Stimulation of lipopolysaccharide from Pseudomonas aeruginosa following H9N2 IAV infection exacerbates inflammatory responses of alveolar macrophages and decreases virus replication.

H9N2 IAV infection contributed to P. aeruginosa coinfection, causing severe hemorrhagic pneumonia in mink. In this study, the in vitro alveolar macrophage models were developed to investigate the innate immune responses to P. aeruginosa LPS stimulation following H9N2 IAV infection, using MH-S cells. The cytokine levels, apoptosis levels and the viral nucleic acid levels were detected and analyzed. As a result, the levels of IFN-α, IL-1ß, TNF-α, and IL-10 in MH-S cells with P. aeruginosa LPS stimulation following H9N2 IAV infection were significantly higher than those in MH-S cells with single H9N2 IAV infection and single LPS stimulation (P < 0.05), exacerbating inflammatory responses. LPS stimulation aggravated the apoptosis of MH-S cells with H9N2 IAV infection. Interestingly, LPS stimulation influences H9N2 IAV replication and indirectly reduced H9N2 IAV replications in in vitro AMs. It implied that LPS should play an important role in the pathogenesis of H9N2 IAV and P. aeruginosa coinfection.

Removal of hepatocellular carcinoma extending into the right atrium with extracorporeal circulation.

Hepatocellular carcinoma with tumor thrombus extending into the right atrium is rare and has an extremely poor prognosis. Surgery was once regarded as a contraindication, then as a palliative method to prevent emergencies such as pulmonary embolism or heart failure. With advances of imaging techniques, hepatectomy and widespread use of extracorporeal circulation, conventional viewpoint has gradually changed. For patients with adequate hepatic function reserve and no distant metastases, surgery is recommended. During the past four years, we experienced two such patients, for both of whom we simultaneously resected the hepatic tumor and tumor thrombus in the right atrium under cardiopulmonary circulation and total hepatic blood exclusion. Both of the patients survived the surgery. During the follow-up, one patient died 6 months later due to multiple lung metastases and tumor progression. The other patient experienced recurrence 4 months after surgery and underwent adjuvant treatment modalities including chemotherapy, radiofrequency ablation and transcatheter arterial chemoembolization. Thirty-eight months later, the patient died of multiple metastasis and hepatic failure.

Molecular characteristics of H9N2 influenza viruses isolated from farmed raccoon dogs and arctic foxes in China.

In this study, eight H9N2 IAVs were isolated from infected diseased, farmed raccoon dogs and arctic foxes. Eight genes shared 98.6%-100% identity among the isolates possessing a PSRSSR/GL motif at the HA cleavage site, which is same as the motif of G1 and Y280 lineages of H9N2 IAVs. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the HA genes of the eight isolates clustered with Y280-like viruses, whereas the NA genes belonged to F/98-like sublineage. Interestingly, the NS, NP, PB2 and PA genes of the isolates were closely related to H7N9 IAVs. This is the first evidence for isolation of H9N2 IAVs from raccoon dogs and arctic foxes. Raccoon dogs and arctic foxes potentially serve as an intermediate host for influenza viruses with pandemic potential toward other animals due to co-expression of both SA α-2,6-Gal and SA α-2,3-Gal receptors in a wide range of their tissues.