Objective To investigate the infection status, serotype distribution, drug sensitivity and molecular characteristics of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) in patients with diarrhea in Guangdong Province. Methods Fecal samples were collected, cultured and isolated by traditional methods. Suspected Escherichia coli isolates were confirmed by multiplex PCR used for detecting specific virulence genes and bio-chemical methods. Positive strains were serotyped, characterized for drug sensitivity and analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis ( PFGE). Results The total positive rate of DEC in patients with diarrhea was 6.26%. The positive rates of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), enteroadherent Escherichia coli (EAEC) and en-teroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) were 2. 47% , 1. 54% , 1. 32% , 0. 62% and 0. 09% , respectively, with infections primarily in children aged 0-<7 years. The total seropositive rate was 52. 54% , with EHEC accounting for 15. 00% . DEC showed high sensitivity to imipenem, ciprofloxacin, ceftazidime and cefo-taxime. The multidrug resistance rate of DEC was 58. 45% , with EPEC being the most serious for multidrug resistance. PFGE results showed that ETEC, EHEC, EPEC and EAEC had a high degree of polymorphism. Conclusion EPEC is the predominant type of DEC circulating in Guangdong Province. Third-generation cephalosporins are the first drugs of choice for treating infections in children. Ciprofloxacin can be used to treat adults. The problem of multiple drug resistance of DEC is severe and efforts to monitor DEC infections and drug resistance should be strengthened.

Bacterial biofilms have been demonstrated to be closely related to clinical infections and contribute to drug resistance. Berberine, which is the main component of Coptis chinensis, has been reported to have efficient antibacterial activity. This study aimed to investigate the potential effect of a combination of berberine with ciprofloxacin (CIP) to inhibit Salmonella biofilm formation and its effect on expressions of related genes (rpoE, luxS, and ompR). The fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) index of the combination of berberine with CIP is 0.75 showing a synergistic antibacterial effect. The biofilm's adhesion rate and growth curve showed that the multi-resistant Salmonella strain had the potential to form a biofilm relative to that of strain CVCC528, and the antibiofilm effects were in a dose-dependent manner. Biofilm microstructures were rarely observed at 1/2 × MIC/FIC concentrations (MIC, minimal inhibition concentration), and the combination had a stronger antibiofilm effect than each of the antimicrobial agents used alone at 1/4 × FIC concentration. LuxS, rpoE, and ompR mRNA expressions were significantly repressed (p < 0.01) at 1/2 × MIC/FIC concentrations, and the berberine and CIP combination repressed mRNA expressions more strongly at the 1/4 × FIC concentration. The results indicate that the combination of berberine and CIP has a synergistic effect and is effective in inhibiting Salmonella biofilm formation via repression of luxS, rpoE, and ompR mRNA expressions.
Anti-Infective Agents ; Berberine ; Biofilms ; Ciprofloxacin ; Coptis ; Drug Combinations ; Drug Resistance ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Repression, Psychology ; RNA, Messenger ; Salmonella

Objective To determine the reproductive physiology and blood physiological and biochemical characteristics of SPF Yorkshire and Landrace swine.Methods Ten reproductive physiology parameters,19 blood physiological parameters and 18 blood biochemical parameters in SPF Yorkshire and Landrace swine were measured using conventional methods and the differences between population,between age groups and between both sexes were analyzed.Results There were no significant differences(P>0.05) in reproductive physiology parameters and most blood physiological and biochemical parameters of the SPF Yorkshire and Landrace swine.A few of parameters,such as blood physiological indices GRAN,HGB,RDW,PLT,PCT,and blood biochemical indices ALKP,CHOL,TBIL,BUN,showed significant difference(P<0.05) between populations,between age groups and between both sexes,however,the values of difference were rather small,deviated from the normal range.Conclusion The physiological and biochemical characteristics of SPF Yorkshire and Landrace swine are basically stable and there is no significant difference compared with other laboratory miniature pigs.This study will provide valuable basic data for raising velvet yield,establishment of animal models and evaluating the genetic quality of closed colony.

Objective To analyze the serotype distribution and antibiotic resistance characteristics of Salmonella strains isolated in Guangdong province for better understanding the condition of Salmonella infection in patients with diarrhea.Methods Fecal samples collected from patients with diarrhea in Guangdong province were used to isolate Salmonella strains.Biochemical analysis was performed to identify these isolated strains.Serotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were carried out for further analysis of the isolated Salmonella strains.Results The rate of Salmonella infection was 7.64％in 2015, and the male to female patient ratio was 1.52∶1.A total of 2 377 patients of all age groups were positive for Salmonella infection and the patients aged 0-6 years accounted for 81.74％.The isolation rate of Salmonella strains in the summer and autumn was higher than that in the winter and spring (10.73％ vs 4.24％;X2=463.77, P<0.01).The Salmonella isolation rates in different areas were as follows: 16.82％ in Zhuhai, 15.85％ in Heyuan, 11.81％ in Yangjiang, 10.68％ in Jiangmen, 8.49％ in Zhongshan, 8.07％ in Maoming, 8.05％ in Jieyang, 7.35％ in Shaoguan, 6.97％ in Foshan, 6.03％ in Dongguan, 5.48％ in Guangzhou and 0.00％ in Zhanjiang.And the differences between different regions were statistically significant (X2=367.67, P<0.01).The 2 377 isolated Salmonella strains were classified into 108 serotypes except for oneSalmonella strain that could not be classified.The top four predominant serotypes were 4,5,12:i:-, Salmonella enteritidis,Salmonella stanley and Salmonella typhimurium.Most Salmonella strains were sensitive to imipenem, azithromycin, ceftazidime, cefotaxime and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, but multidrug resistance was common among those strains.Conclusion Salmonella serotypes of 4,5,12:i:-and Salmonella enteritidis are the predominant pathogens causing human Salmonella infections in Guangdong province.Ceftazidime and cefotaximeare are preferred in the treatment of Salmonella infections.Surveillance for drug resistance in Salmonella should be strengthened as multidrug resistant strains have become a serious problem in Guangdong province.

Objective:To explore the clinical effect of different surgical methods combined with Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in treating patients with breast cancer.Methods:80 patients treated and diagnosed in our hospital from January,2012 to January,2014 were enrolled in the present study.According to the willingness,physical condition and financial situation,they were divided them into group A (23 cases) and group B (57 cases).Neoadjuvant chemotherapy of EC regimens (epirubicin+cyclophosphamide) was applied to both groups,on the basis of which,group A received breast-conserving surgery,group B received modified radical mastectomy.The clinical effect,breast cosmetic result,life quality,psychological states were compared in both groups.Results:The operation time,extubation time were significantly shorter than those of group B (p ＜0.05),the amount of bleeding,AMA,HRSD score,occurrence rate of complications in group A were significantly lower than those of group B (p＜0.05),the breast cosmetic result of group A was obviously better than that of group B (p＜0.05),and the QLQ-BR23 score in group A was significantly higher than that of group B (p＜0.05).The 2-year survival rate and 2 year recurrence rate showed no statistical difference between the two groups (p ＞0.05).Conclusion:Breast-conserving surgery combined with epirubicin neoadjuvant chemotherapy was effective in treating breast cancer,which could decrease the complications,improve the breast cosmetic result and quality of life.

Objective To explore the diagnostic value of morphology in patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell leukemiafrom bone marrow cell.Methods Clinical data of 5 patients with BPDCN leukemia in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from 2011 to 2016were collected.The morphological characteristics of the cell size,nuclei,chromatin and cytoplasm of the BPDCNtumor cells in the bone marrow smears were observed under the microscope.Results The clinical manifestation of the 5 cases involved skin lesions (5/5,100％),lymphadenopathy (4/5,80％),hepatomegaly (3/5,60％),splenomegaly (4/5,80％).Immunophenotype showed all cases were positive for CD4,CD56 and CD123.The morphologiesof BPDCN cell characterized by heterogenous clls,were frequent,including,frequent mediumsized cells with a round or irregular nucleus,lacy chromatin,basophilic cytoplasm with lack of granules,marked large pseudopodia and vacuolation which may arranged as pearl necklace along the cytoplasmic outline.They might mimicking pseudomonoblast,Pseudolymphoblast or Pseudolymphoma cell.Conclusions Plasmacytoid dendritic cells had some peculiar morphological features,the patients suffered from the clinical manifestation of skin lesion may highly suggested the diagnosis of BPDCN,Flow cytometry and pathological biopsy are necessary for the final diagnosis of BPDCN.

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the polymorphism of SLA class II genes in Canadian SPF Yorkshire and Landrace pigs.Methods Blood samples were obtained from 15 SPF Yorkshire and 22 Landrace pigs for isolation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells respectively, and the DQB1, DRB1 and DQA genes were amplified by PCR after reverse transcription.SLA class II genes were obtained by analyzing the direct and cloning result.The polymorphism of alleles was analyzed using the DNAsp 5.0 software.Results A total of 25 alleles were identified at three genes, including eight DQB1, ten DRB1 and seven DQA, and three alleles were submitted the complete sequences for the first time.The official allele names were assigned as SLA-DQB1*0212 (KU754590), SLA-DQB1*0203 (KU754591) and DRB1*06:07(KU754601) by the SLA Nomenclature Committee.Three novel DQA alleles were discovered.Five of the 15 amino acids, one of the 16 amino acids and 11 of the 19 amino acids, which bind processing antigens, showed well conserved among the alleles of DQB1, DRB1 and DQA genes in the SPF Yorkshire and Landrace pigs, respectively.Neighbor-joining tree showed that the three genes were divided into two clusters, respectively.There was a close relationship between SPF Yorkshire and Landrace pigs and foreign Yucatan miniature pigs, and it showed no obvious genetic distance with other pigs.Conclusions A total of 25 SLA class II alleles have been identified successfully in this study, and there are more abundant polymorphism for them.There is a widely distribution for SLA class II alleles identified in this study in other pig breeds.It is critical for the eventual future use of SPF Yorkshire and Landrace pigs as classical laboratory animal models.

Objective To analyze transmission factors of norovirus outbreaks in Guangdong province during 2008-2015 and provide evidence for the prevention and control of norovirus infection.Methods Epidemiological analysis was performed on the data of norovirus outbreaks reported in Guangdong from January 1,2008 to December 31,2015,which were obtained from the Public Health Emergency Management Information System of Guangdong province.The samples collected from the norovirus outbreaks were detected for norovirus by RT-PCR and the gene sequencing of the positive PCR products were performed.Results A total of 96 norovirus outbreaks were reported in Guangdong during 2008-2015.Sixteen outbreaks were reported during 2008-2012and 80 outbreaks were reported during 2013-2015 (83.3％).Eighty-two outbreaks (85.4％) occurred in schools.The infection routes included foodborne transmission in 39 outbreaks (40.6％),person to person transmission in 23 outbreaks (24.0％) and waterborne transmission in 8 outbreaks (7.3％).The gene sequencing results showed that variant G Ⅱ.4/Sydney2012 was the predominant pathogen for 6 of the 20 outbreaks (30.0％) during 2012-2013.Variant G lⅡ.17 was the predominant pathogens for 33 of the 53 outbreaks (62.3％) during 2014-2015.Conclusion The norovirus outbreaks in Guangdong during 2008-2015 were caused by foodborne and person to person transmissions of two emerging variant:G Ⅱ.4/Sydney2012 and G Ⅱ.17.

Objective To investigated the etiologic characteristics of Shigella (S.) sonnei strains causing outbreaks and sporadic cases in some areas of Guangdong province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region during 2014-2016. Methods Fourteen S. sonnei strains isolated from outbreaks and 6 S. sonnei strains from sporadic cases from Guangdong and Liuzhou of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region were tested for antimicrobial resistance and analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Six typical strains were selected for whole genome sequencing typing and compared with 51 strains isolated both at home and abroad from NCBI genome database. Results The antibiotic resistance test indicated the isolates had high resistance rate to ampicillin, tetracycline, gentamicin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and nalidixic acid, while sensitive to azithromycin, chloromycetin and imipenem. PFGE showed high similarity (93.2%) among the strains isolated from different areas. The whole genome sequencing analysis also revealed that all the typical strains wereclustered into a same evolution branch, close to some strains from Korea. Conclusions The S. sonnei strains isolated from some areas of Guangdong and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region showed high resistance to commonly used antibiotics, but they were sensitive to azithromycin, chloramphenicol and imipenem. The isolates in this study also showed similar PFGE patterns and close phylogenic evolution.

Objective To prepare simulated stool specimens for proficiency testing ( PT) by mix-ing lentils with Salmonella, Shigella and Escherichia coli strains and to establish an assessment scheme for the detection of Salmonella and Shigella in clinical samples. Methods Salmonella, Shigella and Escherich-ia coli strains were respectively spiked to lentils in Cary-Blair transport medium to create simulated stool specimens. Various ratios of Escherichia coli to Salmonella strains were spiked to lentils to prepare mixed simulated stool specimens. The accuracy and stability of prepared stool samples for PT were tested in-house. Results of sample detection were collected from participating laboratories for further external quality assess-ment. Results The Escherichia coli and Salmonella strains mixed at ratios of 100 ∶ 1 to 106 ∶ 1 could be ef-ficiently isolated from the media. Enrichment was needed in order to effectively isolate Salmonella strains from the media when the ratios of Escherichia coli to Salmonella strains were 104 ∶ 1 to 106 ∶ 1. Of the16 participating laboratories, 14 laboratories (87. 5%) received a grade of“satisfactory” and the other 2 labo-ratories (12. 5%) received a grade of “mainly satisfactory”. Conclusion The simulated stool specimens and the PT procedures designed in this study were suitable for proficiency testing program on the detection of Salmonella, Shigella and other similar microbes.