ABSTRACT
@#Abstract: Objective To explore the early diagnostic value of peripheral blood peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) combined with γ-interferon (IFN-γ) release assay (IGRA) in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and to provide reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Methods From January 2019 to December 2021, 70 ESRD patients with suspicious symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis were treated at Hebei Chest Hospital were selected as the research objects. According to the examination results, they were divided into ESRD group (40 cases) and ESRD complicated by pulmonary tuberculosis (40 cases, comorbidity group). In addition, 40 cases with pulmonary tuberculosis were used as the PTB group. All three groups of patients underwent IGRA test, and the peripheral blood PPARγ level was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the diagnostic value of PPARγ combined with IGRA test for ESRD patients with pulmonary tuberculosis was explored. Results The expression level of PPARγ and IFN-γ content in the PTB group and the comorbidity group were obviously higher than those in the ESRD group (P<0.05), while the differences in PPARγ expression level and IFN-γ content between the PTB and comorbidity groups were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The ROC curve showed that the areas under the curve (AUC) of PPARγ and IGRA in the diagnosis of end-stage renal disease combined with tuberculosis were 0.823 (95%CI: 0.722-0.925) and 0.773 (95%CI: 0.662-0.883), respectively, and the AUC of combined detection was 0.928 (95%CI: 0.871-0.984), which was better than that of PPARγ and IGRA alone (Z/P=2.057/0.039, 2.843/0.005). The Kappa values of serum PPARγ and IGRA test compared with the clinical gold standard results in the diagnosis of ESRD complicated with pulmonary tuberculosis were 0.557 and 0.444 (P<0.05). The combined screening of ESRD with pulmonary tuberculosis was consistent with the clinical gold standard (Kappa=0.661, P<0.05). Among the 30 ESRD patients complicated with pulmonary tuberculosis, the sensitivity of PPARγ combined with IGRA test in diagnosis of ESRD complicated with pulmonary tuberculosis was 93.33% (28/30), which was higher than 70.00% (21/30) of PPARγ and 66.67% (20/30) of IGRA test alone (P<0.05). Conclusions Peripheral blood PPARγ and IGRA tests have certain diagnostic value for ESRD complicated with tuberculosis, and the combined detection of the two can improve the sensitivity and reduce the rate of missed diagnosis, which is worthy of clinical promotion.
ABSTRACT
Cordyceps is a fastidious pathogenic fungus infecting insects, and recent years have witnessed rapid progress in its medical properties. In this study, a wild isolate, C. cicadae MP12, was characterized through in vitro cultivation and its nuclear small-subunit (SSU) ribosomal DNA (rDNA) data. In vitro culture of C. cicadae MP12 was established by growing its fruiting bodies in a solid matrix. C. cicadae MP12 was inoculated into Cryptotympana atrata cicada pupae for in vivo culture, where the fungi developed its fruiting body as well. The contents of adenosine and cordycepin in dried fruiting bodies after culture were 1421.45µg/g and 1398.12 µg/g, respectively. Therefore, the established cultures from this study could be used for the production of various medically important metabolic substances.
Subject(s)
Animals , Adenosine/analysis , Adenosine/isolation & purification , Cordyceps/genetics , Cordyceps/isolation & purification , DNA, Ribosomal/analysis , DNA, Ribosomal/isolation & purification , Fungi/pathogenicity , In Vitro Techniques , Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Enzyme Activation , Methods , VirulenceABSTRACT
Inflammation and infection play an important role in the pathogenesis of many cancers.Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a class of pattern recognition receptors that recognize conserved components of microbes and trigger the immune response against invading microorganisms.Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) recognizes non-methylated cytosine-phosphateguanosine (CpG) DNA sequences which are the surrogate for viral DNA.TLR9 may react to tumor development and progression during chronic inflammation that involves the tumor microenvironment.In order to study the role of TLR9 in cervical cancer,we analyzed the TLR9 expression in different types of HPV infection cervical cancer cells.Then we detected if CpG sequences influenced the TLR9 expression and the sensitivity to cisplatin (DDP) of these cervical cancer cells in vitro.The expression of TLR9 mRNA and protein in SiHa,Hela and C33A cells was detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting.Real-time PCR was used to examine the TLR9 expression changes induced by CpG.Chemosensitivity of the cervical cancer cells to cisplatin (DDP) was measured by MTT.It was observed that the expression of TLR9 mRNA and protein was increased gradually in SiHa (HPV16+),Hela (HPV18+) and C33A (HPV-) cells.Low doses of CpG increased the TLR9 expression only in C33A (HPV-) cells,but not in SiHa (HPV16+) and Hela (HPV18+) cells.Furthermore,low dose of CpG significantly increased the sensitivity ofC33A (HPV-) cells,but not that of SiHa (HPV16+) and Hela (HPV18+) cells.These results indicated that TLR9 may serve as a protective agent in HPV negative cervical cancer cells.It was concluded that TLR9 could improve the sensitivity to DDP in HPV negative cervical cancer cells and might represent a potential therapeutic option in clinical practice.
ABSTRACT
The cDNA encoding stathmin is identified from the brain and spinal cord cDNA library of Gekko japonicus. It contains a 450 bp open-reading-frame, corresponding to a deduced protein of 149 amino acids. At amino acid level, gecko stathmin shares more than 76.4% identities with vertebrate stathmins, and especially, it shares 100% identity with human stathmin, suggesting that the selective pressure must have been extremely high for the conservation of stathmin during the vertebrates including reptile evolution. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) shows that gecko stathmin is ubiquitously expressed in all tissues examined. In situ hybridization reveals that stathmin transcript mainly appear in the gray matter of spinal cord. The change of stathmin expression in spinal cord after tail amputation is examined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Stathmin expression increases at 1 day and 3 day after amputation and decreases to the control level at 1 week. However, the expression level increases again at 2 weeks. These suggest that stathmin may be associated with the immune protection of the injury, as well as in the regeneration of spinal cord.