Distribution and drug resistance profiles of pathogens causing bloodstream infection after chemotherapy in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. / å„¿ç«¥æ€¥æ€§æ·‹å·´ç»†èƒžç™½è¡€ç— åŒ–ç–—åŽè¡€æµæ„ŸæŸ“çš„ç— åŽŸä½“åˆ†å¸ƒä¸Žè€è¯å˜è¿åˆ†æž.

OBJECTIVES: To study the changes in the distribution and drug resistance profiles of pathogens causing bloodstream infection after chemotherapy in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. METHODS: The medical data were collected from the children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who were admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University between January 2015 and December 2020 and developed bloodstream infection after chemotherapy. The samples were divided into the first three years group and the next three years group according to the time of testing to investigate the differences in the distribution and drug resistance profiles of pathogens as time. RESULTS: A total of 235 strains of pathogens were isolated, among which there were 159 Gram-negative strains (67.7%; mainly Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae), 61 Gram-positive strains (26.0%; mainly Staphylococcus epidermidis), and 15 strains of fungi (6.4%; mainly Candida albicans). There were no significant differences between the first three years group and the next three years group in the detection rate of Gram-negative bacteria (68.8% vs 66.9%, P>0.05) or Gram-positive bacteria (29.2% vs 23.7%, P>0.05). Compared with the first three years group, the next three years group had significant increases in the detection rate of Streptococcus mitis (5.8% vs 0.0%, P<0.05) and fungi (9.4% vs 2.1%, P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the drug resistance rate of Gram-negative or Gram-positive bacteria between the two groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Enterobacteriaceae bacteria are the main pathogens of bloodstream infection after chemotherapy in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, while the detection rates of Streptococcus mitis and fungi tend to increase as time, which needs to be taken seriously in clinical practice.

Detection and identification of serum protein peak at 6648 m/z as a novel indicator in breast cancer based on mass spectrometry.

Breast cancer (BC) is the second-leading cause of cancer mortality after lung cancer in women owing partly to a lack of specific and sensitive tests for early screening and monitoring. The detection of novel specific BC serum indicators for screening purposes is an essential clinical need. A total of 437 serum specimens from 310 BC patients that were divided into mining and testing sets were collected in this study. In contrast with the conventional BC indicators through receiver operating characteristic, survival and hazard function curves, and multivariate Cox regression analyses, we intended to hunt for stable protein indicators from serum specimens and identify their diagnostic and prognostic potential for BC. We identified a unique serum peptide located at 6648 Da originated from apoC-III with a validated correlation with BC tumorigenesis with confirmation in a substantive testing set and minimization of systematic bias by pre-analytical parameters. We found that the diagnostic efficacy of this peptide is better than the present conventional BC diagnostic indicators either alone or in combination with conventional indicators in distinguishing BC patients from control volunteers. Moreover, this peptide denotes a stronger prognostic factor for BC patients than conventional indicators. In light of these findings, we speculate that this peptide is a potential diagnostic and prognostic indicator and a supplement to conventional indicators in monitoring BC. The detection of this peptide located at 6648 Da in sera could enhance early screening and assessment of the postoperative survival opportunity for BC patients.

Identification of Apolipoprotein C-I Peptides as a Potential Biomarker and its Biological Roles in Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common cancers and is among the main causes of death in females around the world. Although several serum biomarkers have been identified for breast cancer, due to lack of adequate sensitivity and specificity they do not adequately distinguish BC from confounding conditions. New approaches are urgently needed to improve BC detection and treatment. MATERIAL/METHODS: Eighty serum samples from 20 healthy individuals and 60 patients with BC (22 triple-negative breast cancer, TNBC; 38 non-triple-negative breast cancer, NTNBC) were included. Protein profiling of serum samples was analyzed using surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (SELDI-TOF-MS). Candidate biomarkers were purified by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis and identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF. RESULTS: The candidate biomarker positioned at 6447.9 m/z was significantly decreased in BC patients. Moreover, the expression intensity of the candidate biomarker was weaker in the TNBC and pre-surgery group compared with the NTNBC and post-surgery group. We ultimately identified the biomarker as apolipoprotein C-I (ApoC-I). Furthermore, we found that ApoC-I peptides inhibited proliferation of human breast cancer cells in vitro and suppressed tumor growth in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that ApoC-I peptides may be a potential diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic approach for BC.

Identification of proteins associated with pediatric bilateral Wilms tumor.

Wilms tumor (WT) is the most common cancer that primarily develops in abdominal solid organ of children. It has no incipient symptom, and the most frequent symptoms are a painless, palpable abdominal mass. Proteomics technology was used to select the differentially expressed proteins of bilateral Wilms tumor (BWT). Ten serum samples of children with BWT were chosen, 20 serum samples of children with unilateral WT (UWT) and 20 serum samples of healthy children were selected, and proteomics technology was used to detect and collect data. Using bioinformatics, the data were analyzed and 10 difference peaks were obtained (P<0.01). Non-linear support vector machine was used to classify and to select the composite pattern with the highest Youdens index, and one differentially expressed protein with m/z of 5,648 kDa was obtained. A significantly high expression in children with BWT was obtained, and the expression intensity was also significantly (3,889.36±1,796.83) higher for children with BWT compared to those with UWT (2,886.81±1,404.65) and healthy children (432.21±730.42). Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization/time-of-flight ionization/time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used for identification of the peak, and the peak was further identified as apolipoprotein C-III (APO C-III) by western blot analysis. In conclusion, to the best of our knowledge, a differentially expressed protein of APO C-III of BWT was obtained through proteomics technology for the first time, and it is expected to be a new marker for the early diagnosis and prognosis of BWT.