Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio and hypersensitive C-reaction protein are associated with miscarriage during the second trimester of pregnancy.

This study investigated whether biomarkers in the second trimester of pregnancy, including the white blood cell (WBC) count, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) concentration, and procalcitonin (PCT) concentration, were associated with miscarriage during the second trimester of pregnancy. Sixty-two asymptomatic patients in their second trimester of pregnancy were included in the control group (group A). Among 67 patients diagnosed with late threatened miscarriage, 46 patients with ongoing pregnancy were included in group B and 21 patients with subsequent miscarriage were included in group C. The serum of these patients was collected and the biomarkers were analyzed. A paired-samples t-test was used for the comparison between the groups before and after the miscarriage. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was performed to evaluate the predictive value of different biomarkers for miscarriage during the second trimester of pregnancy. WBC count, neutrophil percentage, and hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in group C than in groups A and B (p<0.05). Lymphocyte percentage and albumin levels decreased significantly from group A to group C (p<0.05). In contrast, NLR increased significantly from group A to group C (p<0.05). There was a significant decrease in the WBC count, neutrophil percentage, hemoglobin concentration, and post-miscarriage NLR among the cases with miscarriage (p<0.05). The area under the curve of WBC count, NLR, hs-CRP, and the combination of these three factors for the prediction of late miscarriage varied from 78.0% to 82.6%. The combination of these three factors had the highest specificity of 91.1%, while hs-CRP had the highest sensitivity of 88.9%. WBC count, NLR, and hs-CRP levels are strongly associated with miscarriage during the second trimester of pregnancy, indicating that they are potential predictive biomarkers.

[Characteristics and drug resistance of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli in animal feces, from Shandong Province].

Objective: To understand the infection status, characteristics and drug resistance of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in animal feces in Shandong Province. Methods: From 2015 to 2016, convient sampling method was used to collect 1 022 fresh feces of animals in Weishan county and Laizhou city, and 24 non-O157 STEC were isolated. The serotypes of non-O157 STEC strains were confirmed through serum agglutination test. The susceptibility was explored through the antimicrobial sensitivity experiments. ESBLs activity was confirmed by double-disc diffusion. PCR method was used to detect the resistance genes. PFGE typing was operated to assess the relatedness and variability of the strains. The multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) was adopted to get the allelic profile and ST sequence of strains. Analysis was made on the evolutionary relationship between different ST groups was made through CLC Sequence Viewer and Counting Express. Results: A total of 24 non-O157 STEC were isolated from animal feces. 23 strains were from pig feces, and 1 strain was from cow feces, and the serotypes were more dispersed. All of the 24 strains carried stx2 genes. The highest resistance rate was sulfamethoxazole(22 strains), the mount of cotrimoxazole and nalidixic acid was 18 strains, chloramphenicol was 13 strains, tetracycline was 19, and there was a phenomenon of multiple drug resistance. The drug resistance spectrum was sulfamethoxazole tetracycline-compound novammin-naphthidine-chloramphenicol. All strains were sensitive to cefepime and imipenem. The ESBLs confirmatory test showed that 4 strains of non O157 STEC produced beta lactamase. PCR detected 7 resistance genes, and 4 tetracycline resistance genes (Tet A, Tet B, tetC and tetD) were detected. The beta lactamase resistance genes (blaSHV-1, bla CTX-M, bla TEM) were all negative. 24 strains were divided into 15 PFGE types, and their clustering results were more dispersed and no dominant PFGE type. There were 11 kinds of MLST types, most of them are ST540 and ST5133 types, each of which was 4 strains, and clustered into 1 MLST genomes. Conclusion: The serotypes of non-O157 STEC in animal feces O157 STEC were dispersed, and the resistant rate to common antibiotic was high. MLST typing results presents obvious polymorphism. Surveillance and manage ment of these strains should be strengthened.

[Research Progress of CircRNA and Its Application Prospect in Forensic Medicine].

Circular RNA （circRNA） is a type of noncoding RNA with tissue specificity and high stability, which forms a closed continuous loop and is abundantly expressed in tissue cells. According to recent research, the regulatory function of circRNA elucidating in the occurrence and development of disease shows a potential for diagnosing clinical disease and revealing disease mechanism. This paper reviews the biological characteristics, analysis methods of circRNA and its research progress in clinical application as biomarker, and outlooks its application in the field of forensic medicine.

[Serotype identification and antibiotic susceptibility of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in the Weishan area in Shandong Province, China].

Objective: To determine the serotypes and drug resistance profiles of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in animal stools from the Weishan area in Shandong Province, China. To provide the basis for further study. Methods: Five hundred animal stool samples (from pigs, cattle, sheep, dogs and birds) were collected from the Weishan area and STEC strains were isolated from these samples. Strains were serotyped by a serum agglutination test, and their drug resistance profiles were determined through antimicrobial sensitivity experiments. In this study, PCR was used to detect tetracycline resistance genes (tetA, tetB, tetC, tetD) and beta-lactam resistance genes (blaSHV-1, blaCTX-M, blaTEM). Results: Sixteen strains of STEC were isolated from animal stool samples. Thirteen strains were isolated from pig stool samples, two from bovine stool samples and one from a sheep stool sample. Two of the strains were identified as E. coli O157:H7, and other 14 strains were non-O157 STEC of different serotypes. Antimicrobial sensitivity experiments showed that 15 of the strains were multidrug resistant. The rates of resistance were as follows: nalidixic acid (12/16 strains), sulfisoxazole (11/16), trimethoprim and sulphame-thoxazole (11/16), doxycycline (9/16), azithromycin (9/16), tetracycline (9/16), chloramphenicol (8/16) and streptomycin (8/16). Therefore, nalidixic acid showed the highest rate of resistance among the strains, followed by trimethoprim and sulphame-thoxazole, and sulfisoxazole. Resistance to cefepime or imipenem was not detected. In total, three types of drug resistance genes (tetA, tetB and tetC) were detected among the 16 strains. Conclusion: The results showed that STEC strains isolated from animals in the Weishan area were of a range of serotypes. The 16 strains of STEC isolated from animal stools in this area were resistant to a number of antibiotics, with many strains displaying multidrug resistance.

Newborn dopaminergic neurons are associated with the migration and differentiation of SVZ-derived neural progenitors in a 6-hydroxydopamin-injected mouse model.

The use of the existing endogenous neural progenitor cells (NPCs) in the brains of adult mammalian animals is challenging for cell therapy in treating Parkinson's disease (PD). Previous studies have indicated that there is a low level of neurogenesis in the substantia nigra (SN) of adult mice. To assess the regenerative/neurogenic capacity of NPCs following an intranigral injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), the proliferation and differentiation of subventricular zone (SVZ)- and midbrain-derived NPCs were investigated, and the origin of SN newborn dopaminergic neurons was traced by using Nestin-CreERTM::ROSA26-LacZ mice and constructing a plasmid CD133-Promoter2-Cre. Our results showed that an intranigral injection of 6-OHDA-induced loss of dopaminergic neurons produced a significant increase in the SVZ-derived NPCs of the third ventricle (3V), cerebral aqueduct (Aq), and their surrounding regions. The SN newly generated dopaminergic neurons might contribute a little to an incomplete recovery of the nigrostriatal system. In addition, we found that SN newborn dopaminergic neurons were mainly derived from the migration and differentiation of the NPCs in the 3V- and Aq-SVZ and their adjacent regions. Thus, it will become an ideal strategy to treat PD by promoting the proliferation and differentiation of endogenous NPCs.

Mechanical effects of liriodenine on the left ventricular-arterial coupling in Wistar rats: pressure-stroke volume analysis.

1. In a recent in vivo study, liriodenine, an aporphine alkaloid, has been identified as a prominent anti-arrhythmic agent that can prevent rats' sudden deaths, even at the dose as low as 10(-7) g kg(-1). The aim of this study was to determine whether liriodenine at its effective anti-arrhythmic dose of 10(-7) g kg(-1) had effects on the left ventricular (LV)-arterial coupling in Wistar rats. 2. LV pressure and ascending aortic flow signals were recorded to construct the ventricular and arterial end-systolic pressure-stroke volume relationships to calculate LV end-systolic elastance (E(es)) and effective arterial volume elastance (E(a)), respectively. The optimal afterload (Q(load)) determined by the ratio of E(a) to E(es) was used to measure the optimality of energy transmission from the left ventricle to the arterial system. 3. Liriodenine at the dose of 10(-7) g kg(-1) showed no significant changes in basal heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO), LV end-systolic pressure (P(es)), E(a), E(es), and Q(load). 4. By contrast, liriodenine at the dose of 10(-6) g kg(-1) produced a significant fall of 2.0% in HR and a significant rise of 5.8% in CO, but no significant change in P(es). Moreover, liriodenine administration of 10(-6) g kg(-1) to rats significantly decreased E(es) by 8.5% and E(a) by 10.6%, but did not change Q(load). 5. We conclude that liriodenine at the dose of 10(-7) g kg(-1) has no effects on the mechanical properties of the heart and the vasculature and the matching condition for the left ventricle coupled to its vasculature in rats. Even at 10 times the effective anti-arrhythmic dose, liriodenine shows no effects on the efficiency of energy transferred from the left ventricle to the arterial system.

Effects of feeding tuna oil on the lipid composition of pig spermatozoa and in vitro characteristics of semen.

The aim of the present study was to characterize the effects of feeding tuna oil on the lipid and fatty acid composition of boar spermatozoa and to relate changes in composition to boar semen characteristics. Ten boars were paired by age and allocated to one of two diets (five boars per diet). The diets, which were offered for 6 weeks, consisted of a basal diet that was either unsupplemented or supplemented with 30 g tuna oil kg(-1) diet. Adding tuna oil to the diet increased the ether extract concentration of the diets fed from 65 to 92 g kg(-1) dry matter and supplied 10.5 g long chain polyunsaturated (n-3) fatty acids per 100 g total fatty acids. There were no changes in semen fatty acid composition after 3 weeks of feeding tuna oil. However, after 5 and 6 weeks, the proportions (g per 100 g total fatty acids) of 22:6(n-3) in sperm phospholipid fatty acids were increased from 34.5 to 42.9 g by feeding tuna oil and 22:5(n-6) decreased from 29.8 to 17.9 g. No changes were observed in other sperm lipids or seminal plasma phospholipids as a result of the diets fed. Feeding tuna oil increased the proportion of spermatozoa with progressive motility and with a normal acrosome score and reduced the proportion of spermatozoa with abnormal morphologies.