OBJECTIVETo study the in vitro antibacterial activity of meropenem combined with doxycycline, ciprofloxacin, sulbactam or cefoperazone/sulbactam against clinically isolated extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (XDRAB).

METHODSUsing a checker board synergy design, the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of antibiotics against 50 isolates of XDRAB was determined by broth microdilution antifungal susceptibility test. The fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) index was calculated to determine the combined effect of the antibiotics.

RESULTSMeropenem showed significantly reduced MIC50 and enhanced antimicrobial activities when combined with doxycycline, sulbactam or cefoperazone/sulbactam. The FIC results suggested that the main actions of doxycycline, sulbactam, and cefoperazone/sulbactam were synergistic (38%, 26%, and 10%, respectively) and addictive (62%, 74%, and 90%, respectively) without indifferent or antagonistic effects. The main actions of meropenem combined with ciprofloxacin were additive (56%) and indifference (44%) with synergistic and antagonistic effects.

CONCLUSIONMeropenem combined with doxycycline, sulbactam or cefoperazone/sulbactam shows excellent activity against clinical isolates of XDRAB.

Acinetobacter baumannii ; drug effects ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; Drug Combinations ; Drug Synergism ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Thienamycins ; pharmacology

Objective: To investigate the antimicrobial resistance status and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns of Salmonella enteritidis (S.enteritidis) in Shanxi Province in order to provide references for the treatment of Salmonella infection and for tracing the source of outbreaks of foodborne diseases. Methods: Sixty-four S. enteritidis strains were collected by monitoring sites for foodborne diseases from April 2015 to March 2018. Biochemical identification system and serotyping analysis were used for bacterial identification. Drug susceptibility patterns were analyzed with micro-broth dilution method. PFGE was used for molecular typing. Results: The antimicrobial resistance rate of 64 S. enteritidis strains to nalidixic acid (95.31%) was the highest, followed by that to ampicillin (90.63%) and to ampicillin/sulbactam (81.25%). They had lower resistance rates to cefazolin, cefotaxime, tetracycline, ceftazidime, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxzole and ciprofloxacin (3.13%-23.44%) and were all sensitive to chloramphenicol, cefotaxime, azithromycin, imipenem and gentamicin. No statistically significant difference in drug resistance rates was found between the sporadic strains and the outbreak strains (P>0.05). All 64 S. enteritidis strains digested with XbaⅠwere divided into 33 molecular patterns by PFGE. The numbers of bacteria contained in each pattern ranged from 1 to 10 strains. The similarity among patterns was between 54.6% and 100%. Conclusion More attention should be paid to the drug resistance status of S. enteritidis in Shanxi Province. It is necessary to strengthen the standardized administration of antibiotics. The PFGE patterns of S. enteritidis reveal the presence of significant genetic polymorphism. PFGE is of great significance in analyzing the genetic relationship among S. enteritidis strains and in identifying and tracing the source of outbreaks of foodborne diseases.

OBJECTIVEWhether statins can slow down the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains controversial. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of statin therapy on disease progression in adult patients with CKD who did not require dialysis therapy.

METHODSWe searched the electronic databases for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published by February 2015. Random-effects meta-analysis of RCTs was used to pool the renal outcomes of the patients.

RESULTSTwenty-eight studies (30 RCTs) involving a total of 45 688 participants were included in the analysis. Compared with the control groups, statins produced no effects in preventing end-stage renal disease (ESRD) [relative risks (RR) 0.98, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.91-1.05] and in reducing the risk of doubling of the serum creatinine level (RR 1.43, 95% CI: 0.26-7.79). Statin therapy was associated with a lowered risk of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) reduction by 25% or more (RR 0.91, 95% CI: 0.83-0.99) and delayed the reduction of eGFR [standardized mean differences (SMD) 0.04, 95% CI: 0.02-0.07]. In subgroup analyses, the benefit of statins on changes in eGFR was statistically significant in patients with moderate CKD (SMD 0.09, 95% CI 0.04-0.13). Among different statins, atorvastatin was associated with a beneficial effect on kidney function (SMD 0.10, 95% CI 0.03-0.17). Patients who received high-intensity statin therapy showed significant changes in eGFR (SMD 0.12, 95% CI: 0.02-0.21).

CONCLUSIONStatin therapies may not prevent ESRD or doubling of serum creatinine level, but can improve GFR or delay the reduction of GFR in CKD patients. The therapeutic effects are associated with the patients' baseline eGFR levels, statin types and therapy intensity.

Adult ; Disease Progression ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; drug therapy ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; drug therapy

Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; Male ; SARS Virus ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; epidemiology ; virology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the ovarian response and pregnancy outcomes in patients with excessive ovarian response receiving long-protocol pituitary down-regulation during repeated in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET).

METHODSSixty IVF-ET cycles from January 2008 to December 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. The clinical characteristics were compared between the various treatment cycles.

RESULTSCompared with those with the first treatment cycle, the patients receiving repeated cycles had a significantly older age (P<0.001), reduced initial doses of Gn (P=0.049), and moderately lowered estrogen level on the day of hCG administration (E₂) (P=0.027) and the number of oocytes retrieved (P=0.030). The high-quality embryo formation rate (P<0.001) and clinical pregnancy rate (P=0.009) were both significantly higher in patients with repeated cycles. The dose for down-regulation, total Gn dose, duration of Gn stimulation, number of two pronuclei (PN), number of fertilized oocyte, and the cancellation rate for a high risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) were all comparable between the two groups (P>0.05). The recurrence rate of ovarian excessive respond was 40% (12/30).

CONCLUSIONSFor patients receiving repeated IVF treatment cycle with a high ovarian response, a smaller initial dose of Gn should be used to minimize the risk of hyper-response and improve the outcome of assisted reproductive treatment.

Down-Regulation ; Embryo Transfer ; Female ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Gonadotropins ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Oocytes ; Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Pregnancy Rate ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVETo investigate the inhibitory effect of 420 nm intense pulsed light on Trichophyton rubrum growth in vitro and explore the mechanism.

METHODSThe fungal conidia were divided into treatment group with intense pulse light irradiation and control group without irradiation. The surface areas of the fungal colonies were photographed before irradiation and on the 2nd and 3rd days after irradiation to observe the changes in fungal growth. The viability of the fungus in suspension was detected at 6 h after irradiation using MTT assay. The intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level in the fungus was determined using DCFH-DA fluorescent probe, and the MDA content was detected using TBA method.

RESULTSIntense pulse light (420 nm) irradiation caused obvious injuries in Trichophyton rubrum with the optimal effective light dose of 12 J/cmin 12 pulses. At 6 h after the irradiation, the fungus in suspension showed a 30% reduction of viability (P<0.05), and the fungal colonies showed obvious growth arrest without further expansion. Compared to the control group, the irradiated fungus showed significant increases in ROS level and MDA content (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONIntense pulse light (420 nm) irradiation can induce oxidative stress in Trichophyton rubrum to lead to fungal injuries and death.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical and computed tomography (CT) appearances of pulmonary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma.

METHODSThe CT findings and clinical data of 13 patients with pathologically proven pulmonary MALT lymphoma were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTSAmong these 13 patients, seven presented no notable abnormalities, six manifested respiratory symptoms including cough, expectoration, and dyspnea; one of these six patients experienced fever. Chest CT showed solitary nodule in 2 patients and multiple nodules in 3 patients; meanwhile, it showed solitary consolidation in 3 patients and multiple consolidations in 5 patients. Other CT findings included air bronchogram (n = 13), airway dilatation (n = 4), ground glass opacities (n = 5), and interstitial changes (n = 5). One patient had mediastinal lymphoadenopathy and 2 had pleural effusion. Pathology showed massive lymphocyte infiltration; cells with notable nuclear atypia were also seen, which were generated from B cells.

CONCLUSIONSThe main CT findings of pulmonary MALT lymphoma include nodules, mass or patchy consolidations with air brochogram; hilar and mediastinal lymphadenopathies are rare. Clinical diagnosis should also be based on pathological findings and immunohistochemical results.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiography ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of intrahippocampal injection of cellular prion protein (PrP) antibody on cognitive deficits of APPswe/PSEN1 transgenic mice.

METHODSEight-month-old male APPswe/PSEN1 transgenic mice were subjected to bilateral intrahippocampal injection of a single dose (2 µL) of anti-PrP monoclonal antibody (EP1802Y) or PBS, with wild-type C57Bl/6J mice serving as the control group. After two months, the mice were tested for cognitive behaviors using open filed (OF) test, Morris water maze (MWM) test, fear conditioning (FC) test, and novel object recognition (NOR) test, and immunohistochemistry was used to examine the changes in hippocampal expression of Aβ.

RESULTSThe EP1802Y-treated and PBS-treated mice showed no significantly differences in the performance in OF test in terms of central activity time or total distance of activity (P>0.05), nor in NOR test in terms of novel object recognition index (P>0.05). In MWM test, the EP1802Y-treated and PBS-treated mice showed significantly reduced crossings of the hidden platform as compared with the wild-type mice (P<0.05), but EP1802Y-treated mice had a significantly shorter swimming distance to find the platform than PBS-treated mice (P<0.05). No significant differences were found in the results of FC test among the 3 groups. Immunohistochemistry revealed a significantly reduced expression of Aβ in the hippocampus of EP1802Y-treated mice.

CONCLUSIONIntrahippocampal injection of PrP antibody can improve cognitive deficits of APPswe/PSEN1 transgenic mice, which sheds light on a novel therapeutic approach for Alzheimer's disease that targets PrP to lower the toxicity of Aβ oligomer.

Objective:To summarize the computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of acinar cell carcinoma of the pancreas (ACCP).Methods:The retrospective and descriptive study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 21 patients with ACCP who were admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University from January 2015 to December 2019 were collected. There were 5 males and 16 females, aged (57±9)years, with a range from 41 to 74 years. Patients underwent CT and MRI examinations. Observation indicators: (1) imaging examination; (2) imaging features on CT; (3) imaging features on MRI; (4) pathological examination and immunohistochemistry staining; (5) treatment and follow-up. Follow-up using outpatient examination and telephone interview was conducted at 1, 3, 6 months after discharge and once every 6 months thereafter to detect survival of patients up to December 2019. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD. Count data were described as absolute numbers. Results:(1) Imaging examination. Of the 21 patients, 7 underwent single CT examination, 11 underwent MRI examination, and 3 underwent both CT and MRI examinations. ① Tumor shape: all the 21 patients had single tumor, including 17 showing round or quasi-round shape, and 4 showing irregular clumps. ② Tumor location: of the 21 patients, 6 had tumor located at pancreatic head, 2 had tumor located at pancreatic head and body, 2 had tumor located at pancreatic body, 4 had tumor located at pancreatic body and tail, 4 had tumor located at pancreatic tail, and 3 had had tumor located at ampulla. ③ The maximum tumor diameter was (43±29)mm, with a range from 11 to 129 mm. ④ Adjacent organ invasion: 10 of the 21 patients had invasion of adjacent organ, including 2 with invasion of stomach, spleen and left adrenal gland invasion, 4 with invasion of duodenum, 3 with invasion of duodenum and common bile duct, 1 with invasion of spleen. ⑤ Vascular invasion: 12 patients had invasion of splenic artery or splenic vein, including 1 combined with invasion of both common hepatic artery and superior mesenteric vein, 1 combined with invasion of celiac root. ⑥ Pancreatic and bile duct invasion: 8 patients had pancreatic and bile duct dilation, including 4 with bile duct and upper pancreatic duct dilation, and 4 with pancreatic duct dilation. ⑦ Lymph node metastasis: 2 patients had perineoplastic lymph node enlargement. ⑧ Other conditions: 7 patients had tumor center with cystic necrosis. Four patients had atrophy pancreatic parenchyma. Two patients had splenic vein tumor thrombosis. Two patients had cysts. One patient had multiple liver metastases. (2) Imaging features on CT. ① The solid part was dominant in the main body of the 10 patients undergoing CT examination, demostrating equal density, of which 3 cases had clear boundaries, 2 cases had pseudocapsule around the lesion, and 5 cases had low-density necrotic area in the center of lesion. ② In arterial phase of CT examination, the solid part of tumor had a lower enhancement compared with the normal pancreatic tissues in 7 patients, while the solid part of tumor had a high enhancement compared with the normal pancreatic tissues in 3 patients. ③ In delayed phase of CT examination, the tumor density was slightly lower than or equal to density of normal pancreatic parenchyma in 7 patients, showing slightly progressive enhancement, while the tumor density was slightly higher than or equal to density of normal pancreatic parenchyma in 3 patients. (3) Imaging features on MRI. ① MRI plain scan of 14 patients showed that 8 patients demostrated slightly longer T2 and slightly longer T1 signals in lesions, while 6 patients demostrated mixed signals dominated by long T2 and equal T1 signals. The area of cystic necrosis was observed in lesions of 4 patients and was not observed in 10 patients. No antiphase signal reduction was observed in the 14 patients. ② MRI dynamic enhanced scan of 12 patients showed that 11 patients presented mild progressive enhancement in lesions and 1 patient presented obvious confounding enhancement and clearance in the delayed phase. Compared with adjacent normal pancreatic parenchyma, diffused weighted imaging showed high signals in 6 cases, slightly high signals in 6 cases, and high signal halo in 2 cases. The apparent diffusion coefficient in 14 lesions was (1.22±0.14)×10 -3 mm 2/s. (4) Pathological examination and immunohistochemistry staining. Results of pathological examination in the 21 patients: acinic cell carcinoma, mixed ductal-acinic cell carcinoma, acinar-endocrine carcinoma, and atypical hyperplasia inacinus were detected in 14, 5, 1, and 1 patients, respectively. Of the 21 patients, 10 had invasion of adjacent organ, 3 had invasion of bile duct, 2 had invasion of lymph node. Results of immunohistochemistry staining in 17 patients: 17 patients had proliferation index of Ki-67 as 1%-80%; 10 out of 16 patients were positive for synaptophysin; 6 out of 16 patients were positive for CD56 protein; 2 out of 14 patients were positive for Chromogranin A; 12 out of 13 patients were positive for α-antitrypsin; 9 out of 11 patients were positive for cytokeratin; 8 patients were positive for β-catenin; 2 patients were positive for B lymphoma-10 protein. (5) Treatment and follow-up. Of the 21 patients, 10 cases underwent pancreatico-duodenectomy, 6 cases underwent pancreatic body and tail pancreatectomy combined with splenectomy, 2 cases underwent pancreatic body and tail pancreatectomy, 1 case underwent pancreatic tail tumor enucleation, 1 case underwent liver metastasis resection, and 1 case underwent ultrasound-guided pancreatic lesion puncture biopsy. All the 21 patients were followed up for (30±16)years, with a range from 2 to 52 months. There were 13 patient surviving and 8 cases of death. They had survived for (19±13)months, with a range from 2 to 35 months. Conclusions:The CT and MRI enhanced scan of ACCP showed slightly progressive enhancement, with cystic necrosis seen in the center and high signals in diffused weighted imaging. Dilation of bile duct and pancreatic duct is common in patients with pancreatic head tumors, and invasion of splenic artery and vein is common in pancreatic body and tail tumors. Calcification and cyst are rare and lesions of pancreatic head and body cause atrophy in pancreatic tail.

OBJECTIVEin septic mice, myocardial calpain was activated and induced caspase-3 activation, the association between calpain activation and apoptosis was explored in this experiment.

METHODSin in vivo model, adult C57 mice were injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 4 mg/kg, i.p.) to induce sepsis. Myocardial calpain and caspase-3 activities, protein levels of calpain-1, calpain-2, calpastatin, Bcl-2 and Bid were detected by Western blot analysis and myocardial apoptosis was detected by TUNEL, myocardiac function was evaluated by Langendorff system. In in vitro model, adult rat cardiomyocytes were incubated with LPS (1 microg/ml) or co-incubated with calpain inhibitor-III (10 micromol/L), calpain activity, caspase-3 activity, protein levels of Bcl-2 and Bid, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis were detected.

RESULTSin septic mice, myocardial calpain and caspase-3 activity were increased up to 2.7- and 1.8-folds, respectively. Both calpain inhibitor-III and PD150606 significantly attenuated the increase of caspase-3 activity. Myocardial protein levels of calpain-1, calpain-2, calpastatin, Bcl-2 and Bid were similar between control and septic mice, and no cleavage of both Bcl-2 and Bid was found in septic mice. Calpain inhibitor-III significantly improved myocardial function in septic mice. In in vitro model, calpain and caspase-3 activities were increased after 4 h LPS treatment, co-treatment with calpain inhibitor-III prevented caspase-3 activity increase, protein Bcl-2 and Bid were similar between normal cardiomyocytes and LPS-treated cardiomyocytes. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis was similar in in vivo and in vitro septic models.

CONCLUSIONmyocardial calpain activity is increased in LPS induced septic mice, subsequent caspase-3 activation may contribute to myocardial dysfunction in septic mice without aggravating myocardial apoptosis and Bcl-2 and Bid are not involved on calpain induced caspase-3 activation in our model.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; BH3 Interacting Domain Death Agonist Protein ; metabolism ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Calpain ; metabolism ; Caspase 3 ; metabolism ; Male ; Membrane Proteins ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; pathology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; Sepsis ; metabolism