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Urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis ( Ct) infection is a serious sexually transmitted disease worldwide. The early diagnosis and treatment of Ct infection is critical for disease control. This review summarized the progress in the development of methods for detecting Ct infection and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of various methods. The emerging omics techniques in recent years are expected to be new tools for the detection of Ct infection. It is necessary to develop the omics techniques into rapid and accurate point-of-care tests that can be carried out in various testing environments for more effective patient management and disease control.
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Persistent Chlamydia trachomatis urogenital tract infection may lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and tubal infertility in women, and urethritis, epididymitis and other complications in men, which is a hotspot and chanllenge in disease control at home and abroad. In recent years, many researches have shown that Chlamydia trachomatis aberrant reticulate body may be one of the major causes of persistent infection. This review summarized the genomic and proteomic characteristics of Chlamydia trachomatis aberrant reticulate body induced under various conditions in vitro, aiming to elucidating its role in antimicrobial resistance. The identification of persistent infection-related factors, providing new diagnostic targets for the detection of subclinically refractory long-term infections, is a prerequisite for finding appropriate methods to diagnose and treat the complications of Chlamydia trachomatis infection and is crucial for identifying new targets in the post-genomic era.
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The emergence of a large number of drug-resistant bacteria has brought severe challenges to clinical anti-infection treatment. Phage therapy is considered to be a very promising method to cope with this dilemma, which has been explored and applied in many disciplines. Its efficacy has also been confirmed in clearing skin and mucous membrane infections, and it has become a hot spot in international research. The use of phage cocktails, phage lysozymes and phage proteins has shown good efficacy in the treatment of drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, Bacillus proteus, etc. This review summarizes the background, characteristics, development of phage therapy, and its application and prospects in skin and genitourinary tract infections.
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Proteases are enzymes that cleave and hydrolyse the peptide bonds between two specific amino acid residues of target substrate proteins. Protease-controlled proteolysis plays a key role in the degradation and recycling of proteins, which is essential for various physiological processes. Thus, solving the substrate identification problem will have important implications for the precise understanding of functions and physiological roles of proteases, as well as for therapeutic target identification and pharmaceutical applicability. Consequently, there is a great demand for bioinformatics methods that can predict novel substrate cleavage events with high accuracy by utilizing both sequence and structural information. In this study, we present Procleave, a novel bioinformatics approach for predicting protease-specific substrates and specific cleavage sites by taking into account both their sequence and 3D structural information. Structural features of known cleavage sites were represented by discrete values using a LOWESS data-smoothing optimization method, which turned out to be critical for the performance of Procleave. The optimal approximations of all structural parameter values were encoded in a conditional random field (CRF) computational framework, alongside sequence and chemical group-based features. Here, we demonstrate the outstanding performance of Procleave through extensive benchmarking and independent tests. Procleave is capable of correctly identifying most cleavage sites in the case study. Importantly, when applied to the human structural proteome encompassing 17,628 protein structures, Procleave suggests a number of potential novel target substrates and their corresponding cleavage sites of different proteases. Procleave is implemented as a webserver and is freely accessible at http://procleave.erc.monash.edu/.
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Objective To certify that Chlamydia can spread from the genital tract to the gastrointestinal tract for long-lasting colonization.Methods Totally,120 female C57BL/6J mice aged 5-6 weeks were divided into 4 experimental groups to be inoculated with purified Chlamydia muridarum (C.muridarum) elementary bodies in the vagina (n =35),gastric area (n =30),anus and rectum (n =30),retro-orbital venous plexus (n =5) respectively.Moreover,corresponding negative groups inoculated with sucrose phosphate glutamate buffer (n =5) were set up for each experimental group.On days 3,7,and every 7 days,vaginal and rectal discharges were collected with swabs from the mice,and the number of live C muridarum orgnisms in exfoliated cells infected with C muridarum in the swabs was determined.Indirect immunofluorescence assay and quantitative PCR (qPCR) were performed to determine the number of live chlamydial organisms and the copy number of chlamydial genomes in the mouse genital tract (vagina,uterus,oviduct and ovary),gastrointestinal tract (stomach,small intestine,cecum,colon,rectum)and parenteral tissues (heart,liver,spleen,lung,kidney) on days 7,14,28,56 and 105 after the inoculation.The number of live chlamydial organisms and copy number of chlamydial genomes were transformed logarithmically with a base of 10.The degree of hydrosalpinx and inflammation in the genital tract,and histopathological changes of the gastrointestinal tract were observed.The infectivity and virulence of C.muridarum in the genital tract and gastrointestinal tract were evaluated in the intragastric inoculation group and intra-anal and intrarectal inoculation group on days 28 and 56 after the inoculation.Blood samples were obtained from the mouse caudal vein in the retro-orbital venous plexus inoculation group on days 3,5,7,10 and 14 after the inoculation,the number of live chlamydial organisms and the copy number of chlamydial genomes in the blood samples were determined,and chlamydial infectivity in the genital tract and gastrointestinal tract was evaluated on day 56.Results On day 7 after the inoculation in the vagina,both C.muridarum live organisms and genomes were detected in the genital tract,gastrointestinal tract and parenteral tissues of all the mice.The largest common logarithm of the number of C.muridarum inclusion forming units (IFU) was observed in the vagina (6.26 ± 0.56),with the common logarithm of the copy number of chlamydial genomes in the vagina being 7.30 ± 0.23,and the common logarithms of the number of Chlamydia IFU and genomic copy were 2.60 ± 1.95 and 4.87 ± 0.09 respectively in the rectum.On day 28,no live Chlamydia was detected in the heart,lung or other parenteral tissues,while live Chlamydia could be found in the genital tract and gastrointestinal tract.The common logarithms of the number of Chlamydia IFU and genomic copy were 3.47 ± 1.06 and 5.80 ± 1.49 respectively in the vagina,and 4.00 ±0.35 and 5.14 ± 0.81 respectively in the rectum.On day 56,live Chlamydia could only be detected in the gastrointestinal tract.On day 105,live Chlamydia and its genomes could be still detected in the gastrointestinal tract,and the common logarithms of the number of Chlamydia IFU and genomic copy could be up to 2.60 ± 0.65 and 4.29 ± 0.57 respectively in the rectum.On days 28 and 56 after the inoculation,both live Chlamydia and its genomes could be detected in the gastrointestinal tract of all the mice in the intragastric inoculation group and intra-anal and intrarectal inoculation group.Chlamydia could survive in the blood for about 14 days in the retro-orbital venous plexus inoculation group,and live Chlamydia was detected in anal-rectal swabs in all the mice on day 14.On day 56 after the intravaginal inoculation with C.muridarum,severe hydrosalpinx,chronic inflammation and oviduct dilation occurred in the genital tract of 5 mice,but there was no obvious infiltration of inflammatory cells in the gastrointestinal tract,and inflammatory pathological changes were not observed in the gastrointestinal tract of mice after inoculation with Chlamydia through other routes either.Conclusion The infection with Chlamydia in the genital tract can lead to systemic dissemination,and Chlamydia can be spread to the gastrointestinal tract,and colonize and survive in the gastrointestinal tract for a long time.
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Objective To investigate the correlation between serum vitamin D level in human body and Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) genitourinary tract infection. Methods This study enrolled 174 outpa-tients (male: 95, female: 79, 20-49 years) infected with Ct and 380 healthy subjects (male: 211, female:169, 20-49 years) in Tianjin from November 1, 2016 to March 15, 2017. Blood samples were collected from all subjects after fasting overnight and the time points for sample collection in the Ct infection group were before and after a course of antibiotic treatment. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25-(OH)D] levels were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). PCR assay was used to assess the recovery in those patients one month after a course of treatment. Two case-control studies were respectively conducted, in which 161 patients and 161 healthy subjects as well as 41 uncured patients and 41 cured patients were randomly selected and matched for gender and age. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS19. 0. Re-sults The two case-control studies showed that vitamin D deficiency was a risk factor for both Ct genital tract infection and poor efficacy, of which the adjusted ORs were 2. 281 (95％ CI: 1. 438, 3. 619) and 7. 266 (95％ CI: 2. 551, 21. 036). Among all subjects aged 20-39, male patients had lower 25-(OH)D level in serum than healthy men [(40. 10±17. 93) nmol/ L vs (53. 72±18. 00) nmol/ L, P< 0. 01] and fe-male patients also had lower 25-(OH)D level in serum than healthy women [(35. 71±19. 99) nmol/ L vs (45. 42±16. 08) nmol/ L, P<0. 01]. The levels of 25-(OH)D in uncured male and female patients were re-spectively lower than those in cured male and female patients [(30. 50±14. 53) nmol/ L vs (41. 32±17. 24) nmol/ L; (29. 47±16. 66) nmol/ L vs (41. 37±21. 03) nmol/ L; both P<0. 05]. Conclusion Vitamin D deficiency related to Ct infection in human genitourinary tract and poor prognosis. Lower serum vitamin D levels might increase the risk of Ct genitourinary tract infection and reduce the efficacy of treatment.
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Objective To systematically evaluate the efficacy of azithromycin and doxycycline in the treatment of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection.Methods Databases including Cochrane library,PubMed,EMBASE,CBMdisc,CNKI and Wanfang were searched from January 1,1980 to October 2017 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the efficacy of azithromycin versus doxycycline in the treatment of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection.In these RCTs,negative microbiological findings were defined as cure.Patients in the treatment group were treated with azithromycin,and those in the control group were treated with doxycycline.Two researchers independently extracted data and evaluated the quality of these RCTs.Statistical analysis was done by using Stata 12.0 software.Results A total of 24 research reports were enrolled,including 24 RCTs and 2 369 patients.There were 1 302 patients in the azithromycin group and 1 067 in the doxycycline group.Meta-analysis showed that there was a significant difference in the microbiological response rate between the treatment group and the control group.A fixedeffect model was used to combine the response rate,and showed that the response rate to doxycycline was superior to that to azithromycin,with a risk difference of 2.8％ (95％ CI,0.9％-4.6％).Conclusion The microbiological response rate to azithromycin is lower than that to doxycycline in the treatment of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection,but more RCTs are required to confirm the clinical efficacy of doxycycline.
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Objective To construct active phages against Chlamydia trachomatis,and to evaluate its effect on Chlamydia trachomatis.Methods The M13 phage was recombined with the IN5 sequences encoding the capsid protein VP1 of chlamydiophage phiCPG1,and then the recombinant M13-IN5 phage was obtained.PCR amplification,enzyme digestion and sequencing were performed to verify whether the target fragment was inserted into the phage successfully.The viability of the phage was evaluated by plaque formation assay.Cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) assay was conducted to evaluate the effect of M13 phage and recombinant M13-IN5 phage at the titer of 1011 plaque-forming units (PFU)/ml on the proliferation of Hela cells,and Hela cells uninfected with chlamydia served as the blank control group.Western blot analysis was performed to determine the expression of the IN5 loop protein in the recombinant M13-IN5 phage,M13 phage and Escherichia coli ER2738 at exponential growth phase.Cultured standard Chlamydia trachomatis serovar E strain was treated with M13 phage and recombinant M13-IN5 phage at the titer of 1011 PFU/ml separately,and chlamydia control group without the treatment with phages was set up.After 36-hour infection,confocal microscopy was performed to detect the location of the M13 phage and the recombinant M13-IN5 phage.Moreover,iodine staining was conducted to count inclusion bodies at 36,48,60 and 72 hours separately after infection.Statistical analysis was carried out by a two-sample t-test for comparisons between two groups,one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for intergroup comparison,and Bonferroni test for multiple comparisons.Results The bioactive recombinant M13 phage containing the IN5 loop gene was constructed successfully,and Western blot analysis confirmed that the recombinant phage expressed IN5 loop/p Ⅲ fusion protein with a high titer of 3.05 × 1011 PFU/ml.As CCK8 assay showed,there was no significant difference in proliferation of Hela cells among the blank control group,M 13 phage group and recombinant M13-IN5 phage group (A450 values:3.63 ± 0.01,3.55 ± 0.02,3.70 ± 0.01,respectively,F =12.0,P ＞ 0.05).Confocal microscopy showed overlap between the phage fluorescence and chlamydial inclusion body fluorescence.The M13-IN5 phage group and M13 phage group both showed significantly decreased number of inclusion bodies compared with the control group (both P ＜ 0.05) at 36 and 72 hours after chlamydial infection,and the number of inclusion bodies was significantly lower in the M 13-IN5 phage group than in the M13 phage group (P ＞ 0.05).After 48,and 60 hours of chlamydial infection,the number of inclusion bodies did not differ among the M13 phage group,M13-IN5 phage group and control group (both P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions The recombinant M13-IN5 phage was bioactive and could successfully express the IN5 loop protein.In the in vitro experiments,the recombinant phage could enter into chlamydia inclusion bodies,and markedly inhibited the infection of Chlamydia trachomatis.
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Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of IN5 from chlamydiaphage phiCPG1 capsid protein Vp1 on Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct).Methods PCR was used to amplify IN5 gene from Vp1 DNA of phiCPG1, then the recombinant plasmid pET28a/IN5 was constructed.After transformation, the fusion protein IN5 was induced,identified and purified.Ct was incubated with the purified IN5 protein or Vp1 protein.After 48 h of incubation, the inclusion bodies were counted with iodine staining and indirect immunofluorescence.One-way ANOVA was used to compare the difference of inclusion bodies among groups.If the difference among the groups was statistically significant, the Bonferroni method was used to compare any two mean values.Finally, the inhibitory rate of IN5 protein and Vp1 protein to Ct was calculated.Results IN5 protein from chlamydiaphage phiCPG1 capsid protein Vp1 was successfully obtained.At the same concentration of 53μg/mL,the inhibitory rates of Ct growth in IN5 and in Vp1 groups were 52.42% and 78.04%, respectively.Conclusion IN5 protein has inhibitory effect on the growth of Ct,but the inhibitory rate is lower than that of Vp1, which provides a preliminary clue for searching the dominant region of Vp1 protein inhibiting the growth of Ct.
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Objective To investigate the efficacy of widely used antibiotics for urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis infection in recent 5 years.Methods A total of 2 809 cases of Chlamydia trachomatis urogenital infected patients who visited STD clinics of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital from 2006 to 2010 were collected.All the patients had accomplished a course of treatment of azithromycin, minocycline, moxifloxacin or clarithromycin and followed up for 3 months (once every month).Cochran-Armitage trend test was used to analyzed the antibiotics effect changing trends overtime.Results From 2006 to 2010, the etiology clearance rates of azithromycin were 76.70% (79/103), 74.19% (92/124), 74.13% (106/143), 71.43% (100/140) and 70.77% (92/130), respectively;those of minocycline were 75.31% (61/81), 64.67% (97/150), 66.53% (159/239), 65.05% (188/289) and 63.03% (104/165), respectively;those of moxifloxacin were 88.82% (167/188), 86.23% (119/138), 82.96% (185/223), 81.19% (233/287) and 81.03% (158/37), respectively;those of clarithromycin were 82.93% (34/41), 80.49% (33/41), 79.25% (42/53), 78.18% (43/55) and 75.00% (18/24), respectively.Ochran-Armitage trend test showed that antimicrobial efficacy of moxifloxacin for urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis infection rates declined year by year (P0.05).Conclusions The etiology clearance rate of moxifloxacin is the highest but gradually declines by years, and that of azithromycin takes the second place, while the treatment efficacy of minocycline is lower but quite stable.The number of cases treated with clarithromycin is too small to draw a conclusion.
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Objective@#To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of penciclovir combined with foscarnet sodium in the treatment of herpes zoster.@*Methods@#The clinical datas of 135 herpes zoster patients from the ward of Department of Dermatology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital were collected. Among them 64 patients received penciclovir and foscarnet sodium, and the remaining 71 patients only received penciclovir alone.Their general information, the time for vesicle stopped emerging, rash began to scab, pain to relief obviously, the adverse reaction and if they got the postherpetic neuralgia were recorded and included into statistical analysis.@*Results@#The general information showed no significant differences between the 2 groups(all P>0.05). The time for vesicle stopped emerging, rash began to scab, pain to relief obviously in combination group was shorter than the penciclovir group (all P<0.001). The number of patients who developed postherpetic neuralgia of combination group was fewer than that of penciclovir group(P=0.013). There was no statistical significance between the 2 groups the adverse reaction(P=0.928).@*Conclusions@#The penciclovir and foscarnet sodium combination therapy showed rapid therapeutic effects on herpes zoster patients, the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia was low, and there was no more side effects than penciclovir alone therapy. The combined therapy may be a reliable way to treat herpes zoster.
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We investigated the effects of γ-interferon and exogenous indole on the growth of domestic dominant standard strains and clinical straìns of Chlamydia trachomatis E-UW-5/Cx,and compared with the dominant strains of D-UW-5/Cx abroad.We used DMEM-10,DMEM-10 containing 5 ng/mL recombinant human interferon gamma (referred to as DMEM-10+IFN) and DMEM-10 containing 5 ng/mL recombinant human interferon gamma and 50 μM exogenous indole (referred to as DMEM-10+IFN+IND) to culture C.trachomatis,and then we fixed it with methanol to count inclusions after 48 hours,observing the influence of r-interferon and exogenous indole on the growth of C.trachomatis standard strains(E,D) and clinical strains.Results showed that the count of Chlamydia inclusion bodies in DMEM-10+IFN group was significantly lower than others (P＜0.05);no significant difference was found (P＞0.05) between the count of DMEM-10 group between DMEM-10+IFN+IND group.There were no significant difference between the E and D standard or clinical strains (P＞0.05).Under the effect of IFN-γ,the growth of domestic dominant strain E-UW-5/Cx C.trachomatis was significantly inhibited.After adding exogenous indole,C.trachomatis can escape the scavenging activity of IFN-γγto restore the infection vitality.
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Objective To compare the effect of enteral nutrition liquid with different dietary fiber content on serum protein in patients with stress hyperglycemia.Methods A total of 90 patients with stress hyperglycemia were randomly divided into three groups:enteral nutritional suspension (SP) group (Peptisorb),enteral nutritional suspension (TPF-FOS) group (Jevety) and enteral nutritional suspension (TPF-D) group (Glucerna),each group consisting of 30 patients.In the three groups,prealbumi (PA),serum albumin (ALB),retinol binding protein (RBP),transfer-rin (TRF) and hemoglobin (Hb) were continuously measured on the 1st,2nd,3rd,4th,5th,6th and 7th day.Data were analyzed by SPSS 15.0.Variances on time and group were analyzed by repeated measures of general linear model.Results The PA,ALB,RBP,TRF and Hb were significantly different among Peptisorb group,Jevety group and Glucerna group (P＜ 0.05).The PA,ALB and Hb which were determined in different time,were not significantly impacted by Peptisorb,Jevety or Glucerna,and not significantly changed with time.The RBP and TRF which were determined at different time,were not impacted by Peptisorb,Jevety or Glucema,but time× group from RBP and TRF which were determined in different time,were significantly impacted in Peptisorb group,Jevety group and Glucerna group (P＜ 0.01).Conclusion The content from different dietary fiber significantly affects serum protein in patients with stress hyperglycemia,and TPF-D has the most significant effect on serum protein.
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Objective To obtain the full length (FL ) and C‐terminal fragment of polymorphic membrane protein I (PmpI) of Chlamydia trachomatis serovar D ,and to study the immunogenicity of these proteins .Methods The target genes of PmpI‐FL and PmpI‐C were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and inserted into the prokaryotic plasmid vector pGEX‐6P‐1 .The recombinant plasmids pGEX‐6P‐1/PmpI‐FL and pGEX‐6P‐1/PmpI‐C were separately transformed into Escherichia .coli ( E . coli) DH5αand were identified by enzyme digestion ,sequencing and PCR .After the identification ,the recombinant plasmids were separately transformed into E .coli BL21 and induced to express the proteins . The expected proteins were identified by Coomassie brilliant blue staining and Western blot ,then purified by glutathione S‐transferase (GST) MagBeads .The purified proteins were then injected into BALB/c mice to prepare the polyclonal antibodies against PmpI‐FL or PmpI‐C .Enzyme‐linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) was used for the quantitative detection of the specific antibody .Results The lengths of cloned target genes PmpI‐FL and PmpI‐C were 2 659 bp and 1 195 bp ,respectively ,and the sequences were consistent with those of Chlamydia trachomatis serovar D in GenBank .The molecular masses of target proteins were 122 000 and 69 000 ,respectively ,which were confirmed by Coomassie brilliant blue staining and Western blot and then purified .The titers of the antibodies (anti‐PmpI‐FL and anti‐PmpI‐C) in sera of immunized mice detected by ELISA were 1∶12 800 and 1∶6 400 ,respectively .Conclusion The PmpI‐FL‐GST and PmpI‐C‐GST fusion proteins with high immunogenicity are successfully expressed and purified , which lays the foundation for further study .
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Objective To clone and express the polymorphic membrane protein I(PmpI)gene of Chlamydia trachomatis(Ct), and to assess the immunogenicity and biological characteristics of PmpI. Methods A bioinformatic software was used to analyze the sequence of the PmpI gene of Ct, and to predict B cell epitopes in PmpI. With Ct serovar D DNA as the template, PCR was performed to amplify the N?terminal region(from position 90 to 1464)of the PmpI gene, which was cloned into a prokaryotic expression vector pET28a to express the recombinant protein PmpI. A Ni?ion affinity chromatography column was used to purify the recombinant protein, which was used to immunize New Zealand rabbits for preparation of polyclonal antibodies. Western blot analysis was conducted to evaluate the immunogenicity of this protein. Results A comprehensive analysis was carried out on the secondary structure, flexible regions, hydrophilicity plot, antigenic index and surface probability plot of the protein, which suggested that PmpI had 8 dominant B?cell epitopes. The product of PCR targeting the PmpI gene of Ct serovar D showed a total length of 1 375 bp. The recombinant prokaryotic expression vector pET28a?PmpI was successfully constructed. A recombi?nant protein with a relative molecular mass of approximately 50 000 was successfully expressed after isopropylβ?d?1?thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) induction, and purified by affinity chromatography. Polyclonal antibodies against the recombinant protein were successfully prepared. Conclusion The N?PmpI protein of Ct serovar D is cloned and expressed successfully, laying a foundation for further studies on its biological functions.
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Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of Wumei Wan (Fructus Mume Pills) for diabetic gastroparesis with the syndrome of cold-heat mixture. Methods Sixty-eight diabetic gastroparesis patients with the syndrome of cold-heat mixture were evenly randomized into treatment group and control group. On the basis of treatment for controlling the blood glucose level, the treatment group was given oral use of Wumei Wan and the control group was given oral use of Cisapride. After treatment for one month, the therapeutic effect of both groups was evaluated, and the changes of gastrointestinal symptoms, gastric emptying, 2-hour postprandial glucose(2hPG), glycosylated hemoglobin(HbA1c), and fasting plasma glucose(FPG) in both groups were also observed. Results (1)The total effective rate of the treatment group was 88.24%, and that of the control group was 67.65%, the difference being significant(P<0.05). (2 ) After treatment , the scores of gastrointestinal symptoms of nausea and vomiting, gastric fullness, anorexia, belching and acid regurgitation, abdominal and gastric pain, diarrhea, and constipation in the treatment group were markedly improved(P<0.05 or P<0 . 01 compared with those before treatment ). In the control group, symptom relief was shown in nausea and vomiting, anorexia, and diarrhea(P<0.05). The treatment group had better effect on relieving nausea and vomiting, abdominal and gastric pain, diarrhea, and constipation than the control group(P<0.05 or P<0.01). (3)After treatment, 2hPG, FPG and HbA1c levels were obviously decreased in both groups(P<0.05 compared with those before treatment) , and the decrease in the treatment group was superior to that in the control group (P<0.05). (4)After treatment, half gastric emptying time, full gastric emptying time, and the contraction of gastric antrum were improved in both groups(P<0.05), and the improvement of gastric emptying in the treatment group was superior to that in the cont rol group(P<0.05). Conclusion Wumei Wan has better effect for the treatment of diabetic gastroparesis than western medicine Cisapride.
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Objective To evaluate inhibitory effects of the Chlamydiaphage phiCPG1 capsid protein Vp1 on Chlamydia psittaci strain guinea pig inclusion conjunctivitis (GPIC) and Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) serovar E,and to provide new ideas for the treatment of Ct infection.Methods The Chlamydiaphage phiCPG1 capsid protein Vp1 was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 transfected with the recombinant plasmid Vp1-pET30a (+),identified by Western blot analysis and purified by using dialysis bags.Bicinchonininc acid (BCA) assay was performed to determine the concentration of Vp1 protein.GPIC and Ct serovar E strains were both classified into 4 groups to be firstly incubated with Vp1 protein (Vp1 group),Tris-glycine solution (Tris group),S protein (S group) or Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM,DMEM group) at room temperature for 3 hours,then were used to infect Hela cells followed by 72-hour (GPIC) or 48-hour (Ct serovar E) culture with the presence of Vp 1 protein (Vp 1 group),Tris-glycine solution (Tris group),S protein (S group) or DMEM (DMEM group).Subsequently,immunofluorescence staining was conducted to observe and count chlamydial inclusions.Results The number of GPIC inclusions was significantly different between the 4 groups after 72-hour culture (F=476.632,P＜ 0.05),and lower in the Vp1 group (5.0 ± 1.5) than in the Tris group (24 ± 1.2,P＜ 0.05),S group (25 ± 1.7,P＜ 0.05) and DMEM group (25 ± 1.5,P＜ 0.05),but insignificantly different between the latter 3 groups (P ＞ 0.05).Compared with the DMEM group,the Vp1 group showed a significant decrease of 80.2％ ± 3.99％ and 77.2％ ± 1.79％ in the number of GPIC and Ct serovar E inclusions respectively,with no significant difference in the inhibitory effect of Vp1 on GPIC versus Ct serovar E (t =2.057,P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion The phiCPG1 capsid protein Vp1 can obviously inhibit GPIC and Ct serovar E infections to a similar degree.
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Objective To evaluate the susceptibility of Chlamydia trachomatis clinical isolates to rifampin, and assess the relationship between rpoB mutations and antibiotic resistance in them.Methods A microculture method was used to determine the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of rifampin in 52 Chlamydia trachomatis clinical isolates.The rpoB gene was amplified from all the clinical isolates and a standard strain of Chlamydia trachomatis followed by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP)analysis.Sequencing of PCR products was carried out for two clinical isolates.Results No rifampin-resistant strain was found among these clinical isolates.The MIC of rifampin varied from 0.004 to 0.030 mg/L Neither SSCP analysis nor sequencing showed rpoB mutations.Conclusions No rpoB mutations were found in Chlamydia trachomatis isolates from patients unresponsive to rifampin.The unresponsiveness to rifampin may be attributed to multiple factors.
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Objective To evaluate the effects of interleukin-22(IL-22)on the expression of tazarotene-induced gene 3(TIG3)in HaCaT cells. Methods Cultured HaCaT cells were randomly divided into several groups to be treated with different concentrations (12.5, 25, 50, 100 μg/L)of IL-22 alone, or the combination of 50 μg/L IL-22 with the MAPK-ERK1/2 inhibitor PD98059 or the JAK/STAT inhibitor AG490 for 24 hours. Those HaCaT cells treated with phosphate buffered saline served as the control group. Subsequently, total proteins and mRNAs were extracted from the HaCaT cells. An immunofluorescence assay, Western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were performed to determine the protein expression level of TIG3, and real-time fluorescence-based quantitative PCR to quantify the mRNA expression of TIG3 in HaCaT cells. Results The immunofluorescence assay showed that TIG3 protein was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm of HaCaT cells. As Western blot revealed, the protein expression level of TIG3 was 0.743 ± 0.035, 0.678 ± 0.040, 0.582 ± 0.041 and 0.328 ± 0.032 in HaCaT cells treated with IL-22 of 12.5, 25, 50 and 100μg/L, respectively, significantly lower than that in the control group (0.839 ± 0.045, all P<0.05). ELISA also showed a decrease in the protein expression of TIG3 in IL-22-treated HaCaT cells, which was consistent with Western blot results. Further more, the mRNA expression level (2-△△Ct)of TIG3 was significantly weaker in HaCaT cells treated with IL-22 of 12.5, 25, 50 and 100μg/L than in the control group (0.838 ± 0.036, 0.686 ± 0.061, 0.565 ± 0.047 and 0.457 ± 0.033 vs. 1.000, all P< 0.05). The decrease in TIG3 mRNA and protein expressions was significantly attenuated in HaCaT cells treated with the combination of 50 μg/L IL-22 with PD98059 or AG490 compared with those treated with 50 μg/L IL-22 alone. Conclusion IL-22 can dose-dependently inhibit the expression of TIG3 in HaCaT cells, likely through the MAPK-ERK1/2 and JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathways.
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Objective To optimize immunodominant protein combinations for serological screening for Cblamydia trachomatis (Ct) infection.Methods Both serum and genital swab samples were collected from 50 patients with Ct infection confirmed by colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay (GICA),and 30 GICA-negative clients without Ct infection at a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic in Tianjin Medical University General Hospital.The 30 serum samples from GICA-negative clients were also negative for microimmunofluorescence (MIF) assay.Eight Ct immunodominant proteins,including Pgp3,CPAF,CT143,CT101,CT694,CT875,CT813 and IncA,were selected as antigens to detect corresponding antibodies in the serum samples by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with the Ct proteins Hsp60 and major outer membrane protein (MOMP) as references.The results of ELISA were compared with those of the traditional gold standard method MIF assay to determine the immunodominant protein combination with the highest sensitivity and specificity.Results Of the 50 serum samples from patients with Ct infection,44 were positive and 6 negative by MIF.The results of ELISA with the combination of immunodominant proteins Pgp3,CT694 and CT875 as antigens were 97.73％ (43/44) consistent to those of MIF assay.Of the 30 serum samples from GICA-negative clients,all were negative by MIF.Meanwhile,no antibody was detected against any of the immunodominant proteins Pgp3,CT694 and CT875 in any of the serum samples from GICA-negative clients.Conclusions The ELISA with the combination of immunodominant proteins Pgp3,CT694 and CT875 as antigens has good sensitivity and specificity for serological screening for Ct infection,and is simple to operate and easy to popularize.