ABSTRACT
Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics of Brucella infection in Shenzhen City, and to provide reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment of patients with Brucella infection. Methods:The clinical characteristics of 57 patients with Brucella infection from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020 in The Third People′s Hospital of Shenzhen were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical characteristics of patients with brucellosis and latent Brucella infection, patients with or without comorbidities were compared respectively, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and lumbar puncture examination findings of 57 patients were also analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using Wilcoxon rank sum test and chi-square test. Results:Among the 57 patients with Brucella infection, 10 cases (17.5%) were latent infections and 47 cases (82.5%) were brucellosis patients. Among brucellosis patients, 91.5%(43/47) had fever and 74.4%(32/43) had maximum body temperature ≥38.1 ℃, 40.4%(19/47) had chills orshivering, 25.5%(12/47) had hyperhidrosis, 17.0%(8/47) had fatigue, 21.3%(10/47) had headache, 23.4%(11/47) had neck/back/low back pain, and 31.9%(15/47) had joint pain. A total of 18 cases (38.3%) had comorbidities. Cases with positive blood cultures in latent infection and brucellosis were seven and 39, respectively. The time from symptom onset to diagnosis was 30.0 (15.0, 67.5) days in 18 patients of brucellosis with comorbidity, which was longer than 20.0 (13.0, 30.0) days in 29 patients without comorbidity. Neck/back/low back pain and joint pain occurred in patients with brucellosis with comorbidity were seven and nine, respectively, and those without comorbidity were four and six, respectively, with statistically significant differences ( Z=-2.00, χ2=3.90 and 4.39, respectively, all P<0.050). Of the 11 brucellosis patients with neck/back/low back pain, six had spondylitis. Of the 15 brucellosis patients with joint pain, six had arthritis. Lumbar puncture examination did not indicate meningitis in six cases of latent infection, while revealed six cases of brucellosis meningitis in 32 brucellosis patients. Fifty-four patients had good outcomes, and three patients were cured after an extended course of treatment. Conclusions:Although patients with latent Brucella infection have no comorbidities, they have a high positive blood culture rate. Active standardized anti- Brucella treatment is recommended. MRI examination of relevant sites is recommended in brucellosis patients with joint, neck/back/low back pain, and lumbar puncture is recommended in brucellosis patients regardless of headache.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of allele-31 C>T on the binding activity to IL-1βpromoter of the nuclear transcription factor C/EBPβand PU.1 induced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.Methods The electrophoretic mobility shift assay ( EMSA) was performed to explore whether the nuclear transcription factor C/EBPβand PU.1 could bind to -31 region in IL-1βpromoter.The C/EBPβ-and PU.1-expressing vectors were constructed and co-transfected into HeLa cells with IL-1βpromoter luciferase vector.The expression of C/EBPβand PU.1 was confirmed using Western blotting assay, and the promoter activity was determined using Dual-Glo Luciferase system under various transfection conditions. Lentivirus-mediated RNA interference was used to explore the effects of C/EBPβand PU.1 on IL-1βexpression.GraphPad Prism 5.0 was used for data analysis.Results EMSA results showed that both C/EBPβand PU.1 could bind to -31 region in IL-1βpromoter.Both C/EBPβand PU.1 induced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection could increase IL-1βpromoter activity, especially for the -31 T allele (t=22.33 and 7.98,PT can induce IL-1βpromoter activity and gene transcription through regulation of binding activity to C/EBPβand PU.1 induced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.