The Distribution Frequency of Interferon-Gamma Receptor 1 Gene Polymorphisms in Interferon-γ Release Assay-Positive Patients.

Tuberculosis is caused by mycobacterium, a potentially fatal infectious bacterium. In recent years, TB cases increased in the whole world. WHO statistics data shows that the world's annual tuberculosis incidence was 8~10 million with about 3 million deaths. Several studies have shown that susceptibility to tuberculosis may be associated with IFNGR1 gene polymorphisms. Here, we report the distribution frequency of IFNGR1 gene polymorphisms in 103 cases of IGA-negative patients and 100 cases of IGA-positive patients from China by sequencing the IFNGR1 proximal ~750 bp promoter region. We found a total of 5 types of site mutations: -611 (G/A), -56 (T/C), -255 (C/T), -359 (T/C), and -72 (C/T). The two main types of gene polymorphisms among the IGA-negative and IGA-positive groups were -611 (G/A), with mutation rates of 88.3% and 78.4%, respectively, and -56 (T/C), with mutation rates of 84.5% and 83.8%, respectively, which had no statistical significance, and there was no correlation with the incidence of tuberculosis.

Value of Combined Detection of Serum CEA, CA72-4, CA19-9, CA15-3 and CA12-5 in the Diagnosis of Gastric Cancer.

BACKGROUND: To examine whether the combined detection of serum tumor markers (CEA, CA72-4, CA19-9, CA15-3 and CA12-5) improves the sensitivity and accuracy in the diagnosis of gastric cancer (GC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: An automatic chemiluminescence immune analyzer with matched kits was used to determine the levels of serum CEA, CA72-4, CA19-9, CA15-3, and CA12-5 in 87 patients with gastric cancer (GC group), 60 patients with gastric benign diseases (GBD group) who were hospitalized during the same period, and 40 healthy subjects undergoing a physical examination. The values of these 5 tumor markers in the diagnosis of gastric cancer were analyzed. RESULTS: The levels of serum CEA, CA72-4, CA19-9, and CA12-5 were higher in the GC group than in the GBD group and healthy subjects, and these differences were significant (P<0.001). Although the level of CA15-3 was higher than those of benign lesion and healthy control groups, the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The combined detection of CEA, CA72-4, CA19-9, and CA12-5 had a higher diagnostic value for gastric cancer than did single detection, and the positive detection rate of the combined detection of the four tumor markers was 60.9%. The diagnostic power when using the combined detection of CA72-4, CEA, CA19-9, and CA12-5 was the best. CONCLUSIONS: The combined detection of serum CA72-4, CEA, CA19-9 and CA12-5 increases the sensitivity and accuracy in the diagnosis of GC and can thus be considered an important tool for early diagnosis.

Genomic characterization of novel IncFII-type multidrug resistant plasmids p0716-KPC and p12181-KPC from Klebsiella pneumoniae.

This study aimed to genetically characterize two fully-sequenced novel IncFII-type multidrug resistant (MDR) plasmids, p0716-KPC and p12181-KPC, recovered from two different clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates. p0716-KPC and p12181-KPC had a very similar genomic content. The backbones of p0716-KPC/p12181-KPC contained two different replicons (belonging to a novel IncFII subtype and the Rep_3 family), the IncFIIK and IncFIIY maintenance regions, and conjugal transfer gene sets from IncFIIK-type plasmids and unknown origins. p0716-KPC and p12181-KPC carried similar three accessory resistance regions, namely ΔTn6209, a MDR region, and the bla KPC-2 region. Resistance genes bla KPC-2, mph(A), strAB, aacC2, qacEΔ1, sul1, sul2, and dfrA25, which are associated with transposons, integrons, and insertion sequence-based mobile units, were located in these accessory regions. p0716-KPC carried two additional resistance genes: aphA1a and bla TEM-1. Together, our analyses showed that p0716-KPC and p12181-KPC belong to a novel IncFII subtype and display a complex chimeric nature, and that the carbapenem resistance gene bla KPC-2 coexists with a lot of additional resistance genes on these two plasmids.

Identification of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Using Simultaneous Detection of mecA, nuc, and femB by Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP).

The aim of this study was to develop a rapid detection assay to identify methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by simultaneous testing for the mecA, nuc, and femB genes using the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method. LAMP primers were designed using online bio-software ( http://primerexplorer.jp/e/ ), and amplification reactions were performed in an isothermal temperature bath. The products were then examined using 2% agarose gel electrophoresis. MecA, nuc, and femB were confirmed by triplex TaqMan real-time PCR. For better naked-eye inspection of the reaction result, hydroxy naphthol blue (HNB) was added to the amplification system. Within 60 min, LAMP successfully amplified the genes of interest under isothermal conditions at 63 °C. The results of 2% gel electrophoresis indicated that when the Mg2+ concentration in the reaction system was 6 µmol, the amplification of the mecA gene was relatively good, while the amplification of the nuc and femB genes was better at an Mg2+ concentration of 8 µmol. Obvious color differences were observed by adding 1 µL (3.75 mM) of HNB into 25 µL reaction system. The LAMP assay was applied to 128 isolates cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which were separated from the daily specimens and identified by Vitek microbial identification instruments. The results were identical for both LAMP and PCR. LAMP offers an alternative detection assay for mecA, nuc, and femB and is faster than other methods.