Changes in peripheral blood inflammatory factors (TNF-α and IL-6) and intestinal flora in AIDS and HIV-positive individuals / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

OBJECTIVE@#In this study, we investigated the changes in peripheral blood inflammatory factors and intestinal flora in acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive individuals (AIDS/HIV patients), and explored the relationships among intestinal flora, peripheral blood inflammatory factors, and CD4+ T lymphocytes.@*METHODS@#Thirty blood and stool samples from an AIDS group and a control group were collected. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the number of CD4+ T lymphocytes by a FACSCount automated instrument. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to determine the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, and Enterococcus faecium. Correlations among intestinal flora, inflammatory factor levels, and CD4+ T lymphocyte values were evaluated using the Spearman correlation coefficient.@*RESULTS@#The levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in the AIDS group were higher than those in the control group, while the number of CD4+ T lymphocytes was lower. The amounts of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus in the AIDS group were significantly lower than those in control group, while the amounts of E. coli, E. faecalis, and E. faecium were much higher. The amounts of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus were negatively correlated with the content of TNF-α and IL-6 and the CD4+ T lymphocyte count, while those correlations were reversed for E. coli, E. faecalis, and E. faecium.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The intestinal microbiota of AIDS/HIV patients were disordered, and there was a correlation between the amount of intestinal flora and the number of CD4+ T lymphocytes and the levels of TNF-α and IL-6.

Clinical characteristics of patients suffered from nervous system involved severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome / 中国感染控制杂志

Objective To analyze clinical characteristics of patients suffered from nervous system involved severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS).Methods Clinical data of SFTS patients who were admitted to Qingdao Sixth People’s Hospital between January 2016 and December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed.Accor-ding to whether there was nervous system involvement,they were divided into two groups,clinical data of two groups of patients were compared and analyzed;SFTS patients with nervous system involvement were subdivided in-to death group and survival group according to the final outcome,clinical data of two groups were compared and ana-lyzed.Results The median date of occurrence of neurological symptoms in SFTS patients was at day 6 of disease process. There were statistical differences in age,skin ecchymosis/severe bleeding tendency,C-reactive protein,procalcitonin,Ca2+on admission,CD4+cell count,myocardial enzymes (LDH,CK,CKMB,HBDH),pulmonary inflammation,liver func-tion (ALT,Alb,AST),and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT)between nervous system involvement group and non-nervous system involvement group(all P＜0.05).Among patients with nervous system involvement,there were statistical differences in skin ecchymosis,the lowest value of PLT,positive rate of SFTSV-IgM antibody,CD3+cell count, CD4+cell count,LDH,Alb,and APTT between death group and survival group (all P＜0.05).Conclusion Most SFTS patients with nervous system involvement are elderly patients with seriously damaged coagulation function, liver function,myocardial enzymes and immune system,proportion of pulmonary infection is high.Among SFTS patients with nervous system involvement,impairment of coagulation function,immune function,liver function, and myocardial enzymes in deceased patients are more serious than those in survivors.