Objectives In order to develop a rapid microsatellite genotyping assay for inter-strain differentiation of Candida albicans isolates and understand the transmission characteristics of the infections. Methods DNA was extracted from C. albicans isolates from genitals, anal canals and oral cavities of 39 women and 27 men with genital candidiasis. The microsatellite sequences in stabel genes(CDC3, EF3 and HIS3) were amplified by a fluorescence labeled PCR. Fluorescent signals were read with an automatic se- quencer, and the data were collected with GeneScan software followed by genotyping with Genotyper soft- ware to analyze polymorphic microsatellite loci. Results Combined analysis of the 3 microsatellite markers showed 18 gene allele associations in C. albicans from genital sites of all men and women, including 10 in women, 11 in men and 3 in both. The allele associations of dominant pathogenetic strains for both sexes were 116:124, 122:131,160:200, which covered 50% of pathogenetic infection. Three common allele associations for both sexes covered 71% of all infections. Genitals and anal canals shared strains of same allele associations in 80% of women and in only 3.8% of men. The strains of same allele associations were identified in both genitals and mouth in 2.7% of women but in none of men. In their genital sites 71% of couples shared the same allele strains, of which 80% were the dominant pathogenetic strains identified in both sexes. Conclusions The improved microsatellite genotyping assay is useful for rapid differentiation, identification of infective source, and contact tracing of C. albicans infection. There are pathogenetic C. albi- cans strains with predominant allele associations in genital infections.

Objective:To investigate the predictive value of measuring soluble growth stimulation expressed gene 2 protein(sST2), interleukin-6(IL-6)and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNFα)as individual parameters or as a test panel in the prognosis of elderly patients with heart failure.Methods:A total of 128 elderly patients with heart failure hospitalized at the Cardiology Department of the Medical Alliance of Chest Hospital and Hexi Hospital between April 2019 and April 2020 were retrospectively selected.Based on heart failure readmissions, all-cause deaths and cardiovascular death events within a one-year follow-up, the patients were divided into a good prognosis group(n=60)and a poor prognosis group(n=68).The general condition and routine laboratory examination test results were recorded.At admission, blood samples were taken to measure sST2, IL-6 and TNFα.The individual parameters, combinations of two parameters and the combination of all three parameters were used to draw receiver operating characteristic curves(ROCs)and their value in evaluating the prognosis of heart failure patients was analyzed.Results:In the poor prognosis group, sST2, IL-6 and TNFα levels were(29.4±7.7)mg/L, (23.1±45.7)ng/L and(30.9±82.1)ng/L, respectively, higher than those in the good prognosis group[(25.0±9.1)mg/L, (22.5±49.1)ng/L, (13.5±22.3)ng/L, t=2.42, -2.32, -2.37, all P<0.05)].The area under ROC(AUC)values of sST2, IL-6 and TNFα were 0.636, 0.619 and 0.622, respectively(all P>0.05).The specificity of sST2(56.7%)was higher than that of IL-6(51.7%)and of TNFα(46.7%), and the difference was statistically significant( P<0.05).The sensitivity of TNFα(80.9%)was higher than that of sST2(64.7%)and of IL-6(79.4%), and the difference was statistically significant( P<0.05); As the combinations of two parameters, the predictive power of the sST2+ TNFα combination was higher than that of the other two combinations, based on AUC values(both P<0.05).The AUC and specificity of the sST2+ IL-6+ TNFα combination were higher than those of any two-parameter combination(both P<0.05). Conclusions:The combined detection of sST2+ IL-6+ TNFα has a good performance in predicting the one-year prognosis of elderly patients with heart failure and can be easily implemented in clinical practice.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics and the risk of major adverse cardiac events within 1 year of middle-aged and elderly in-patients with acute decompensated and mid-range ejection fraction heart failure(HF)in the medical alliance setting.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted among a total of 180 in-patients with acute decompensated heart failure in Cardiovascular Hexi Hospital Consulting Area of Tianjin Chest Hospital.According to ejection fraction measured by echocardiogram, the in-patients were classified into three groups: heart failure with reduced ejection fraction(HFrEF)group(n=70, 38.9%), HFmEF group(n=50, 27.8%), and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction(HFpEF)group(n=60, 33.3%). Clinical feature and 1-year prognosis between different groups were compared.Results:Univariate Cox regression analysis of 1-year all-cause death and cardiovascular death showed that there was no significant difference between HFrEF group and HFmEF group, HFpEF group and HFmEF group(all P>0.05); 1-year readmission analysis of heart failure showed that 47.1%(33 cases)of HFrEF group was higher than 24.0%(12 cases)of HFmEF group, 48.3%(29 cases)of HFpEF group was higher than HFmEF group( HR=2.307, 2.368, 95% CI: 0.187-4.480, 1.207-4.644, respectively, all P<0.05); The major 1-year cardiovascular events were 57.1%(40 cases)higher in the HFrEF group than 34.0%(17 cases)in the HFmEF group( HR=2.053, 95% CI: 0.187-4.408, P< 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that the 1-year risk of major cardiovascular events was significantly different between HFmEF group and HFpEF group( HR=0.477, 95% CI: 0.241-0.941, P< 0.05). Pulmonary heart disease( P< 0.05), atrial flutter and/or atrial fibrillation( P< 0.01), New York Cardiology class Ⅳ( P< 0.01)were risk factors for death.Hypertension and cor pulmonale were the risk factors for readmission in patients with heart failure(all P< 0.01). Conclusions:The clinical characteristics of inpatients with HFmEF in the medical alliance setting tended to be consistent with those with HFrEF, while the feature of ischemic heart disease was more prominent in HFmEF.The 1-year risk of heart failure readmission in HFmEF group was significantly lower than that in HFpEF and HFrEF group, and the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality at 1 year was not significantly different among the three groups.

Objective To investigate the clinical features of patients with heart failure and the safety and efficacy of noninvasive ventilator in patients with heart failure.Methods Sequentially enrolled 65 patients who were diagnosed with decompensated heart failure in Tianjin Chest Hospital Heart Center from October 2016 to October 2017 and who had acute heart failure during hospitalization requiring noninvasive ventilator,were divided into the HF-PEF group (n=19) and HF-REF group (n=46).The clinical data of the two groups and the observation indexes before and after the application of the non-invasive ventilator were compared.Results Comparing the admission data of the two groups,the proportion of patients with hypertension (57.9％ vs 21.7％,P=0.005) and LVEF(％) (53.00±4.85 vs 33.07±7.24,P＜0.01)were significantly higher in the HF-PEF group than those in the HF-REF group;LVEDD (mm) in the HFPEF group was significantly lower than that in the HF-REF group (50.00±5.23 vs 63.82±8.95,P＜0.01).In the two groups of patients with acute left heart failure,blood lactate levels (mmol/L) in the HF-PEF group (4.20±1.06 vs 2.02±0.88,P＜0.05) and systolic blood pressure (mmHg) (151.32±43.40 vs 117.90± 19.55,P＜0.05) were significantly higher than those in the HF-REF group.After the application of non-invasive ventilator,systolic blood pressure (mmHg) (34.38±9.36 vs 16.94±5.19,P=0.038) and PaCO2 (mmHg)(2.49±0.98 vs-0.06±0.00,P=0.025),and lactic acid (mmol/L) (2.06±0.67 vs 0.04±0.01,P=0.001) were significantly lower in the HF-PEF group than those in the HF-REF group.While the NT-proBNP level (ng/L) (13 064.90±1 963.83 vs 11 687.13±1 028.03,P=0.848) did not decrease significantly,and the time of non-invasive ventilator application (h)was significantly longer than that in the HF-REF group (152.74±10.61 vs 71.03±10.41,P=0.013).Conclusions Hypertension is the main cause of HF-PEF group.The systolic blood pressure and blood lactate level in HF-PEF patients with acute left heart failure are significantly higher than HF-REF patients.Non-invasive ventilator is also safe and effective for the treatment of acute left heart failure in HF-PEF patients,but HF-PEF patients with acute left heart failure have a longer clinical remission time.