Objective To perform a nationwide external quality assessment for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis, and to improve the performance of laboratories in the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis. Methods Totally, 419 quality control samples were sent to tested laboratories, including 76 samples in 2007, 168 samples in 2008 and 175 samples in 2009. The laboratories were required to test the samples and report test results, within stipulated time, to the reference laboratory in National Center for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The reported results were statistically analyzed by the National Center for STD Control, who finally fed back the statistical results to all of the participants. Results The percentage increased from 84.93% in 2007 to 92.14% in 2009 for laboratories showing an 80% or more consistency with the reference laboratory in the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis from quality control samples (qualified), from 47.95% in 2007 to 70% in 2009 for those showing a 100% consistency (excellent), and dereased from 5.48% in 2007 to 0.71% in 2009 for those showing a consistency of lower than 60% (unqualified). The centralabs of provincial CDC and volunteer laboratories exhibited a satisfactory performance for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis, while the performance of a small number of national STD surveillance sites needed to be increase. Conclusion The external quality assessment reveals a continuous improvement in the capability of detecting Chlamydia trachomatis in STD laboratories at different levels in China.

Objective To make a nationwide external quality assessment of serologic tests for syphilis in China,in hope to increase the quality of syphilis serology in laboratories at different levels.Methods From 2006 to 2008,a nationwide external quality assessment scheme was conducted for serologic tests for syphilis in laboratories of some medical and healthcare facilities each year by the Reference Laboratory,National Center for Sexually Transmitted Disease Control,China Center for Disease Control and Prevention.Five quality control samples and corresponding questionnaires were sent to the participating laboratories.Tests were conducted and test results were reported within stipulated time.Subsequently,the test results were statistically analyzed by the Reference Laboratory,and the final results were fed back to all of these participants.Results From 2006 to 2008,the number of participating provinces increased from 17 to 31,and the number of participating laboratories from 23 to 145.Laboratories achieving a full score amounted to 79.9％,36.8％ and 57.6％,and those gaining a score of 80 or greater amounted to 95.7％,88.2％ and 89.7％,respectively,in 2006,2007 and 2008.Conclusion The external quality assessment scheme has enhanced the capacity of participating laboratories for syphilis serology to a certain extent from 2006 to 2008.

Objective To estimate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic attendees infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.Methods Totally,11 553 blood plasma samples were collected from STD clinic attendees in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,and subjected to HIV-1 antibody screening and confirmatory testing.Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to detect anti-HCV antibodies in 140 anti-HIV-1 antibody-positive samples and 282 anti-HIV-1 antibody-negative samples from age-and marital status-matched attendees.Chi-square test was performed to assess the differences in the prevalence rate of HCV infection between anti-HIV-1-negative and-positive samples,and Logistic regression analysis to evaluate the risk factors for HCV and HIV co-infection.Results The positivity rate of anti-HCV antibodies was 33.57％ (47/140)among anti-HIV-1-positive samples,significantly higher than that in anti-HIV-1-negative samples (1.06％ (3/282),x2 =94.66,P ＜ 0.05).Logistic regression analysis showed a statistical increase in the prevalence of HCV/HIV co-infection in individuals reporting more than one sexual partners compared with those reporting only one sexual partner (OR =2.4,95％ CI (1.0-5.6),P =0.05),and in intravenous drug users compared with non-intravenous drug users (OR =20.8,95％ CI(5.7-76.5),P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions HCV infection appears to be associated with HIV-1 infection,and comprehensive intervention on HIV-1-infected patients may slow down HCV transmission.

Objective To learn the economic operation and the existing problems of county TCM hospitals in Chongqing from 2012 to 2014.Methods 2012-2014 data of annual health financial report were used to conduct descriptive statistics and analysis of the current operation benefit, operating efficiency, debt paying ability, development ability, and cost management ability.Results From 2012 to 2014, the annual incomes of TCM county hospitals in Chongqing were 2.802, 3.412, and 4.385 billion RMB; the annual expenses were 2.813, 3.343, and 4.347 billion RMB; the ratios of income and expense about medical treatment were 0.86, 0.90, and 0.92; the ratios of income and expense of medicine were 1.16, 1.15, and 1.11; the outpatient amounts were 5.45, 5.87, and 6.99 million; the hospital discharge amounts were 330.4, 405.2, and 469.3 thousand; the charges per patient were 153.40, 177.12, and 188.71 RMB; the charges pre bed were 465.83, 533.14, and 571.02 RMB; medical expenses per patient were 4923.26, 5416.77, and 5576.01 RMB; the current ratios were 1.00, 1.06, and 1.09; the asset-liability ratios were 62.25%, 63.79%, and 61.37%; the annual growth rates of total assets were 14.06 % and 24.54%, and the annual growth rates of net assets were 19.44% and 21.70% during 2013 to 2014; 100-yuan hygienic materials and medicine consumption were 51.23, 51.10, and 50.07 RMB during 2012 to 2014; the management fee rates were 18.55%,15.44%, and 14.82%.Conclusion The general economic running of county TCM hospitals in Chongqing is stable and financial balance moves towards rationality; social benefit, expand capacity and cost management ability are enhanced gradually. However, the problems about insufficient government finance input, small medical income elasticity, poor debt paying ability, and diseconomies of scale still exist.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the isoflavones from the vines of Pueraria lobata.

METHODThe compounds were isolated by column chromatography over silica gel and RP-C18, and purified by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and preparative TLC. The structures were elucidated on the basis of physico-chemical properties and spectral data.

RESULTTwelve compounds were isolated and identified as: 3'-methoxydaidzein (1), formononetin (2), genistein (3), daidzein (4), daidzin (5), genistin (6), ononin (7), 5-hydroxyl ononin (8), calycosin (9), 6"-O-acetyl genistein (10), 6"-O-acetyl daidzin (11), puerarin (12).

CONCLUSIONFor the first time, compounds 9-11 were isolated from the genus Pueraria plant, and compounds 1, 3, 6-8 were obtained from the vines of this plant.

Genistein ; chemistry ; Glucosides ; chemistry ; Isoflavones ; chemistry ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; Pueraria ; chemistry

A sero-epidemiological survey on 1 833 healthy residents was carried out in 6 villages of a leprosy high-endemic area in Wenshan and Guangnan counties, Yunnan Province. The part of the residents with initially antibody-positive as well as the part of residents with initially antibody-negative have been followed up for 3 consecutive years by serology and clinical examination for studying kinetic changes of antibody to M.leprae and its relation with clinical disease. The results showed that the rates of subclinical infection of leprosy in a high-endemic area are different from village to village, and the risk of developing clinical disease does not associate with subclinical infection rate. It correlates with the number of cured accumulative leprosy cases and active cases within the village. The authors consider that in leprosy high-endemic villages, especially those cropped up new multi-bacillary leprosy cases frequently in recent years, it may be helpful to use serology to detect early leprosy cases.

Objective To evaluate the application of Burnet Institute-made prototype IgA rapid test,a kind of point-of-care (POC) testing,in the diagnosis of early syphilis.Methods Totally,455 stored serum samples in the Reference Laboratory of Sexually Transmitted Disease,the Institute of Dermatology were used to evaluate the application of the prototype IgA rapid test (IgA-POC) in the diagnosis of early syphilis.According to resluts of Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay (TPHA),rapid plasma reagin card test (RPR),and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for IgM antibodies (IgM-ELISA),these stored samples were divided into 3 groups:uninfected group,previously infected group and early active syphilis group.IgA-POC test was performed in the 3 groups to evaluate its diagnostic performance for active syphilis,and researchers were blind to the group information.Results The prototype IgA-POC test had a sensitivity of 92.6％ (147/163) for the early active syphilis group,a specificity of 72.22％ (104/144) for the previously infected group,and a specificity of 97.97％ (145/148) for the uninfected group.The total specificity of the prototype IgA-POC test was 85.27％,which met the minimum requirement of WHO for the POC test.The prototype IgA-POC test showed a significantly higher sensitivity for the diagnosis of early active syphilis compared with the IgM-ELISA (59.51％,Z =6.88,P ＜ 0.05),but a significantly lower specificity for the diagnosis of previous syphilis infection compared with the IgM-ELISA (98.61％,Z =6.18,P ＜ 0.05).Moreover,no significant difference in the specificity for the diagnosis of non-infection was observed between the prototype IgA-POC test and IgM-ELISA (Z =1.16,P =0.25).Conclusion The prototype IgA-POC test has better capacity for the diagnosis of early active syphilis compared with the IgM-ELISA,so it can be applied to the screening of early active syphilis.

A retrospective analysis of the clinical data of seven acute B-lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) patients with TCF3-HLF fusion gene-positive admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from June 2017 to August 2022 was conducted to summarize their clinical features and prognoses. The seven B-ALL patients comprised four males and three females, with a median age of 18 (11-33) years. Five patients tested positive for CD33 expression, and four patients had a normal karyotype. Two patients had hypercalcemia at the initial diagnosis, and one patient developed hypercalcemia at relapse. Six patients presented with coagulation dysfunction at diagnosis. After induction chemotherapy, five out of seven patients achieved complete remission, of which four subsequently relapsed. Two patients did not achieve remission even after two rounds of induction chemotherapy, with one achieving complete remission after treatment with blinatumomab immunotherapy. Three patients underwent chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy, whereas three patients subsequently underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Five patients died, while two patients survived with sustained complete remission. TCF3-HLF-positive B-ALL is rare and has a high relapse rate and poor prognosis.

From October 2021 to February 2023, we retrospectively analyzed the clinical and laboratory data of six patients (three male and three female, median age: 54 years, age range: 29-73 years) with mast cell leukemia (MCL) diagnosed in the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University (The Mastocytosis Collaborative Network of China). All patients had acute MCL, with at least one C-finding present. The main clinical presentations were hypoalbuminemia ( n=4), fatigue ( n=3), fever ( n=2), abdominal discomfort ( n=2), osteolytic lesions ( n=2), dizziness ( n=1), skin flushing ( n=1), and weight loss ( n=1). Splenomegaly and lymphadenopathy were noted in six and three patients, respectively. Six patients were strongly positive for CD117, five were positive for CD30 and CD25, and four were positive for CD2. Four patients had a normal karyotype and two patients had an abnormal karyotype. Gene mutations were detected in 4/6 cases. The median serum tryptase level was 24.9 (range: 20.1-171.9) μg/L. Two patients were treated with venetoclax and azacitidine for induction (one patient achieved partial remission by combination with afatinib, while there was no remission after combination with dasatinib in the other patient). Two patients did not achieve complete remission despite treatment with cladribine and imatinib, respectively. One patient treated with interferon combined with glucocorticoids was lost to follow-up, and one patient abandoned treatment. The follow-up time ranged from 1.1 to 21.7 months. Three patients died and two survived. Overall, MCL is a rare subtype of systemic mastocytosis with heterogeneous clinical course, and these patients have poor outcome. A better understanding of the clinical characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of MCL is urgently needed.

OBJECTIVE To establish the HPLC fingerprint of Xintongshu spray， determine the contents of identified components， and investigate the transferring patterns of the index components of decoction pieces， intermediates and spray， so as to provide scientific reference for technology management and quality control of Xintongshu spray. METHODS HPLC fingerprints of 13 batches of Xintongshu spray were established by the Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprints of TCM （2012 edition）， and common peaks were identified； the contents of identified components were determined by HPLC. The paeonol in Moutan Cortex and ferulic acid in Chuanxiong Rhizoma were used as index components to investigate the transferring patterns of them in decoction pieces， intermediates and spray. RESULTS There were a total of 33 common peaks in the fingerprints of 13 batches of Xintongshu spray， and the similarities were more than 0.994. Eight components were identified， i.e. gallic acid （peak 5）， oxypaeoniflorin （peak 9）， chlorogenic acid（peak 10）， caffeic acid （peak 14）， paeoniflorin （peak 17）， ferulic acid （peak 21）， senkyunolide Ⅰ （peak 27） and paeonol （peak 31）. The contents of 8 components ranged from 0.590 3- 0.719 7， 0.565 7-0.851 3， 0.279 4-0.368 1， 0.080 6-0.106 1， 1.922 5-3.033 5， 0.151 3-0.191 6， 0.250 6-0.336 0， 3.056 7-4.161 0 mg/mL， respectively. The average transfer rates of paeonol and ferulic acid from decoction pieces to sprays were 63.76% and 38.06%， respectively. It was also found that the process in which the loss of paeonol was more than 30% was the extraction by percolation and negative pressure concentration of Moutan Cortex. The process in which the loss of ferulic acid was more than 50% was the steam distillation extraction process of Chuanxiong Rhizoma. CONCLUSIONS The established HPLC fingerprint and content determination method of Xintongshu spray are reproducible and specific. The key processes that cause a decrease in the average transfer rates of the index components are the extraction by percolation and negative pressure concentration of Moutan Cortex and steam distillation extraction of Chuanxiong Rhizoma.