Change of Hepcidin in Patients with Iron Overload at the Tibet Plateau / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the possible etiological factors of iron overload through detecting plasma hepcidin level of adult males at Tibet plateau.@*METHODS@#81 Tibetan male adult patients hospitalized in our department during January 2017 - December 2018 were selected, and divided into iron overload group and non-iron overload group. The difference in serum ferritin, serum iron, total iron binding capacity, hemoglobin, HBSAg, ALT, AST, albumin, creatinine and hepcidin of patients in each group were tested. To analyze the differences between groups. The regression analysis was applied to analyze the relationship between laboratory index and hepcidin.@*RESULTS@#The plasma hepcidin of iron overload group was significantly higher than that of the non-iron overload group [93.69 (65.57-133.92) ng/ml vs 63.93 (40.01-90.65) ng/ml] (P=0.005). And there was a positive correlation between plasma hepcidin and ferritin (β=0.03 ng/ml，95%CI 0.01-0.05) (P<0.01) and BMI (β=5.71 ng/ml，95%CI 0.54-10.88) (P<0.05）.@*CONCLUSION@#Iron overload at Tibet plateau can not be attributed to hepcidin deficiency in Tibetan adult male patients. Iron metabolism disorders in Tibetan population may be associated with metabolic syndrome.

Non-modified magnetic beads coupled with multiple real-time PCR for detection and quantification of mycotoxigenic fungi in paprika samples / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a method for detecting 3 common toxigenic molds (Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Fusarium) based on non-modified magnetic beads coupled with multiple real-time PCR (NMB-multiple qPCR).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The primers and genus-specific probes were designed based on the rDNA sequences to develop a multiple real-time PCR using non-modified magnetic bead to enrichment of fungal spores. The sensitivity, specificity and repeatability of this assay were evaluated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The detection limit of this assay for spiked samples was 10(4) CFU/g, demonstrating a 10-fold greater detection sensitivity of this assay than that of real-time PCR. The NMB-multiple qPCR assay also showed good specificity and reproducibility and yielded comparable results with those by traditional colony counting method for spiked samples (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>NMB-multiple qPCR assay we established allows rapid and sensitive detection of common mycotoxigenic fungi in paprika.</p>