Objective The study aimed to compare the diagnostic efficacy of QuantiFERON-TB Gold(QFT-TB)detection of specific cellular immune IGRAs in tuberculosis diagnostic laboratory for pulmonary tuberculosis,extrapulmonary tuberculosis and special population samples in vitro,which may provide evidence for clinical diagnosis and treatment.Methods A total of 546 patients with tuberculosis(AFB + 146 cases,AFB-247 cases),117 patients with molecular biology positive tuberculosis(Xpert 69 cases,TB-DNA 48 cases)and 36 patients with histopathological positive were collected from January to July 2023.There were 72 cases of extrapulmonary tuberculosis,276 cases of pleural effusion and 25 cases of ascites.QFT-TB method was used for detection,chi-square test was applied for com-parison between groups,and the methodological evaluation of positive rate and coincidence rate were all compared.Results The positive rates of QFT-TB in pulmonary tuberculosis,extrapulmonary tuberculosis and close contacts were 83.69%,69.44%,and 32.41%,respectively.The coincidence rates of QFT-TB in AFB +,GeneXpert,TB-DNA and pathological confirmed tuberculosis patients were 91.09%,88.40%,81.25%,and 72.22%,respectively.The positive rate of pleural effusion in patients with tuberculous pleurisy was 60.50%,and the uncertainty rate was 29.71%.The positive rate of ascites was 44.00%and the uncertainty was 36.00%.Conclusion QFT-TB test has good value in the auxiliary diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis,and has certain reference significance for the diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis based on the detection of pleural fluids and ascites.

Objective:To analyze the gene mutation types and clinical hematological phenotypes of abnormal hemoglobinopathy in couples of childbearing age in Nanhai District, Foshan.Methods:The hemoglobinopathy gene sequencing, blood routine testing, and hemoglobin capillary electrophoresis results of 24 748 samples from prenatal and premarital examinations at Nanhai Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital of Foshan from August 2017 to November 2023 were retrospectively analyzed.Results:Totally 41 abnormal hemoglobinopathy genotypes were detected in 294 cases, the detection rate was 1.19% (294/24 748). There were 24 genotypes involved in α globin structural variation, with 172 cases. There were 13 genetypes involved in β globin structural variation, with 118 cases. There were 4 genotypes involved in α + β globin structural variation, with 4 cases. Among them, Hb New York (82 cases), Hb Hekinan Ⅱ (76 cases), Hb Owari (29 cases), and Hb Q-Thailand (27 cases) were the most common genetypes. Among 274 cases of abnormal hemoglobinopathy gene carriers, 89 cases were positive in blood routine phenotype, the detection rate was 32.48%, including 81 cases with abnormal mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and 71 cases with abnormal mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH). There were 166 cases with positive phenotype in hemoglobin capillary electrophoresis, the detection rate was 60.58%, among them 81 cases with abnormal HbA 2 and 133 cases with abnormal hemoglobin band. Most of the abnormal hemoglobinopathy gene carriers without combined α or β-thalassemia had no clinical symptoms or only mild clinical symptoms, and a small number had positive hematological phenotypes. Conclusions:The incidence of abnormal hemoglobinopathy is relatively high among couples of childbearing age in Nanhai District, Foshan, and the main variation is α globin structure variation. Some genetypes are positive for hemoglobin capillary electrophoresis, and a few gene types show anemia symptoms.

The development, progression, and curative efficacy of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are influenced by complex interactions between epithelial and immune cells. Nevertheless, the specific changes in the nature of these interactions and their underlying molecular mechanisms in HNSCC are not yet fully understood. Cuproptosis, a form of programmed cell death that is dependent on copper, has been implicated in cancer pathogenesis. However, the understanding of cuproptosis in the context of HNSCC remains limited. In this study, we have discovered that cuproptosis-related long non-coding RNAs (CRLs) known as JPX play a role in promoting the expression of the oncogene urokinase-type plasminogen activator (PLAU) by competitively binding to miR-193b-3p in HNSCC. The increased activity of the JPX/miR-193b-3p/PLAU axis in malignant epithelial cells leads to enhanced cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in HNSCC. Moreover, the overexpression of PLAU in tumor epithelial cells facilitates its interaction with the receptor PLAUR, predominantly expressed on macrophages, thereby influencing the abnormal epithelial-immune interactome in HNSCC. Notably, the JPX inhibitor Axitinib and the PLAU inhibitor Palbociclib may not only exert their effects on the JPX/miR-193b-3p/PLAU axis that impacts the malignant tumor behaviors and the epithelial-immune cell interactions but also exhibit synergistic effects in terms of suppressing tumor cell growth and arresting cell cycle by targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK4/6) for the treatment of HNSCC.
Humans ; MicroRNAs/metabolism* ; RNA, Long Noncoding/metabolism* ; Head and Neck Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Cell Proliferation ; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck/genetics* ; Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator/genetics* ; Cell Movement ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/genetics* ; Neoplasm Invasiveness

Objective:To compare the result of nucleic acid detection between anal swabs and nasal swabs in confirmed cases of COVID-19.Methods:The result of nucleic acid detection between anal swabs and nasal swabs collected simultaneously at various time points after illness onset were analyzed retrospectively.Results:Totally, 46 matched result of anal swabs and nasal swabs in confirmed cases of COVID-19 collected at various intervals after illness onset in 31 patients were analyzed. All the result of nucleic acid detection were positive for anal swabs. The highest concordance rate of nucleic acid positive of COVID-19 (80%) between anal swabs and nasal swabs was observed 0-3 days after illness onset; while the value declined to 28.57% ≥16 days after illness onset. The longer the interval between sampling and illness onset, the lower the concordance rate.Conclusions:Besides two negative result from respiratory tract specimens, the negative result of anal swabs should be added as an important reference of releasing from quarantine.

Objective:To understand the diagnostic value of tuberculosis (TB) pathogenic detection methods (TPDM) in pathological tissue for TB.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted with 190 pathological specimens from different tissues suspected with TB from Third People′s Hospital of Shenzhen during May 2016 and May 2019. Specimens were divided into four groups according to histomorphology: group one, necrotizing granulomatous inflammation (109 cases); group two, non-necrotic granulomatous inflammation (20 cases); group three, non-granulomatous inflammation (45 cases); group four, non-tuberculous lesions (16 cases). The positive rates of each TPDM among specimens from four groups were compared. The positive rates of all TPDM for specimens from group one were compared. Meanwhile, the influence of antituberculosis treatment course on the TPDM was analyzed. Chi-square test or Fisher′s exact test was used for statistical analysis.Results:The positive rates of Ziehl-Neelsen acid-fast staining among the four groups were 17.4%(19/109), 5.0%(1/20), 4.4%(2/45) and 0(0/16), respectively. The positive rates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) complex culture were 32.0%(32/100), 4/19, 4.8%(2/42) and 0(0/16), respectively. The positive rates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis/rifampin resistance real-time quantitative nucleic acid amplification detection system (Xpert MTB/RIF) were 74.3%(81/109), 15.0%(3/20), 13.3%(6/45) and 0(0/16), respectively. The positive rates of fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) were 63.0%(58/92), 0(0/15), 2.6%(1/38) and 0(0/10), respectively. The positive rates of simultaneous amplification and testing (SAT) were 32.4%(24/74), 0(0/10), 0(0/15) and 0(0/10), respectively. The differences of each TPDM among four groups were all statistically significant (all P<0.05). The positive rate of Xpert MTB/RIF in group one specimens was significantly higher than those of acid-fast staining, MTB culture and SAT ( χ2=71.016, 37.162 and 35.679, respectively, all P<0.01), while the difference was not statistically significant when compared with FQ-PCR ( χ2=2.517, P=0.112). The positive rate of combined TPDM (85.3%(93/109)) was significantly higher than Xpert MTB/RIF(74.3%(81/109)) ( χ2=4.100, P=0.043). The positive rates of acid-fast staining group 1A (anti-tuberculosis treatment course was less than one month) and group 1B (anti-tuberculosis treatment course was longer than one month) were 14.3%(7/49) and 20.0% (12/60), respectively ( χ2=0.612, P=0.434); those of MTB culture were 48.9% (22/45) and 18.2% (10/55), respectively ( χ2=10.721, P=0.001); those of Xpert MTB/RIF were 69.4%(34/49) and 78.3%(47/60), respectively ( χ2=1.131, P=0.287); those of FQ-PCR were 55.0%(22/40) and 69.2%(36/52), respectively ( χ2=1.965, P=0.161); those of SAT were 43.3%(13/30) and 25.0%(11/44), respectively ( χ2=2.736, P=0.098). Conclusions:The results of TPDM correlate closely with the typical histomorphological features of tuberculosis. Xpert MTB/RIF possesses significantly higher sensitivity than any other single TPDM, and is not attenuated by early anti-tuberculosis treatment. Combined TPDM could significantly improve the sensitivity of TB pathogenic detection, which is suggested to be applied when the tissue specimen is sufficient.

T-6 specific IFN-γ ELISPOT has higher specificity, sensitivity, the positive and negative predicative value. Therefore, the ELISPOT warrant for further improvement and clinical application.