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Objective To investigate the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and Toxocara infections among pregnant women in Hangzhou City, so as to provide baseline data for decreasing birth defects and improving the population quality. Methods A total of 235 pregnant women receiving prenatal diagnosis at the First People’s Hospital of Yuhang District during the period between February 2018 through December 2019 were recruited as the observation group, and 235 age-matched, non-pregnant healthy women at the same hospital during the same period served as the control group. The subjects’medical records were captured from the hospital management information system. Blood samples were collected from the observation and control groups and detected for the presence of IgG antibodies against T. gondii and Toxocara using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The seroprevalence of the IgG antibodies against T. gondii and Toxocara was compared between the observation and control groups. Results The subjects in the observation group had a mean age of 26.5 ± 4.3 years (range, 23 to 31 years), and gestational ages of 10 to 27 weeks, and the subjects in the control group had a mean age of 26.1 ± 5.7 years (range, 20 to 30 years). The seroprevalence rates of IgG antibodies against T. gondii (28.51% vs. 4.68%; χ2 = 34.85, P < 0.01) and Toxocara (24.26% vs. 5.11%; χ2 = 25.77, P < 0.01) were both significantly higher in the observation group than in the control group, and the seroprevalence of T. gondii and Toxocara co-infections was also significantly greater in the observation group than in the control group (13.19% vs. 2.13%; χ2 = 17.49, P < 0.01). Conclusions The seroprevalence rates of T. gondii and Toxocara infections and their co-infections are all high among pregnant women in Hangzhou City. Screening of T. gondii and Toxocara infections is strongly recommended during pregnancy.
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Purpose To investigate the expression characteristics and significance of P-selectin and HPA in benign and malignant hydatidform mole tissues. Methods By using immunohistochemical technique SP and RT-PCR, the expression of Pselectin and HPA was detected in 40 cases of benign hydatidiform mole tissues, and 12 malignant hydatidiform mole tissues.Meanwhile, 40 cases of normal placental villi tissues were observed. Results The protein positive rate and protein relative quantity expression and the mRNA relative quantity expression of P-selectin and HPA were gradually increasing in normal placenta villi tissues, benign hydatidiform mole tissues, and malignant hydatidiform mole tissues. The differences between groups were statistically significant (all P<0.05). The expression of P-selectin and HPA showed positive correlation (all P<0.05) in benign and malignant hydatidform mole tissues. Conclusion The over-expression of P-selectin and HPA promotes the occurrence and development of hydatidform mole. The detection of the expression levels of P-selectin and HPA is of great significance for the differential diagnosis and prognosis assessment of benign and malignant hydatidform mole. It could become a biological predictor of malignant development of hydatidform mole.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the efficacy of a 96-week course of nucleos(t)ide analogue and interferon (IFN) combination therapy for achieving seroconversion at 24 weeks after completion in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One-hundred-and-thirty-five CHB patients with positivity for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) were recruited for study between January 2005 and December 2008. All patients were given a 96-week course of nucleos(t)ide analogue (lamivudine or adefovir dipivoxil) alone (monotherapy controls, n = 45) or in combination with IFN or Pegylated-IFN-alpha-2a (Peg-IFNa-2a) (n = 90). At treatment weeks 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96, and at 24 weeks after treatment completion, serum samples were collected from all patients for assessment of biochemical, virological and serological responses to treatment. The biochemical response was indicated by normalization of the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level. The virologic response was indicated by a reduction in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA level to less than 1000 copies/ml. The serological response was indicated by seroconversion of either HBeAg or hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Statistical analysis was performed with the Chi-squared test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among the patients treated with nucleos(t)ide analogue and IFN combination therapy, 41.1% (37/90) achieved HBeAg seroconversion and 18.9% (17/90) achieved HBsAg seroconversion at the end of treatment. However, significantly less of the patients treated with nucleos(t)ide analogue monotherapy achieved HBeAg seroconversion and none achieved HBsAg seroconversion by end of treatment (33.3% and 0%, respectively; x2= 8.08, P less than 0.01 vs. the combination therapy group). Age stratification of the 17 HBsAg-seroconverted patients treated with combination therapy indicated that the HBsAg seroconversion rate was significantly higher in patients less than 30-years-old than those 30 and older (x2= 12.62 and 4.24, respectively, P less than 0.05). At post-treatment week 24, the 17 HBsAg-seroconverted patients treated with combination therapy showed HBsAg titers of less than 250 IU/ml; moreover, 11.8% (2/17) of these patients remained HBeAg-positive and 17.6% (3/17) showed abnormal ALT levels and elevated HBV DNA.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Prolonged nucleos(t)ide analogue plus IFN combination therapy can significantly improve the rate of HBsAg seroconversion in HBeAg-positive CHB patients, and this treatment regimen is especially efficacious in patients under the age of 30.</p>
Subject(s)
Humans , Antiviral Agents , Therapeutic Uses , Follow-Up Studies , Hepatitis B e Antigens , Blood , Hepatitis B, Chronic , Drug Therapy , Retrospective Studies , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the influence of insertion mutations occurring in the hydrophobic region, between amino acids 114 and 115, of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) on viral antigenicity and replication.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA was obtained from patients with HBsAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection and subjected to sequence analysis and comparison to GenBank reference sequences for HBV genotype B (AB073826) and genotype C (AF286594). Insertion mutations detected in the HBsAg region were used to make recombinant expression plasmids via site-directed mutagenesis. After transfecting the recombinant HBsAg into Huh7 cells, the mutants' effects on viral antigenicity and replication were evaluated by chemiluminescence microparticle immunoassay (CMIA) and Southern blot hybridization, respectively. The viral antigenicity of each mutant was predicted by bioinformatic analysis, using the Jameson-Wolf method to predict the antigenic index, the Hopp-Woods method to predict hydrophilicity, the Emini method to predict the probability of a region lying of the protein's surface, and the Karplus-Schulz method to predict the flexibility of the protein backbone.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Two CHB patients harbored HBV with insertion mutations in HBsAg: one with two (NT) and one with three (NTT) inserted amino acids between 114 and 115. The NTT recombinant HBsAg mutant showed no impact on viral replication and reacted weakly with anti-HBs in CMIA (P = 0.02). The antigen indices for the insertion of NTT were 1.00, -0.16, and 0.18, and insertion of the three amino acids affected the index values of five proximal amino acid sites (with an average increase of 0.13). The hydrophilic indices for the insertion of NTT were 0.2, -0.4, and -0.4, with no significant effect on the proximal amino acids. The insertion of the three amino acids changed both the surface probability (range: -0.55 to 2.97; affecting eight proximal amino acids) and the flexibility (range: -0.01 to 1.1; affecting five proximal amino acids).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The NTT three amino acids insertion in the HBsAg open reading frame, between 114 and 115 of the wild-type sequence, detected in a CHB patient may play a role in HBV immune escape without influencing the viral replicative capacity.</p>
Subject(s)
Adult , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , DNA, Viral , Genetics , Genotype , Hepatitis B Surface Antigens , Genetics , Hepatitis B virus , Genetics , Allergy and Immunology , Physiology , Mutagenesis, Insertional , Virus ReplicationABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the cost-effectiveness, benefit and utility of infant hepatitis B vaccination in Shanghai from 1992 to 2001.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>To calculate the cost of hepatitis B vaccination by cost analysis method. Both the numbers of persons with HBsAg positive and patient with hepatitis B, cirrhosis and liver cancer decreased as the index of direct effect. To study the sick-time and the cost of treating hepatitis B, cirrhosis and liver cancer patients, a face to face questionnaire was used and quasi method was adopted to understand the effect of cure and the course of hepatitis B. The cost benefit analysis method was also used to calculate the cost benefit of HBV vaccine. The disability adjusted life years (DALY) was regarded as an index of utility to measure the disease burden.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Input of 501,129.49 Yuan might have the result of reducing one liver cancer patient, ten cirrhosis patients, one hundred chronic hepatitis B patients and one thousand HBsAg positive people. The cost of hepatitis B vaccination was 0.24 hundred million Yuan during the past ten years in Shanghai, which had obtained the total benefit value of 41.22 hundred million Yuan, with a cost benefit ratio of 1:172 Yuan. It was estimated that the total disease burden of hepatitis B, cirrhosis and liver cancer patients was 59,762.55 DALY in order to reduce one DALY loss cost of 402.50 Yuan.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>HBV vaccine inoculation in infants seemed to be a low-cost input and high-effect output strategy.</p>