Health risk cause of water around landfill in hilly area and prevention and control countermeasures.

Evaluating the health risks of the groundwater and surface water in landfill areas is of great significance to the health and safety of local residents. The current practice of health risk assessment is based only on the analysis results of groundwater and surface water samples, which reflect the current situation of water security in landfill areas. However, due to the neglect of risk causes analysis, thus a health risk assessment is insufficient to provide rigorous scientific countermeasures for risk prevention and control. The health risks caused by groundwater and surface water is mainly controlled by the water quality, which is comprehensively controlled by the conditions of its formation and evolution. When a landfill site is located in a hilly area, the environmental characteristics, causes, main controlling factors, and evolution processes of the surface water and groundwater in different parts of the catchment are significantly different. This study used a municipal solid waste landfill area in a hilly area as an example and defined the causes and main controlling factors of regional health risks caused by water based on an analysis of the characteristics of natural and anthropogenic factors affecting the groundwater and surface water. Then, prevention and control countermeasures were proposed for health risks caused by water in different parts of the landfill area. This study provides a method for the causes analysis and prevention and control countermeasures of health risks caused by water in municipal solid waste landfills in hilly areas.

The Prognosis of Patients Tested Positive for Stenotrophomonas maltophilia from Different Sources.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the prognosis of patients tested positive for Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (SMA) from different sources. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted among 651 patients tested positive for SMA from January 2020 to October 2022 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University. The patients were divided into seven groups by the source of SMA. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify risk factors for mortality in patients tested positive for SMA from different sources. Results: A total of 651 SMA isolates were collected from various sources, including sputum (348 isolates, 53%), bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (52, 8%), abdominal drainage fluid (76, 12%), wound secretion (66, 10%), blood (62, 10%), urine (41, 6%) and cerebrospinal fluid (6, 1%). Compared with other groups, the mortality of the patients in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid culture group, blood culture group, and abdominal drainage fluid culture group was higher, at 40.38%, 32.26%, and 26.32%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that continuous renal replacement therapy was an independent risk factor for mortality in patients with SMA bloodstream infection (P=0.020, OR=6.86), and effective antimicrobial therapy after being positive for S. maltophilia isolates (P=0.002, OR=0.10) was negatively correlated with the death of patients with SMA bloodstream infection. Age ≥65 years (P= 0.043, OR=4.96), kidney disease (P=0.045, OR=4.62) and antifungal agent exposure (P=0.036, OR=5.13) were independent risk factors for mortality in patients with SMA intra-abdominal infection. Antifungal agent exposure (P=0.024, OR=0.51) and glycopeptide exposure (P=0.045, OR=0.53) were independent risk factors for mortality in patients in the sputum culture group. Conclusion: SMA has a high rate of antimicrobial resistance and can cause multisite infection. Pulmonary infections, bloodstream infections and abdominal infections caused by SMA have high mortality, and timely standardized treatment can reduce mortality.

Correlation between Stool DNA-based SDC2 Methylation Tests Combined with Tumor Markers with Pathological Features in Colorectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is the most efficient strategy to reduce disease-related mortality. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association of a methylation-based stool DNA test with serum protein biomarker panel (CEA, CA125, CA199, and AFP) in CSC patients and their relationship with pathological features to improve the diagnostic efficacy and applicability in CSC in the Chinese population. METHODS: In this double-blinded case-control study, we enrolled 150 participants from our hospital, including 50 CRC patients, 50 adenomas, and 50 healthy controls. We compared the cycling threshold (Ct) values of stool DNA-based SDC2 measured by quantitative methylation-specific PCR (MSP) in the three groups. We also evaluated the differences and correlation between serum concentrations of tumor biomarker and pathological features in patients with CSC, including TNM stage (I, II, III), tumor size, and lymph node metastasis. The discrimination performance of indexes was assessed using sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS: CSC was more common in middle-aged people and men. The methylation-based stool DNA test was not significantly correlated with other tumor indicators except CEA, and the difference was statistically significant. Compared with the normal control group, the combined diagnostic value of the methylation-based stool DNA test and tumor indicators was significantly higher than individual biomarkers alone, especially the methylation-based stool DNA test combined with CEA and AFP, which improved the AUC to 0.96. This combination can increase the positive rate of pathological stage diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Combining a methylation-based stool DNA test with CEA and AFP can significantly improve the diagnostic value of CRC and can be used to confirm the diagnosis of colorectal cancer. This combination can also be used as a reliable indicator identifying early-stage CRC patients and pathology. A large-scale study is underway to further define the clinical application of this method for the diagnosis of CRC among Chinese populations.

Anti-Biofilm Enzymes-Assisted Antibiotic Therapy against Burn Wound Infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa can form biofilms at the site of burn wound, leading to infection and the failure of treatment regimens. The previous in vitro study demonstrated that a combination of the quorum-quenching enzyme AidHA147G and the extracellular matrix hydrolase PslG was effective in inhibiting biofilm and promoting antibiotic synergy. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of this combination of enzymes in conjunction with tobramycin in treating burn wound infected with P. aeruginosa. The results showed that this treatment was effective in quorum-quenching and biofilm inhibition on infected wounds. Compared with the tobramycin treatment only, simultaneous treatment with the enzymes and antibiotics significantly reduced the severity of tissue damage, decreased the bacterial load, and reduced the expression of the inflammatory indicators myeloperoxidase (MPO) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Topical application of the enzymes also reduced the bacterial load and inflammation to some extent. These results indicate that the combined-enzyme approach is a potentially effective treatment for P. aeruginosa biofilm infections of burn wounds.

Targeting Multidrug-Recalcitrant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms: Combined-Enzyme Treatment Enhances Antibiotic Efficacy.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that forms biofilms during infection, resulting in recalcitrance to antibiotic treatment. Biofilm inhibition is a promising research direction for the treatment of biofilm-associated infections. Here, a combined-enzyme biofilm-targeted strategy was put forward for the first time to simultaneously prevent biofilm formation and break down preformed biofilms. The N-acylhomoserine lactonase AidH was used as a quorum-sensing inhibitor and was modified to enhance the inhibitory effect on biofilms by rational design. Mutant AidHA147G exerted maximum activity at the human body temperature and pH and could reduce the expression of virulence factors as well as biofilm-related genes of P. aeruginosa. Subsequently, the P. aeruginosa self-produced glycosyl hydrolase PslG joined with AidHA147G to disrupt biofilms. Interestingly, under the combined-enzyme intervention for P. aeruginosa wild-type strain PAO1 and clinical strains, no biofilm was observed on the bottom of NEST glass-bottom cell culture dishes. The combination strategy also helped multidrug-resistant clinical strains change from resistant to intermediate or sensitive to many antibiotics commonly used in clinical practice. These results demonstrated that the combined-enzyme approach for inhibiting biofilms is a potential clinical treatment for P. aeruginosa infection.

Dex modulates the balance of water-electrolyte metabolism by depressing the expression of AVP in PVN.

Dexmedetomidine (Dex) is a highly selective α2 adrenergic agonist used in clinical anesthesia. Studies have shown that Dex can act on the collecting duct and reduce the body's water reabsorption, thereby increasing water discharge. However, the specific mechanism of Dex on water homeostasis remains unclear. The hypothalamus is the regulatory center of water and salt balance and secretes related neurochemical hormones, such as arginine vasopressin (AVP), to regulate the discharge of water and salt. The paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and supraoptic nucleus (SON) in the hypothalamus are also considered to be the key targets of the thirst loop. They are responsible for the secretion of AVP. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is also one of the brain regions where AVP neurons are densely distributed in the hypothalamus. This study used C57BL/6J mice for behavior, immunofluorescence, and blood analysis experiments. Our results showed that Dex could not only depress the expression of AVP in the PVN but also reduce serum AVP concentration. The animal water intake was decreased without impairing the difference in food consumption and the urine excretion was enhanced after the intraperitoneal injection of Dex, while AVP supplementation restored the water intake and inhibited the urine excretion of mice in the Dex group. In addition, the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is vital to maintaining serum sodium concentration and extracellular volume. We found that serum sodium, serum chloride, serum aldosterone (ALD) concentration, and plasma osmolality were decreased in the Dex group, which inhibited water reabsorption, and the plasma osmolarity of mice in the Dex group supplemented with AVP was significantly higher than that in Dex group. We also found that Dex significantly increased the concentration of blood urea nitrogen and decreased the concentration of creatinine within the normal range of clinical indicators, indicating that there was no substantive lesion in the renal parenchyma. These results showed that Dex could modulate the balance of water-electrolyte metabolism by depressing the expression of AVP in PVN without impairing renal function.

Candida pelliculosa sepsis in a neonate: a case report.

Candida pelliculosa is a rare fungal cause of neonatal sepsis. Premature and very low birthweight infants are at especially high risk of neonatal fungal infections. There have been no reports of C. pelliculosa infection in Anhui Province, China. Here, we report a case of C. pelliculosa fungemia in a newborn boy admitted 30 minutes after delivery with grunting, cyanosis, and asphyxia. C. pelliculosa was identified as the causative organism using blood culture, DNA sequencing, and mass spectrometric analysis. After 20 days of fluconazole therapy, the patient's symptoms stabilized. Together with other relevant literature, this report provides evidence that premature neonates are at increased risk of fungal infections and that C. pelliculosa fungemia should be diagnosed early using blood cultures to enable effective treatment. Fluconazole may be effective for treating neonates with C. pelliculosa infection.

Circulating adiponectin levels and systemic lupus erythematosus: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

OBJECTIVES: Several studies have reported increased serum/plasma adiponectin levels in SLE patients. This study was performed to estimate the causal effects of circulating adiponectin levels on SLE. METHODS: We selected nine independent single-nucleotide polymorphisms that were associated with circulating adiponectin levels (P < 5 × 10-8) as instrumental variables from a published genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis. The corresponding effects between instrumental variables and outcome (SLE) were obtained from an SLE GWAS analysis, including 7219 cases with 15 991 controls of European ancestry. Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses with inverse-variance weighted, MR-Egger regression, weighted median and weight mode methods were used to evaluate the causal effects. RESULTS: The results of inverse-variance weighted methods showed no significantly causal associations of genetically predicted circulating adiponectin levels and the risk for SLE, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.38 (95% CI 0.91, 1.35; P = 0.130). MR-Egger [OR 1.62 (95% CI 0.85, 1.54), P = 0.195], weighted median [OR 1.37 (95% CI 0.82, 1.35), P = 0.235) and weighted mode methods [OR 1.39 (95% CI 0.86, 1.38), P = 0.219] also supported no significant associations of circulating adiponectin levels and the risk for SLE. Furthermore, MR analyses in using SLE-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms as an instrumental variable showed no associations of genetically predicted risk of SLE with circulating adiponectin levels. CONCLUSION: Our study did not find evidence for a causal relationship between circulating adiponectin levels and the risk of SLE or of a causal effect of SLE on circulating adiponectin levels.

Bloodstream Infection Caused by Bacteroides caccae in a Diabetic Patient: a Case Report and Review of the Literature.

BACKGROUND: Bacteroides caccae is a ubiquitous, anaerobic bacteria, but it is not a common cause of pathologic bloodstream infection. Diabetic patients are at increased risk of developing anaerobic bacteria infection. Here, we report a repeated fever case caused by Bacteroides caccae in a diabetic patient. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics and manifestations of Bacteroides caccae. METHODS: The pathogenic bacteria isolated from patient blood was identified as Bacteroides caccae. Identification of the Bacteroides caccae was done by 16s rDNA sequencing and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of light spectrometry. The infection was cured by one-week combined therapy of intravenous Piperacillin tazobactam and oral Ornidazole tablet. RESULTS: After treatment had been completed, no episodes of fever occurred during the follow-up to date. CONCLUSIONS: Bacteroides caccae is regarded as an intestinal, opportunistic pathogenic bacteria. It can invade the mucosa of the intestine and cause various abdominal suppurative infections. Sequencing and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight spectrometry could have a role for Bacteroides caccae diagnosis. The curative effect of using first generation cephalosporines therapy was unsatisfactory. Using intravenous Piperacillin tazobactam and ornidazole tablet might obtain certain curative effect. Early diagnosis and appropriate anti-infection therapy were necessary to improve the outcome of patients with Bacteroides caccae bloodstream infection.

ARPC2 promotes breast cancer proliferation and metastasis.

Actin-related protein 2/3 complex (ARPC2) is an actin­binding component involved in the regulation of actin polymerization. It mediates the formation of branched actin networks and contacts the mother actin filament. Migration and invasion are key processes which enable tumor cells to infiltrate blood vessels or lymphatic vessels, and the actin pathway plays a very important role. Given that ARPC2 is critical to this progression, the present study focused on ARPC2 activity in breast cancer (BrCa) cell invasion and migration. Limited data are available on the expression and role of ARPC2 proteins in breast carcinomas. We screened the Oncomine database for messenger RNAs (mRNAs) that are upregulated in BrCa and found that ARPC2 was one of the most consistently involved mRNAs in BrCa. The analysis of immunohistochemical data revealed that ARPC2 expression was higher in breast cancerous tissues than in adjacent non­cancerous tissues. In addition, ARPC2 was highly associated with the tumor stage, nodal metastasis, and overall survival of patients with BrCa. We performed siRNA­ARPC2 transfection to investigate the effect of ARPC2 on the proliferation, migration, invasion and arrest of BrCa cells. It was revealed that ectopic ARPC2 expression significantly upregulated N­cadherin, vimentin, ZEB1, MMP­9 and MMP­3 expression and also activated the TGF­ß pathway to contribute to epithelial­mesenchymal transition (EMT). These results collectively indicated that ARPC2 promoted the tumorigenesis of breast carcinoma and the initiation of EMT. Therefore, ARPC2 was revealed to be a potential therapeutic target in patients with BrCa.

Increased plasma/serum levels of prolactin in multiple sclerosis: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Prolactin (PRL) is a polypeptide hormone that is known to stimulate humoral and cell mediated immune responses. PRL levels have been investigated in several autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS); however, these have yielded different and inconsistent results. This study aims to perform a more precise evaluation on the plasma/serum PRL levels in MS patients, and to explore the available influential factors. METHODS: Research related to plasma/serum PRL levels in MS patients and healthy controls were gathered using PubMed, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library database (until Mar 31 2016). Pooled standard mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated by fixed-effects or random-effect model analysis. Heterogeneity test was performed by the Q statistic and quantified using I2, and publication bias was evaluated using a funnel plot and Egger's linear regression test. RESULTS: 516 articles were obtained after searching databases, and 8 studies with 426 MS patients and 296 controls were finally included. Meta-analysis revealed that, compared with the control group, the MS group had significantly higher plasma/serum PRL levels, with the SMD of 0.55 and 95%CI (0.39, 0.72). Subgroup analyses showed that region, age and disease duration were associated with PRL level in MS patients. CONCLUSION: In summary, our meta-analysis revealed a significantly higher PRL level in MS patients than healthy controls, and it is influenced by region, age and disease duration.

Immunoproteomic to analysis the pathogenicity factors in leukopenia caused by Klebsiella pneumonia bacteremia.

Incidences of leukopenia caused by bacteremia have increased significantly and it is associated with prolonged hospital stay and increased cost. Immunoproteomic is a promising method to identify pathogenicity factors of different diseases. In the present study, we used immunoproteomic to analysis the pathogenicity factors in leukopenia caused by Klebsiella Pneumonia bacteremia. Approximately 40 protein spots localized in the 4 to 7 pI range were detected on two-dimensional electrophoresis gels, and 6 differentially expressed protein spots between 10 and 170 kDa were identified. Pathogenicity factors including S-adenosylmethionine synthetase, pyruvate dehydrogenase, glutathione synthetase, UDP-galactose-4-epimerase, acetate kinase A and elongation factor tu (EF-Tu). In validation of the pathogenicity factor, we used western blotting to show that Klebsiella pneumonia had higher (EF-Tu) expression when they accompanied by leukopenia rather than leukocytosis. Thus, we report 6 pathogenicity factors of leukopenia caused by Klebsiella pneumonia bacteremia, including 5 housekeeping enzymes and EF-Tu. We suggest EF-Tu could be a potential pathogenicity factor for leukopenia caused by Klebsiella pneumonia.

[Based on the low-density cDNA Macroarray for screening of antiviral proteins of IFNa tissues].

OBJECTIVE: To screen the gene expression profiles of IFN-alpha antiviral proteins based on a low-density cDNA Macroarray, and to explore the relationship between the expression of antiviral protein and the HBV replication. METHODS: The HepG2 and HepG2.2.15 cells were treated with various concentrations of IFN-alpha (0 IU/ml, 100 IU/ml, 1000 IU/ml) of IFN-alpha for 6 h, and then the low-density cDNA Macroarray was used for analysing the expression profiles of antiviral genes and screening differential expressions of antiviral proteins. Meanwhile, the HepG2 cells were transiently transfected with HBV core protein-expressed plasmid pHBc-EGFP, and the expressions of antiviral proteins were analysed by RT-PCR assay. Moreover, the HepG2.2.15 cells were also transfected with the antiviral protein-expressed plasmid pcDNA3.1-Flag-MxA. ELISA was used for analysing the secreted HBV antigens, while dot blot and Southern blot were applied for analysing the extracellular HBV DNA and intracellular replicative intermediate HBV DNA in HepG2.2.15 cells. All data were presented as mean+/-SD and analyzed using the t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) in the experiments. RESULTS: The Macroarray results suggested that the expression of IFN-alpha antiviral genes like 6-16, IFITM1, IFITM2, IFITM3 and RING4 in HepG2.2.15 cells were partially inhibited. More importantly, it was found, in this research, the expression of antiviral protein MxA in HepG2.2.15 cells was completely suppressed. RT-PCR analysis indicated that the expression of MxA was also significantly decreased in HepG2 cells transfected with pHBc-EGFP plasmid. Although HepG2.2.15 cells transfected with pcDNA3.1-Flag-MxA plasmid could not inhibit extracellular HBV DNA and intracellular replicative intermediate HBV DNA, the MxA exerted some antiviral activities as it effectively suppressed the secretion of HBsAg and HBeAg in HepG2.2.15 cells. CONCLUSIONS: HBV and its antigen components probably influence the expression of antiviral proteins. IFN- resistance may be related to the down-regulation of antiviral proteins expression.