invades the brain from the upper respiratory tract along the nervous system， and its overall pathogenesis follows from entering the lung system （prodromal period） to entering the blood （bacteremia period， sepsis period） and then entering the brain （shock period）. According to the four-dimensional qualitative principle of epidemic pathogen tropism， it corresponds to disease of both wei and qi syndrome， then blazing of both qi and ying syndrome， and then heat blocking pericardium， exuberant heat stirring wind， and internal block and external collapse syndrome. This article explored the laws of transmission among wei-qi-ying-blood and its underlying diseases described in On Warm Heat （《温热论》）， and revealed the original appearance of the disease model under the laws of transmission among wei-qi-ying-blood to guide the clinical practice.

Objective To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety between neoadjuvant therapy followed by radical surgery and definite chemoradiotherapy in the treatment of Ⅰ B2-Ⅱ B cervical cancer.Methods A computerized search was performed in PubMed,Embase,Cochrane Library,Web of Science,CBM,Wanfang Data,CNKI and VIP to collect controlled clinical trials related to neoadjuvant therapy followed by radical surgery versus definite chemoradiotherapy in the treatment of ⅠB2-ⅡB cervical cancer.The meta-analysis of survival data and adverse events was performed by Review Manager 5.3 software.Results Nine controlled clinical trials involving 3 914 patients were included in this meta-analysis.There were no significant differences in overall survival (HR =0.83,P =0.31) and progression-free survival (HR=O.85,P=0.57) between two groups.Compared with patients receiving definite chemoradiotherapy,those in the neoadjuvant therapy group had a significantly lower risk of irradiation enteritis (RR=0.27,P=0.03),whereas no significant difference was observed in the risk of irradiation cystitis (RR=0.30,P=0.34) and grade ≥ 3 neutropenia (RR=0.77,P=0.46) between two groups.Conclusion In the treatment of locally advanced ⅠB2-Ⅱ B cervical cancer,two modalities show similar survival benefits.Although the neoadjuvant therapy group yields a lower incidence of irradiation enteritis,the incidence rates of irradiation cystitis and grade ≥3 neutropenia do not significantly differ between two groups.Neoadjuvant therapy followed by radical surgery is not superior to the standard therapeutic regime.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has played an important role in the prevention and treatment of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in China. The integration of Chinese and Western medicine is an important feature of Chinese COVID-19 prevention and treatment. According to a series of evidence-based studies, TCM can reduce the infection rate of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in high-risk groups. For patients with mild and moderate forms of COVID-19, TCM can relieve the related signs and symptoms, shorten the period of nucleic-acid negative conversion, and reduce conversion rate to the severe form of the disease. For COVID-19 patients with severe and critical illnesses, TCM can improve inflammatory indicators and blood oxygen saturation, shorten the hospital stay, and reduce the mortality rate. During recovery, TCM can improve patients' symptoms, promote organ function recovery, boost the quality of patients' life, and reduce the nucleic-acid repositive conversion rate. A series of mechanism research studies revealed that capability of TCM to treat COVID-19 through antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects, immune regulation, and protection of organ function via a multicomponent, multitarget, and multipathway approach.
Humans ; COVID-19 ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Epidemics