Bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi are the three major groups of soil microbes. Soil microbes play a critical role in ecological and biodegradation processes in petroleum-contaminated soils. Based on the actual situation, this study took the oil polluted soil around the abandoned oil well in Shehong County, Suining City, Sichuan Province as the test soil. First, we determined the physiochemical properties of the tested soil; then we analyzed the changes of physiochemical properties and the three major microbes in petroleum contaminated soils. The number of the three major microbes in contaminated soils was relatively fewer than uncontaminated samples, and the water content of the soil was in positive correlation with the number of microbes. Also we assessed the soil bacteria community diversity and changes therein in petroleum-contaminated soils using 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes. No less than 23 982 valid reads and 6 123 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained from all 4 studied samples. OTU richness was relatively higher in contaminated soils than uncontaminated samples. Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Planctomycetes and Proteobacteria were the dominant phyla among all the soil samples. However, the prokaryotes community abundance of phyla was significantly different in the four samples. The most abundant OTUs associated with petroleum-contaminated soil sample were the sequences related to Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria, whereas the most abundance sequences with uncontaminated sample were those related to Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria.

Objective To investigate the relationship between hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels and liver pathology at different phases of natural history in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, and to establish a non-invasive liver fibrosis diagnostic model based on HBsAg quantification.Methods A total of 145 CHB patients were enrolled and underwent liver biopsy from January 2013 to January 2015, among which 73 patients were hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive.HBsAg levels and HBV DNA levels were compared between patients at different phases of natural history and between patients with different HBeAg statuses.Logistic analysis was used to analyze the risk factors associated with fibrosis in HBeAg-positive patients, and to evaluate the predictive value of non-invasive liver fibrosis diagnostic model based on HBsAg quantification.Analysis of variance was used for statistical analysis, and t test analysis was used for the comparison between two independent samples.Results The serum HBsAg levels at the immunologic tolerance phase, immunologic clearance phase, low copy phase and reactivation phase of CHB patients were (4.29±0.69), (3.56±0.61), (3.22±0.64), and (3.54±0.50) lg IU/mL, respectively (F=16.72, P<0.01), and the HBV DNA levels were (8.48±0.58), (6.69±1.44), (3.80±0.59), and (6.21±1.06) lg IU/mL, respectively (F=76.73, P<0.01).In HBeAg-positive CHB patients with liver inflammation stage (G)≤G1, G2, G3 and G4, the serum HBsAg levels were (4.44±0.65), (4.00±0.72), (3.74±0.62), and (3.28±0.50) lg IU/mL, respectively (F=9.198, P<0.01).In HBeAg-positive CHB patients with liver fibrosis stage (S)≤S1, S2, S3, and S4, the serum HBsAg levels were (4.55±0.54), (4.04±0.89), (3.59±0.63), and (3.34±0.50) lg IU/mL, respectively (F=10.66, P<0.01).Logistic analysis showed that age (OR=1.091, 95%CI: 1.013-1.175) and HBsAg level (OR=0.190, 95%CI: 0.066-0.542) were independent factors for predicting fibrosis stage.The area under receiver operating characteristic curve of the non-invasive fibrosis model based on age and HBsAg level was 0.849, which was higher than aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (0.749) and fibrosis index based on the 4 factors (0.763).Conclusions The serum HBsAg levels are significantly different among the different phases of natural history in CHB patients.The serum HBsAg levels decline with the progression of liver fibrosis in HBeAg-positive CHB patients.The non-invasive diagnostic model that based on HBsAg quantification could be used to evaluate the stage of liver fibrosis.

Objective To investigate the risk factors for the presence of hepatic encephalopathy in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) in the midphase.Methods A total of 287 patients with HBV-related ACLF in the mid-phase were recruited.Clinical data (age,gender,diabetes,liver cirrhosis,upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage,spontaneous bacterial peritonitis,and pulmonary infection) and laboratory findings [albumin,globulin,total bilirubin (TBil),alanine transaminase (ALT),aspartate aminotransferase (AST),glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GT),alkaline phosphatase,total cholesterol,cholinesterase,creatinine,prothrombin activity (PTA),international normalized ratio,alpha-fetoprotein (AFP),loads of HBV DNA,serum potassium,serum sodium,white blood cell,and platelet count] were included as potential risk factors and analyzed with univariate and multivariate Logistic regressions.Results Multiple Logistic regression analysis indicated that serum potassium(B =-2.006,P =0.000,OR =0.135,95％CI:0.051-0.353),serum sodium(B=-0.096,P=0.014,OR=0.908,95％CI..0.841-0.981),pulmonary infection (B =1.648,P =0.018,OR =5.199,95 ％ CI:1.326-20.386),AFP (B=-0.010,P =0.024,OR =0.990,95％ CI:0.982-0.999) were correlated with hepatic encephalopathy.Conclusion Hypokalemia,hyponatremia,pulmonary infection and low levels of AFP are independent risk factors of the presence of hepatic encephalopathy in patients with HBV-related ACLF in the mid-phase.

ObjectiveTo investigate the risk factors for antibiotic prophylaxis failure in patients with liver cirrhosis and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. MethodsEighty-two patients with liver cirrhosis and upper gastrointestinal bleeding who were admitted to our hospital from January 2011 to June 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. All patients received third-generation cephalosporins as the antibiotic prophylaxis for 7 days. The therapeutic effect of prophylaxis within two weeks was analyzed, and the clinical features were compared between prophylaxis response group and non-response group. The t-test or Mann-Whitney U test was applied for comparison of continuous data between groups, the chi-square test was applied for comparison of categorical data between groups, and the logistic regression analysis was applied to determine the risk factors for antibiotic prophylaxis failure. ResultsA total of 38 patients (46.4%) developed secondary infection. There were significant differences in prothrombin time, proportion of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), duration of ICU stay, proportion of patients who received deep venipuncture, Child-Pugh classification, and Child-Pugh score between the prophylaxis response group and non-response group (P＜0.05). Child-Pugh classification (OR=2.455, 95%CI: 1.01-5.97, P=0.048) and admission to the ICU (OR=4.12, 95%CI: 1.32-12.83, P=0.015) were the independent risk factors for antibiotic prophylaxis failure. ConclusionAntibiotic prophylaxis with third-generation cephalosporins has a high failure rate, and admission to the ICU and a high Child-Pugh classification are the independent risk factors for antibiotic prophylaxis failure.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of different nucleoside analogues on the long-term survival rate of patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

METHODSOne hundred and eighty patients with HBV-related ACLF were enrolled in this prospective cohort study and divided into a basic treatment group (n=30) and an antiviral treatment group, the latter of which was further subdivided into the lamivudine treatment group (n=66), telbivudine treatment group (n=38) and entecavir treatment group (n=46) according to voluntary choice by the patient.All study participants were followed-up for 24 months. The Kaplan-Meier method was applied for survival analysis.

RESULTSThe patients in the four antiviral treatment groups had statistically similar baseline clinical characteristics and 1-month survival rates (Breslow =4.475, P=0.215).However, the basic treatment group had a significantly lower survival rate than the antiviral treatment groups that received lamivudine, telbivudine, or entecavir (all P less than 0.05) at the treatment periods of 2, 3, 6, 12 and 18-months; however, these three treatment groups showed no significant differences in survival rates. At the time point of 24 months of treatment, the basic treatment group retained its lower rate of survival than the three antiviral treated groups (lamivudine:Breslow =5.604, P=0.018; telbivudine:Breslow =5.621, P=0.018; entecavir:Breslow =14.701, P less than 0.001); while the survival rates were similar for the lamivudine treatment group and the telbivudine treatment group at this time point, their survival rates were significantly lower than that of the entecavir treatment group (Breslow =4.010, P=0.045; Breslow =4.307, P=0.038).Stratification analysis showed that when the baseline was 30 less than PTA less than or equal to 40 or MELD less than or equal to 29 or HBV DNA more than or equal to 5 log10 IU/mL, the cumulative survival rates of the basic treatment group and antiviral treatment group were statistically similar even though the patients had completed 1 month of treatment After being treated for 2, 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months, the cumulative survival rates of the basic treatment group were consistently below those of the overall antiviral treatment group (P less than 0.05). The cumulative survival rate of the basic treatment group followed-up for 1 to 24 months, with PTA values between 20 and 30, was lower than that of the overall antiviral treatment group (P less than 0.05); two groups of patients with PTA less than or equal to 20 or MELD more than or equal to 30 were followed-up for 1 months to 24 months, and their cumulative survival rates showed no significant difference (P more than 0.05). Among the patients whose baseline was HBV DNA less than 5 log10 IU/mL, the comparison of survival rates between the basic treatment group and the overall antiviral treatment group showed no significant differences after treatment for 1, 2, 3, 6, 12 or 18 months, and the survival rate was lower than that of the overall antiviral treatment group (Breslow =4.055, P=0.044) after 24 months.

CONCLUSIONNucleoside analogues can improve the long-term survival rate of HBV-related ACLF patients.Entecavir is preferred for the long-term treatment of these patients.Patients in the early and middle stages of this disease and HBV DNA-positive patients should adopt antiviral treatment as early as possible.

Acute-On-Chronic Liver Failure ; Antiviral Agents ; Cohort Studies ; Guanine ; analogs & derivatives ; Hepatitis B virus ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; Humans ; Lamivudine ; Prospective Studies ; Survival Analysis ; Survival Rate ; Thymidine ; analogs & derivatives ; Time Factors