Mycobacterium intracellular CHPC 1.5701 strain was isolated from the sputum specimen of the patient.This study attempted to establish a guinea pig infection model to evaluate its virulence,so as to provide basic scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of Mycobacterium intracellular infection.Mycobacterium intracellular CHPC 1.5701 was cultured in 7H10 medium.The morphology of the colony changed from colorless to light yellow smooth colony,and the acid-fast staining was positive.Mycobacterium intracellular suspension was diluted with 0.9％sodium chloride solution to 1 × 1010 CFU/mL,1×109 CFU/mL,1 × 108 CFU/mL,1 × 107 CFU/mL and 1 × 106 CFU/mL,respectively.Healthy Hartly guinea pigs with negative skin test of pure protein derivatives of tuberculin were selected and randomly divided into 6 groups with 10 guinea pigs in each group,half male and half female.Guinea pigs in the ex-perimental group were divided into 5 groups,which were intra-peritoneally injected with 5 different concentrations of 1.0 mL suspension/guinea pig,and those in the control group were in-traperitoneally injected with 0.9％sodium chloride solution 1.0 mL suspension/guinea pig.The guinea pigs was then observed,weighed every week,dissected 5 weeks later,lung,spleen and liver tissues were taken,and the tissue lesions were analyzed by hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining,and the bacteria load was detected by tissue homogenate culture in 7H10 medium.The results showed that Mycobacterium intracellular challenge test had no significant effect on body weight of male guinea pigs(P＞0.05),but could reduce body weight of female guinea pigs(P＜0.01).No pathological changes of organ tissues were ob-served in guinea pigs in the control group,while HE staining of lung,spleen and liver tissues of guinea pigs in challenge experi-mental groups showed alveolar wall alveolar epithelial hyperplasia,monocyte infiltration in liver and spleen,granulomatous in-flammation and other pathological changes,and the degree of pathological changes was related to the injection dose of Mycobac-terium intracellular.Mycobacteria intracellular could be isolated from tissue culture of some organs,among which the spleen had a large amount of bacteria.Intrabitoneal injection of Mycobacteria intracellular CHPC 1.5701 can affect the body weight of female guinea pigs and cause lung,liver and spleen infection of guinea pigs,but no caseous necrosis of guinea pigs was ob-served.Compared with the reported data of Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence test,it is concluded that Mycobacterium in-tracellular has certain virulence to guinea pigs and belongs to low virulence and low pathogenicity bacteria...

Mycobacterium intracellular CHPC 1.5701 strain was isolated from the sputum specimen of the patient.This study attempted to establish a guinea pig infection model to evaluate its virulence,so as to provide basic scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of Mycobacterium intracellular infection.Mycobacterium intracellular CHPC 1.5701 was cultured in 7H10 medium.The morphology of the colony changed from colorless to light yellow smooth colony,and the acid-fast staining was positive.Mycobacterium intracellular suspension was diluted with 0.9％sodium chloride solution to 1 × 1010 CFU/mL,1×109 CFU/mL,1 × 108 CFU/mL,1 × 107 CFU/mL and 1 × 106 CFU/mL,respectively.Healthy Hartly guinea pigs with negative skin test of pure protein derivatives of tuberculin were selected and randomly divided into 6 groups with 10 guinea pigs in each group,half male and half female.Guinea pigs in the ex-perimental group were divided into 5 groups,which were intra-peritoneally injected with 5 different concentrations of 1.0 mL suspension/guinea pig,and those in the control group were in-traperitoneally injected with 0.9％sodium chloride solution 1.0 mL suspension/guinea pig.The guinea pigs was then observed,weighed every week,dissected 5 weeks later,lung,spleen and liver tissues were taken,and the tissue lesions were analyzed by hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining,and the bacteria load was detected by tissue homogenate culture in 7H10 medium.The results showed that Mycobacterium intracellular challenge test had no significant effect on body weight of male guinea pigs(P＞0.05),but could reduce body weight of female guinea pigs(P＜0.01).No pathological changes of organ tissues were ob-served in guinea pigs in the control group,while HE staining of lung,spleen and liver tissues of guinea pigs in challenge experi-mental groups showed alveolar wall alveolar epithelial hyperplasia,monocyte infiltration in liver and spleen,granulomatous in-flammation and other pathological changes,and the degree of pathological changes was related to the injection dose of Mycobac-terium intracellular.Mycobacteria intracellular could be isolated from tissue culture of some organs,among which the spleen had a large amount of bacteria.Intrabitoneal injection of Mycobacteria intracellular CHPC 1.5701 can affect the body weight of female guinea pigs and cause lung,liver and spleen infection of guinea pigs,but no caseous necrosis of guinea pigs was ob-served.Compared with the reported data of Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence test,it is concluded that Mycobacterium in-tracellular has certain virulence to guinea pigs and belongs to low virulence and low pathogenicity bacteria...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection after receiving the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine could create a strong immunity barrier. METHODS: Blood samples were collected at two different time points from 124 Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infected patients and 124 controls matched for age, gender, and vaccination profile. Live virus-neutralizing antibodies against five SARS-CoV-2 variants, including WT, Gamma, Beta, Delta, and Omicron BA.1, and T-lymphocyte lymphocyte counts in both groups were measured and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The neutralizing antibody titers against five different variants of SARS-CoV-2 were significantly increased in the vaccinated population infected with the Omicron BA.1 variant at 3 months after infection, but mainly increased the antibody level against the WT strain, and the antibody against the Omicron strain was the lowest. The neutralizing antibody level decreased rapidly 6 months after infection. The T-lymphocyte cell counts of patients with mild and moderate disease recovered at 3 months and completely returned to the normal state at 6 months. CONCLUSION Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infection mainly evoked humoral immune memory in the original strain after vaccination and hardly produced neutralizing antibodies specific to Omicron BA.1. Neutralizing antibodies against the different strains declined rapidly and showed features similar to those of influenza. Thus, T-lymphocytes may play an important role in recovery.
Humans ; Antibodies, Neutralizing ; Prospective Studies ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Breakthrough Infections ; COVID-19 Vaccines ; COVID-19 ; T-Lymphocytes ; China/epidemiology* ; Antibodies, Viral

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether the combination of Naoxintong Capsule with standard care could further reduce the recurrence of ischemic stroke without increasing the risk of severe bleeding. METHODS: A total of 23 Chinese medical centers participated in this trial. Adult patients with a history of ischemic stroke were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio using a block design to receive either Naoxintong Capsule (1.2 g orally, twice a day) or placebo in addition to standard care. The primary endpoint was recurrence of ischemic stroke within 2 years. Secondary outcomes included myocardial infarction, death due to recurrent ischemic stroke, and all-cause mortality. The safety of drugs was monitored. Results were analyzed using the intention-to-treat principle. RESULTS: A total of 2,200 patients were enrolled from March 2015 to March 2016, of whom 143 and 158 in the Naoxintong and placebo groups were lost to follow-up, respectively. Compared with the placebo group, the recurrence rate of ischemic stroke within 2 years was significantly lower in the Naoxintong group [6.5% vs. 9.5%, hazard ratio (HR): 0.665, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.492-0.899, P=0.008]. The two groups showed no significant differences in the secondary outcomes and safety, including rates of severe hemorrhage, cerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage (P>0.05). CONCLUSION The combination of Naoxintong Capsule with standard care reduced the 2-year stroke recurrence rate in patients with ischemic stroke without increasing the risk of severe hemorrhage in high-risk patients. (Trial registration No. NCT02334969).
Adult ; Humans ; Secondary Prevention/methods* ; Ischemic Stroke ; Stroke/prevention & control* ; Cerebral Hemorrhage/complications* ; Double-Blind Method ; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors

BACKGROUND: The basis of individualized treatment should be individualized mortality risk predictive information. The present study aimed to develop an online individual mortality risk predictive tool for acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) patients based on a random survival forest (RSF) algorithm. METHODS: The current study retrospectively enrolled ACLF patients from the Department of Infectious Diseases of The First People's Hospital of Foshan, Shunde Hospital of Southern Medical University, and Jiangmen Central Hospital. Two hundred seventy-six consecutive ACLF patients were included in the present study as a model cohort (n = 276). Then the current study constructed a validation cohort by drawing patients from the model dataset based on the resampling method (n = 276). The RSF algorithm was used to develop an individual prognostic model for ACLF patients. The Brier score was used to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of prognostic models. The weighted mean rank estimation method was used to compare the differences between the areas under the time-dependent ROC curves (AUROCs) of prognostic models. RESULTS: Multivariate Cox regression identified hepatic encephalopathy (HE), age, serum sodium level, acute kidney injury (AKI), red cell distribution width (RDW), and international normalization index (INR) as independent risk factors for ACLF patients. A simplified RSF model was developed based on these previous risk factors. The AUROCs for predicting 3-, 6-, and 12-month mortality were 0.916, 0.916, and 0.905 for the RSF model and 0.872, 0.866, and 0.848 for the Cox model in the model cohort, respectively. The Brier scores were 0.119, 0.119, and 0.128 for the RSF model and 0.138, 0.146, and 0.156 for the Cox model, respectively. The nonparametric comparison suggested that the RSF model was superior to the Cox model for predicting the prognosis of ACLF patients. CONCLUSIONS The current study developed a novel online individual mortality risk predictive tool that could predict individual mortality risk predictive curves for individual patients. Additionally, the current online individual mortality risk predictive tool could further provide predicted mortality percentages and 95% confidence intervals at user-defined time points.
Acute-On-Chronic Liver Failure ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; ROC Curve ; Retrospective Studies

Professor
Acupuncture ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Angina, Stable ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Humans ; Moxibustion

This paper was aimed to observe the interventional effect of Sedum sarmentosum total flavanones on hepatic fibrosis and its possible mechanism through the subcutaneous injection of CCl_4 in rats. Sixty male SD rats were randomly divided into normal control group, model group, low-dose, medium-dose, high-dose S. sarmentosum total flavanones groups(100, 200, 400 mg·kg~(-1)) and silymarin group(200 mg·kg~(-1)). The model of liver fibrosis was established by subcutaneous injection of rats with 40% CCl_4. After the modeling, the drug groups were intragastrically administered with corresponding drugs once a day for consecutively five weeks, while the normal group and the model group were given 0.9% sodium chloride solution during the same period. After the experiment, the general conditions of rats and the pathological changes of liver tissues were observed, and the contents of serum ALT, AST, HA and LN were measured. Besides, the expressions of the protein and relevant mRNA of Smad2/3, Smad4 and α-SMA in rats were detected. Compared with model group, S. sarmentosum total flavanones could significantly increase the rats' body weight, inhibit the increase of liver and spleen index in rats of liver fibrosis, reduce the levels of ALT, AST, HA and LN, and alleviate pathological changes. Meanwhile, compared with the model group, the protein expressions of Smad2/3, Smad4 and α-SMA as well as relevant mRNA expressions in S. sarmentosum total flavanones group were obviously decreased, while Smad7 expression was markedly increased. As a result, S. sarmentosum total flavanones could significantly alleviate CCl_4-induced liver fibrosis, and its anti-hepatic fibrosis mechanism may be related to intervention with Smads pathway, so as to inhibit the activation of HSC.
Animals ; Carbon Tetrachloride ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Flavanones/therapeutic use* ; Hepatic Stellate Cells/drug effects* ; Liver ; Liver Cirrhosis/drug therapy* ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sedum/chemistry* ; Signal Transduction ; Smad Proteins/metabolism*

OBJECTIVETo explore the characteristics of mutations 4 common deafness-related genes among 216 patients from Shanghai area with non-syndromic hearing impairment (NSHI).

METHODSThirteen mutation sites in the four genes, namely GJB2 (c.35delG, c.176del16, c.235delC, c.299delAT, and c.155delTCTG), SLC26A4 (c.IVS7-2A>G, c.2168A>G, and c.1229C>T), mtDNA 12SrRNA (m.1494C>T, m.1555A>G, m.7445A>G, and m.12201T>C) and GJB3 (c.538C>T) were detected among the 216 patients and 41 individuals with normal hearing. The frequency and types of mutations were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSAmong the 216 NSHI patients, the total detection rate was 16.20% (35/216). GJB2 mutations were found in 17(7.87%) of the 216 patients, which included 5 cases with homozygous c.235delC mutation, 5 with homozygous c.235delC mutation, 1 with homozygous c.299delAT mutation, and 1 with homozygous c.299delAT mutation. c.235delC and 299delAT mutations were found in 5 cases. SLC26A4 mutation was found in 12(5.56%) of the 216 patients, which included 2 cases with homozygous c.IVS7-2A>G mutation, 9 with homozygous c.IVS7-2A>G mutation, and 1 with homozygous c.2168A>G mutation. Homogeneous mtDNA 12SrRNA m.1555A>G mutation was found in 6(2.78%) of the 216 patients. No GJB3 gene mutation was detected. No mutation of the 4 genes were detected in the 41 individuals with normal hearing. In 2 cases of the 12 patients with SLC26A4 gene mutation, CT scan of the temporal bone has confirmed expansion of vestibular aqueduct.

CONCLUSIONAbove results indicated that GJB2 and SLC26A4 were the major genes involved with hearing loss in Shanghai area.

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; genetics ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; genetics ; Male ; Nerve Tissue Proteins ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide