Molecular diagnostic technologies are critical diagnostic tools in clinical research. Point-of-care testing (POCT) presents numerous advantages such as portability, rapidity, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness, facilitating timely identification of infection sources and control of infectious disease transmission. This article explores the emerging molecular diagnostic technologies that can be used for POCT, including digital loop-mediated isothermal amplification technology and the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated proteins system, while also discussing their future prospects.

Objective:To analyze the risk factors of poor short-term outcome in patients with autoimmune encephalitis (AE).Methods:The data were collected retrospectively from patients hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University from March 2016 to January 2021. According to the Modified Rankin Scale (mRS), eighty-one patients with AE were divided into the good prognosis group (mRS≤2, n=48) and the poor prognosis group (mRS>2, n=33). The clinical data, including the basic demographic data, main clinical manifestations, cranial MRI and electroencephalogram, as well as laboratory indicators from blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), were compared between two groups, and the risk factors for poor outcome were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the cut-off value of these risk factors on predicting the poor short-term outcome for the AE patients. Results:The time of hospitalization was significantly longer in the poor prognosis group than in the good prognosis group ( P<0.05). Prevalence of severe disease course at admission, abnormal mental and behavior, δ wave and δ brush of abnormal EEG was significantly higher in the poor prognosis group than in the good prognosis group (all P<0.05). Serum leukocyte count, neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, mononuclear cell count, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin(PCT), alanine aminotransferase, aspartate transaminase, lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase, creatine kinase isoenzyme, apoA1/B, calcium, sodium, anion gap in serum, CSF oligoclonal bands, CSF-IgG index and antibody titer were significantly different between the two groups (all P<0.05). Severity of illness at admission ( OR=1.816, 95% CI 1.250-2.639, P=0.002), PCT ( OR=1.345, 95% CI 1.008-1.794, P=0.044), antibody titer in serum ( OR=1.422, 95% CI 1.071-1.888, P=0.015), CSF-IgG index ( OR=1.802, 95% CI 1.035-3.138, P=0.037) and anionic gap ( OR=1.640, 95% CI 1.191-2.259, P=0.002) were the independent risk factors for the poor short-term prognosis of patients with AE. The AUC value of combing the above 5 indexes to predict the poor short-term prognosis in patients with AE was 0.920 (95% CI 0.834-0.971), with 83.87% sensitivity and 88.37% specificity. Conclusion:Severity of illness at admission, PCT, antibody titer in serum, CSF-IgG index and anionic gap are the independent risk factors of poor short-term prognosis in patients with AE and the combination of these 5 indexes can sufficiently predict the poor short-term prognosis in patients with AE.

The pre-S/S gene of hepatitis B virus (HBV) can encode for the production of large, medium and small surface protein. Different protein expression levels and their composition ratios have certain influences on the diagnosis, treatment and outcome of HBV infection. It is of great significance to clarify the functions of large, medium and small surface protein as serum markers and to explore their value in the diagnosis and treatment of HBV infection. In this paper, the expression status, detection methods and clinical significance of the three HBV proteins were reviewed.

Objective:To analyze the serum and urinary amino acid (AA) profiles of urolithiasis patients to explore the potential biomarkers for clinical screening and early diagnosis.Methods:Case-control study. Serum and urine samples were collected from 74 urolithiasis patients (aged 20-82 years, 41 men, 33 female) in the department of urology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University and 35 healthy controls (HC, aged 22-80 years old, 20 men, 15 female) from the health examination center from February 2015 to October 2017. Serum and urinary AA levels of patients and HC were analyzed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) based metabolomic strategy. The multivariate statistical analysis methods of principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discrimination analysis (OPLS-DA) were employed for modeling. The variable importance projection (VIP) value of OPLS-DA model>1 and P<0.05 of t test were selected to screen the differential amino acid metabolites. The diagnostic capabilities of potential markers were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and binary logistic regression analysis. Results:Five AA metabolites including serine, glutamate, aspartic acid, isoleucine and glycine were found, which had statistically significant differences between the patient group and the control group ( P<0.05) and were associated with seven metabolic pathways. Serum serine, glutamate, aspartic acid, isoleucine and urine glycine and aspartic acid were combined into an integrated marker panel whose AUC value was 0.890, the sensitivity was 78.0%, and the specificity was 96.4%. Conclusion:Five amino acids in serum and urine could be used as an integrated biomarker panel for the clinical screening and early diagnosis of urolithiasis, which could provide some experimental basis for molecular urolithiasis research.

At present, the situation of prevention and treatment of hepatitis B(HBV) infection in China is still serious. Factors affecting the course and outcome of HBV infection mainly include virus and hosts. While exploring the new clinical significance of HBV infection classic diagnostic indicators such as hepatitis B sunface antigen, hepatitis B core antibody and HBV DNA, more attention should be paid to the application value and prospect of new indicators such as HBV RNA and hepatitis B core-related antigen. With the proposing of the omics concept and the development of technology, people begin to focus on HBV infection with the concept of omics and integrate genomics, metabolomics, proteomics, etc., to achieve the goal of accurate diagnosis.

The persistence of covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) in the nucleus of liver cells is a key factor that hinders the cure of chronic hepatitis B. However,it is difficult to eliminate cccDNA with existing anti-HBV therapy. Recent studies have found that serum HBV RNA may be a new indicator reflecting the activity of cccDNA in hepatocytes and evaluating the clinical efficacy of CHB patients . This article reviews recent advances in the properties,detection methods,and clinical significance of HBV RNA, particularly the application of antiviral therapy in CHB patients.

Objective The study aims to investigate the associationbetweencholesterol 7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) gene polymorphism and different clinical outcomes after Hepatitis B virus (HBV)infection in Fujian Han population and lay a foundation for understanding the mechanisms of genesis anddevelopment of HBV-related diseases.Methods Case-control study was conducted.586 patients of HBVpersistent infection without antiviral therapy and 225 HBV rehabilitation patients (35-55 years old) werecollected from May 2015 to June 2016 in the Liverish Center of First Clinical College of Fujian MedicalUniversity.The group of HBV persistent infection without antiviral therapy included 246 patients with chronichepatitis B, 177 patients with hepatitis B-related cirrhosis, and 163 patients with hepatitis B-related liver cancer.The rs3824260, rs4738687and rs8192871 loci of CYP7A1 gene were detected by improved multipleligase detection reaction (iMLDR).Logistic regression analysis and chi-square test were used to analyze thegenotyping results.Results Three SNPs ( single nucleotide polymorphisms ) of CYP7A1 gene wereselected and compared between HBV persistent infection group and HBV rehabilitation group and betweenchronic hepatitis B subgroup, liver cirrhosis subgroup and liver cancer subgroup.After adjustment for factorsincluding age andgender, there was no significant difference in the distribution of rs3824260 genotype amongthe groups(χ2 =1.565,P =0.459), however,the frequency of allele C in HBV rehabilitation group wassignificantly higher than in HBV persistent in fectiongroup for men (χ2 =4.365,P =0.037), whereas thefrequency of rs3824260 CC and CT was more likely to be observed in liver cancer group than in non -livercancer group (chronic hepatitis B subgroup and liver cirrhosis subgroup ) for women (χ2 =5.768,P =0.012;χ2 =10.130,P =0.001).The frequency of rs4738687 GG genotype was more likely to be observed innon-liver cancer group than in liver cancer group (χ2 =4.403,P =0.041;χ2 =6.940,P =0.009).Theresults of gender stratification showed that there were significant differences in the distribution of rs 4738687among the HBV persistent infection groups for men (χ2 =10.697,P =0.030), however, there was nosignificant difference in the distribution of rs4738687 among the HBV persistent infection groups for women(χ2 =4.627,P =0.329), and there was no significant difference in the distribution of genotype frequencyand allele frequency among all groups(χ2 =0.489,P =0.792).There was no significant difference after sexstratification either (χ2 =1.282, P =0.526;χ2 =1.565,P =0.465) .Conclusions These findingssuggested that CYP7A1 gene polymorphism was related todifferent clinical outcomes in Fujian Hanpopulation.The rs3824260 mutation had a certain gender preference and the mutation allele was detected ina higher proportion in male patients.Male HBV patients with rs3824260 C allele had more chance ofswitching to rehabilitation.The rs4738687 was likely to be related to the occurrence of liver cancer in FujianHan population, and GG genotype may delay the occurrence and development of liver cancer especially in themale group.The rs8192871 was not found to be related to the different clinical outcomes of HBV infection.

Innate immunity initially resists the infection of pathogenic microorganism in host immune response.Recent researches confirmed that mitochondria participated in a wide range of innate immune pathways,mainly including contributing to innate immune activation,regulating antiviral signaling pathways and antibacterial immunity.Therefore,further studies on the relationship among mitochondria,hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection and innate immune response might contribute to elucidate the mechanism of chronic HBV infection and explore the mechanism of host immune to clear HBV.Here,mitochondria playing a vital role in regulations of innate immune response,HBV infection tending to chronicity by suppressing innate immune response and chronic HBV infection by regulating the innate immune response through injuring mitochondria,were reviewed.

Objective To investigate the effect of melatonin(MT)on tau hyperphosphorylation in hippocampus of mice with exposure to lead(Pb)at early development stage and its possible mechanism.Methods Healthy C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into four groups:control group(received normal water),lead exposure group(exposed to 0.2% Pb acetate from postnatal day 1(PND 1)to PND 21 through drinking water),MT group(received 50 mg/mL MT through drinking water since 12-month-old for 3 months)and MT combined with lead exposure group(exposed to 0.2% Pb acetate from PND 1 to PND 21 and then given 50 mg/mL MT since 12-month-old for 3 months through drinking water).The Pb levels in the blood and hippocampus were determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry.Morris water maze was used to detect the spatial learning and memory.The phosphorylation level of tau and the protein level of GRP78 and CHOP in hippocampus were detected by Western blotting.Results Compared with the control group,the Pb levels in the blood and hippocampus were significantly increased in lead exposure group(P<0.05),while MT treatment did not affect the Pb levels both in the blood and hippocampus.In the lead exposure group,the phosphorylation level of tau in the hippocampus was significantly increased compared with control group(P<0.01),and after treatment with MT,the phosphorylation level of tau in MT combined with lead exposure group was significantly decreased compared with the lead exposure group(P<0.05).Furthermore,the expression of GRP78 and CHOP in the hippocampus was significantly higher in lead exposure group than in control group(P<0.05),and after treatment with MT,the expression levels of GRP78 and CHOP were lower than those of the control group.Conclusion MT can ameliorate the phosphorylation level of tau in the hippocampus and defects of learning and memory in C57BL/6 mice with exposure to lead at early development stage,and this may be related with the modulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress.

This study was conducted to explore a proper training model of interns' clinical thinking ability under the construction of a new four-year system of medical laboratory technology courses, combined with the establishment of innovative standard whole process practice mode. Multi-teaching methods of clinical thinking, such as explanation of laboratory sheet, interactive teaching based on micro digital system, interdisciplinary multiple information system, combined PBL teaching and intern report, were applied and evaluated in the laboratory. Integrated application of these methods remarkably improved the intern's com-prehensive professional quality and their practice performance. All methods received high evaluation from both the interns and teachers.