Prevalence and trends of transfusion-transmittable infections among blood donors in Southwest China.

BACKGROUND: The high prevalence of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) is causing serious harm to human health worldwide. The aim of this research was to assess the prevalence and influencing factors of TTIs in Southwest China. METHODS: A retrospective study of blood donor records from January 2008 to December 2015 was conducted. All samples were screened for HBV, HCV, HIV and syphilis. The donor's data was recorded and analyzed statistically using SPSS software. RESULTS: We revealed that the prevalence of TTIs showed a decreasing trend from 2.39 to 1.98%, and this was slightly lower than that in other regions of China. Syphilis infection was the most serious issue among blood donors in Southwest China, which demonstrated a significantly higher rate than that in other areas of China. The high infection rate of the female and farmer groups in rural regions is worth noting. The logistic regression model showed that age, occupation and donor category was the influential factors for TTIs. CONCLUSIONS: The overall prevalence of TTIs demonstrated a decreasing trend from 2008 to 2015 in Southwest China, but there is still a sufficient threat to blood safety, and more efforts are needed to further guarantee blood safety in China.

Analysis of red blood cells' dynamic status in a simulated blood circulation system using an ultrahigh-speed simultaneous framing optical electronic camera.

Alterations in the morphologic and mechanical properties of red blood cells (RBCs) are considered direct indicators of blood quality. Current measures of characterizing these properties in vivo are limited by the complicated hemodynamic environment. To better evaluate the quality of fresh and stored blood, a new research platform was constructed to evaluate the hemodynamic characteristics of RBCs. The research platform consists mostly of a microfluidic chip, microscope, and ultrahigh-speed simultaneous framing optical electronic camera (USFOEC). The microfluidic chip was designed to simplify the complicated hemodynamic environment. The RBCs were diluted in erythrocyte preservative fluid and infused into the microfluidic channels. After approximately 600× magnification of using the microscope and camera, the RBCs' dynamic images were captured by the USFOEC. Eight sequential and blur-free images were simultaneously captured by the USFOEC system. Results showed that RBC deformation changed with flow velocity and stored RBCs were less sensitive to deformation (Kfresh < Kstored ). The frozen-stored RBCs were better able to sustain hydrodynamic stress (DI49day = 0.128 vs. DIfrozen = 0.118) than cold-stored RBCs but more sensitive to variations in flow speed (K49day = 1626.2 vs. Kfrozen = 1318.2). Results showed that the stored RBCs had worse deformability than fresh RBCs, but frozen-stored RBCs may incur less damage during storage than those stored at merely cold temperatures. This USFOEC imaging system can serve as a platform for direct observation of cell morphological and mechanical properties in a medium similar to a physiologic environment. © 2016 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

Duplex-specific nuclease-mediated bioanalysis.

Duplex-specific nucleases (DSNs) are promising tools for bioanalysis because of their unique ability to cleave DNA within duplexes while keeping a single strand intact. There is prevalent use of DSNs in both biomedical and biological science applications, such as cDNA library construction, circulating miRNA detection, telomeric overhang detection, and SNP recognition. We present an overview of the current knowledge of DSNs, with special emphasis on DSN-mediated isothermal signal amplification strategies for trace miRNA detection. Continued innovation to address key challenges, such as amplification-free approaches, will open up new avenues in the field of miRNA profiling, offering opportunities for improved personalized medicine, preventive medicine, and translational medicine.