Effects of weaning American glass eels (Anguilla rostrata) with the formula diet on intestinal microbiota and inflammatory cytokines genes expression.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of weaning American glass eels (Anguilla rostrata) with the formula diet on intestinal microbiota and the expression of inflammatory cytokines genes. During the feeding trial, the control group (termed IF group) was fed with initial feed for 34 days, and the experimental group (termed FF group) was fed with initial feed for 30 days, and then weaned with the formula diet for 4 days. After feeding trial, intestines were subjected to microbiota analysis using 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing, and expression of three inflammatory cytokines genes in gut were examined by qPCR. The results indicated that the species richness and diversity of intestinal microbiota exhibited significantly higher in FF group than that in IF group (P < 0.05). At the phylum level, the core intestinal microflora was the same for two groups. The most abundant phylum was Firmicutes in IF group, while it was Proteobacteria in FF group. Five genera were significantly higher in the IF group compared with the FF group, and Bacillus was the most major enriched biomarker at genus level. Nine genera were significantly higher in the FF group compared with the IF group, and Acidovorax was the most major enriched biomarker. Weaning from initial feeding diet to formula feeding diet enhanced the expression levels of TNF-α and IL-8, and there was no significant change in IL-1ß expression between the two groups. These findings would be very useful to improve the diet formulation for weaning stage of American glass eels.

Association between time of onset and Omicron BA.2 RNA clearance time in children: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: The association between the time of onset [time from the date of detection of a positive real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to the date of detection of a positive RT-PCR in the first child] and viral RNA clearance time (time from first positive RT-PCR to two consecutive negative RT-PCR) remains unclear. Our study aimed to evaluate their association. That can provide a reference for the number of nucleic acid tests. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of children diagnosed with Omicron BA.2 infection at Fujian Medical University Affiliated First Quanzhou Hospital between March 14, 2022 (date the first child in the outbreak was found positive for RT-PCR) and April 9, 2022 (date the last child was found positive for RT-PCR). We used the electronic medical record to extract demographic data, symptoms, radiology and laboratory findings, treatments, and viral RNA clearance time. The 282 children were divided equally into 3 groups according to the time of onset. We calculated the factors affecting viral RNA clearance time by univariate and multivariate analysis. We used the generalized additive model to investigate the relationship between the time of onset and viral RNA clearance time. Results: 46.45% of children were female. Fever (62.06%) and cough (15.60%) were the dominant onset symptoms. We found no serious cases and all children were cured. The median time to viral RNA clearance was 14 days (IQR 12-17 days), with a range of 5 to 35 days. After adjustment for potential confounders, the viral RNA clearance time was reduced by 2.45 (95% CI: 0.85, 4.04) days in the 7-10 days group and by 4.62 (95% CI: 2.38, 6.14) days in > 10 days group compared to the ≤6 days group. There was a non-linear association between the time of onset and viral RNA clearance time. Conclusions: Time of onset was non-linearly associated with Omicron BA.2 RNA clearance time. During the first 10 days of the outbreak, viral RNA clearance time decreased with increasing onset date. After 10 days of the outbreak, viral RNA clearance time did not decrease with increasing onset date.

Association between site of infection and mortality in patients with cancer with sepsis or septic shock: A retrospective cohort study.

Infections are associated with increased mortality in patients with sepsis or septic shock. However, to the best of our knowledge, the influence of the site of infection on patients with cancer remains unclear. The present study aimed to evaluate the association between the site of infection and mortality in patients with cancer and sepsis or septic shock. The present study was conducted in a Lebanon tertiary care centre from July 2010 to April 2015. A total of 176 patients with active cancer presenting to the emergency department with sepsis or sepsis shock were included in the present analysis. Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis of the effect of the site of infection on mortality were performed. The most common site of infection was the lung (37.50%), followed by the urinary tract (26.70%), unknown site (13.63%), gastrointestinal (13.07%) and others (9.10%). The overall mortality rate was 47.73%. Gastrointestinal infection (78.26%) was associated with the highest mortality, followed by pneumonia (62.12%). The urinary tract infection with the lowest mortality rate was the reference group. After adjusting for confounding variables, gastrointestinal infection was associated with the highest in-hospital mortality [hazard ratio (HR), 2.64; 95% CI, 1.25-5.55], followed by pneumonia (HR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.03-3.68). The association between site of infection and 28-day and 60-day mortality was analysed by Cox regression, as well as by stratified analysis to investigate the association between site of infection and mortality from haematological and solid tumors. Gastrointestinal infection had a higher mortality rate. In conclusion, the site of infection had the same association with mortality in patients with solid and haematological tumours.

Molecular insight, expression profile and subcellular localization of two STAT family members, STAT1a and STAT2, from Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica.

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) and STAT2 are critical components of type I and type II IFNs signaling. To date, seven STAT family proteins have been identified from mammals. However, the information on STAT genes in teleost fish is still limited. In the present study, two STAT family genes (STAT1a and STAT2) were identified from Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica and designated as AjSTAT1a and AjSTAT2. The open reading frames of AjSTAT1a and AjSTAT2 are 2244 bp and 2421 bp, encoding for polypeptides of 747 aa and 806 aa, respectively. Both AjSTAT1a and AjSTAT2 contain the conserved domains of STAT proteins. Phylogenetic analysis was performed based on the STATs protein sequences, and showed that AjSTAT1a and AjSTAT2 shared the closest relationship with Oncorhynchus mykiss. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that AjSTAT1a and AjSTAT2 were expressed in most examined tissues, with the highest expression both in blood. Significantly up-regulated transcripts of AjSTAT1a and AjSTAT2 were detected in response to poly I:C stimulation, and Edwardsiella tarda induced increase in the expression of AjSTAT1a and AjSTAT2 genes. Subcellular localization analysis showed that in both IFNγ-stimulated and unstimulated EPC cells AjSTAT1a and AjSTAT2 were mainly distributed in the cytoplasm, but few AjSTAT1a was distributed in the nucleus. All these results suggested that AjSTAT1a and AjSTAT2 may be critical for regulating the host innate immune defense against pathogens invasion.

A Closed-Tube Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Assay for the Visual Detection of Staphylococcus aureus.

Food-borne diseases induced by Staphylococcus aureus contamination seriously affect human health and food safety. Therefore, a closed-tube loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for the visual detection of S. aureus was developed in this study. Firstly, two pairs of outer and inner primers were designed targeting on a conserved fragment of gyrB gene in different S. aureus strains. Secondly, the weakly buffered gyrB-LAMP assays were optimized under various pH values and other conditions, followed by the visual evaluation of five pH-sensitive indicators, and the cresol-red was chosen as the best dye for the best visual performance. Thirdly, the cresol-red-based LAMP assay showed good sensitivity with the detection limit of 5.4 copies/µL for purified DNAs, and good specificity with no cross-reaction with other related species. The specificity of the amplified products was further confirmed by XbaI restriction enzyme digestion analysis. Finally, the cresol-red-based LAMP assay was validated by the clinical-dried fish samples inoculated with known numbers of S. aureus and further validated by 20 blind samples. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a closed-tube LAMP assay based on pH-sensitive indicators for the visual detection of the food-borne S. aureus by the gyrB gene.