ABSTRACT
Objective To summarize the characteristics of Chinese coccidioidomycosis cases, improve the diagnosis and treatment of this disease and prevent misdiagnosis as well as therapeutic error.Methods Search in databases including Medline,Wanfang,and CNKI using "Coccidioidomycosis" and "China" as index words yielded 23 articles that reported a total of 32 Chinese coccidioidomycosis cases.In addition,one patient with disseminated coccidioidomycos was treated in our center in April 2016.The demographic data,site of infection,clinical manifestations,past medical history,exposure history,imaging and laboratory findings,and pathological features of these 33 patients were analyzed.Results Among these 33 patients,7(21.2%)had visited an epidemic area and 6(18.2%)were immunocompromised.The disease involved the respiratory system,skin,bone,central nervous system,cornea,and stomach in 24,6,3,2,1,and 1 patients,respectively.Eight patients (24.2%) had multiple system involvement,and three of them died.The imaging findings included pulmonary nodules(=14),mediastinal lymphadenopathy(=5),solid shadow(=4),cavity(=4),pleural effusion(=3),multiple plaques(=2)and masses(=2).Coccidiolys cysts were detected in the affected tissues(=28)or in pus,exudate or pleural smear(=3);in addition,coccidioides mycelium and spores were found in the sputum,pus,and tissue cultures in 4 cases,among whom only 2 cases were confirmed by serological examination.The treatments included triazoles(=20),systemic or local administration of amphotericin B(=13),surgical resection of the lesion(=8),and intravenous gamma globulin(=1).Five patients died,among whom three had underlying diseases that caused immunosuppression and one was an infant.The prognoses were relatively good in the remaining patients.Conclusions Early diagnosis and proper treatment can achieve good prognosis in coccidioidomycosis patients.Multi-system involvement and immunosuppression are risk factors for poor prognosis of coccidioidomycosis.For these patients,adequate and full-course medication may prevent rapid disease progression.
Subject(s)
Humans , China , Coccidioides , Coccidioidomycosis , Diagnosis , Pathology , Therapeutics , PrognosisABSTRACT
Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore whether or not the antidepressant actions of fluoxetine [FLX] are correlated with extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 [ERK1/2] and nuclear factor k-light chain enhancer of activated B cells [NF-kB] in the hippocampus [HC] and prefrontal cortex [PFC] of rats
Materials and Methods: A total of 108 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 6 groups of 18 rats each. Group 1 was the control group, while group 2 comprised the depressed model in which rats were subjected to 28 days of forced-swimming stress [FST]; groups 3-6 were also subjected to 28 days of FST and treated with FLX once a day for 1 day [group 3; F1d], 1 week [group 4; F1w], 2 weeks [group 5; F2w], or 4 weeks [group 6; F4w]. The control group was not subjected to FST or treated with FLX. Behavior tests that included the Morris water maze [MWM] and sac- charin preference were performed, and ERK1/2 and NF-kB proteins were assayed using Western blot
Results: The rats in the control group and in groups 5 and 6 [F2w and F4w, respectively] had a significantly shorter average escape latency, needed more attempts in order to successfully cross the platform, and had a greater saccharin preference than those in the depressed group [p < 0.05]. In the depressed group, the phosphorylated ERK1/2 [p-ERK1/2] and phosphorylated NF-kB [p-NF-kB] expression in the HC and PFC were lower than in the control group [p < 0.05]. Treatment with FLX reversed the changes in the expression of p-ERK1/2 and p-NF-kB in rats in the F2w and F4w groups
Conclusions: In this study, FLX treatment for 2 weeks or longer reversed the impaired spatial learning, memory, and anhedonia observed in the depressed model rats and upregulated the activities of the ERK1/2-NF-kB signaling pathway
ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore an effective method of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus protein extraction suitable for two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) analysis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The extracts of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus were prepared with Coca's solution, lysis buffer of 2-DE, and Trizol reagent, respectively. Bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay was used to determine the total protein concentration of the samples. The efficiency of different protein extraction methods were evaluated with 2-DE analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The concentrations of extracted protein by methods of Coca's solution, lysis buffer, and Trizol reagent were 0.63 g/L, 0.90 g/L, and 0.80 g/L, respectively. The 2-DE analysis results showed that some protein spots in low molecular weight (LMW) range could be detected with the Coca's solution method. With the lysis buffer of 2-DE method, more protein spots in LMW range could be detected, while the medium molecular weight (MMW) protein spots were absent. Several MMW protein spots (174-178 kD and 133 kD) and more LMW protein spots were detected with Trizol reagent method.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Among Coca's solution, lysis buffer of 2-DE, and Trizol reagent, the concentration of extracted protein of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus by lysis buffer of 2-DE is the highest. However, most protein components of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus purified mite bodies can be extracted by Trizol reagent, which may generally reflect the whole profile of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus allergens.</p>