Whole-genome sequencing to characterize the genetic structure and transmission risk of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Yichang city of China.

Objective: The burden of both general and drug-resistant tuberculosis in rural areas is higher than that in urban areas in China. To characterize the genetic structure and transmission risk of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in rural China, we used whole genome sequencing to analyze clinical strains collected from patients in two counties of Yichang for three consecutive years. Methods: From 2018 to 2020, sputum samples were collected for cultures from patients with suspected tuberculosis in Yidu and Zigui county, and DNA was extracted from the positive strains for genome sequencing. The online SAM-TB platform was used to identify the genotypes and drug resistance-related mutations of each strain, establish a phylogenetic tree, and calculated the genetic distances between pairwise strains. Twelve single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were used as thresholds to identify transmission clusters. The risk of related factors was estimated by univariable and multivariable logistic regression. Results: A total of 161 out of the collected 231 positive strains were enrolled for analysis, excluding non-tuberculous mycobacterium and duplicate strains from the same patient. These strains belonged to Lineage 2 (92, 57.1%) and Lineage 4 (69, 42.9%), respectively. A total of 49 (30.4%) strains were detected with known drug resistance-related mutations, including 6 (3.7%) multidrug-resistant-TB (MDR-TB) strains and 11 (6.8%) RIF-resistant INH-susceptible TB (Rr-TB) strains. Six of the MDR/Rr-TB (35.3%) were also resistant to fluoroquinolones, which made them pre-extensively drug-resistant TB (pre-XDR-TB). There were another seven strains with mono-resistance to fluoroquinolones and one strain with resistance to both INH and fluoroquinolones, making the overall rate of fluoroquinolones resistance 8.7% (14/161). A total of 50 strains (31.1%) were identified as transmission clusters. Patients under 45 years old (adjusted odds ratio 3.46 [95% confidential intervals 1.28-9.35]), treatment-naive patients (6.14 [1.39-27.07]) and patients infected by lineage 4 strains (2.22 [1.00-4.91]) had a higher risk of transmission. Conclusion: The drug resistance of tuberculosis in rural China, especially to the second-line drug fluoroquinolones, is relatively serious. The standardized treatment for patients and the clinical use of fluoroquinolones warrant attention. At the same time, the recent transmission risk of tuberculosis is high, and rapid diagnosis and treatment management at the primary care needs to be strengthened.

[Sucrose Gel for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis: a phase II clinical trial].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effective dose and safety of S-Gel in the treatment of bacterial vaginosis. METHODS: Clinical research method of multi- center, randomly double-blind, and dose group parallel comparison was adopted. In the study, 96 bacterial vaginosis patients were randomized into three groups: Group A, S-Gel 5.0 g, 32 patients; Group B, S-Gel 7.5 g, 32 patients; Group C, placebo, 32 patients. The patients were treated with different methods. Safety and efficacy were analyzed 3 to 4 days and 8 days after the treatment, respectively. RESULTS: The efficacy of comprehensive clinical treatment showed that: 8 days after the treatment, the cure rates of group A (5.0 g), group B (7.5 g), and group C (placebo) were 84.38%, 86.67%, and 3.13% respectively. No difference of statistic significance was found in groups A and B, difference of statistical significance was found in group A and group C, group B and group C respectively (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: As compared with placebo, S-Gel 7.5 g and 5.0 g bid (in the morning and evening) could obviously improve the clinical efficacy index and laboratory index of bacterial vaginosis. Other effects included the release of clinical symptoms, and the recovery of the normal micro-environment in the vagina. No significant difference was found in the cure rates of the two dose groups.