Distribution Patterns and Antibiotic Resistance Profiles of Bacterial Pathogens Among Patients with Wound Infections in the Jiaxing Region from 2021 to 2023.

Purpose: To systematically assess the distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility of pathogens in wound infections, and analyze risk factors associated with multidrug resistance (MDR). Patients and Methods: Retrospectively analyzing Jiaxing-region medical records between January 2021 and December 2023, we identified a cohort of 461 wound infection patients. Cultures were grown on various agars, with bacteria identified via Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the organisms were conducted by VITEK 2 system, Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method and Epsilometer test. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 was used for statistical analysis. Multivariable logistic regression models were developed to pinpoint risk factors for multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) infections and predict occurrences. Results: From 461 patients, 549 bacterial pathogens were isolated, predominantly consisting of Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter baumannii, Enterobacter cloacae, and Enterococcus faecalis. Vancomycin, linezolid, and tigecycline maintained their efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus species, while Pseudomonas aeruginosa demonstrated sensitivity to aminoglycosides. Conversely, Escherichia coli exhibited high amoxicillin resistance (85.4%). More than half of the isolates were resistant to levofloxacin, ceftriaxone, cotrimoxazole, and gentamicin, with Acinetobacter baumannii strains showing considerable resistance (65.8-68.4%) to advanced cephalosporins and carbapenems. Within this group, 58 MDROs were detected, primarily originating from Burn Plastic Surgery, Emergency, and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) departments. Multivariate logistic regression identified hyperglycemia, hypoalbuminemia, surgery, extended hospitalization, and exposure to multiple antibiotic classes as independent risk factors for MDRO wound infections. Based on these findings, a predictive model for MDRO occurrence in wounds was constructed, which had a sensitivity of 0.627, specificity of 0.933, and an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.838. Conclusion: Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa dominated in wound infections with differential antibiotic resistance. Independent risk factors included hyperglycemia, hypoalbuminemia, surgery, extended hospitalization, and polyantibiotic use. We urge prioritizing culture, susceptibility tests, and personalized antibiotic strategies to address MDRO risks and improve wound infection management specificity and efficacy.

Toxic dinoflagellate Karenia mikimotoi induces apoptosis in Neuro-2a cells through an oxidative stress-mediated mitochondrial pathway.

The dinoflagellate Karenia mikimotoi is a toxic bloom-forming species that threatens aquaculture and public health worldwide. Previous studies showed that K. mikimotoi induces neurotoxicity; however, the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. In this study, three neural cell lines were used to investigate the potential neurotoxicity of K. mikimotoi. The tested cells were exposed to a ruptured cell solution (RCS) of K. mikimotoi at different concentrations (0.5 × 105, 1.0 × 105, 2.0 × 105, 4.0 × 105, and 6 × 105 cells mL-1) for 24 h, and the RCS decreased cell viabilities and promoted Neuro-2a (N2A) cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. The underlying mechanism was further investigated in N2A cells. At the biochemical level, the RCS stimulated reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) formation, decreased SOD activity, and reduced mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). At the gene level, the moderate RCS treatment (2.0 × 105 cells mL-1) upregulated antioxidant response genes (e.g., nrf-2, HO-1, NQO-1, and cat) to alleviate RCS-induced oxidative stress, while the high RCS treatment (4.0 × 105 cells mL-1) downregulated these genes, thereby aggravating oxidative stress. Meanwhile, apoptosis-related genes (e.g., p53, caspase 3, and bax2) were significantly upregulated and the anti-apoptotic gene bcl2 was suppressed after RCS treatment. Western blotting results for Caspase 3, Bax2 and Bcl2 were consistent with the mRNA trends. These results revealed that K. mikimotoi RCS can induce neural cell apoptosis via the oxidative stress-mediated mitochondrial pathway, providing novel insights into the neurotoxicity of K. mikimotoi.

Clinical Value of Combined Multi-Indicator Tests in Diagnosis of Benign Ovarian.

Background: To investigate the existence and degree of correlation between benign ovarian tumors and physiological indicators such as reproductive hormones and tumor markers. Methods: A total of 150 patients with benign ovarian tumors admitted to Jiaxing First Hospital between January 1, 2019, and May 30, 2021, were enrolled as research subjects, while 104 healthy women were enrolled in the control group. Comparative analysis of the correlation between the reproductive hormones LH, FSH, T, E2, and the tumor indicators AMH, AFP, CEA, CA125, and CA199 between the groups was performed. Results: There was no statistical difference in LH, FSH, T, AMH, and CEA expression levels between the experimental and control groups (p≥0.05); E2, CA125, and CA199 levels were higher significantly in the experimental group than in the control group (P<0.001); AFP levels were significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group (P<0.05). CA125 (0.762) had the highest AUC when diagnosing the value of each index of E2, CA125, and CA199 for benign ovarian tumors. CA125 had the highest sensitivity (56.7%), followed by E2 (50.0%); CA199 had the highest specificity (84.5%), followed by CA125 (83.7%). The combined diagnosis of benign ovarian tumors was performed using different combinations of the indicators. When the two indicators were combined for diagnosis, the combination of E2 + CA199 had the highest sensitivity (82.6%), whereas the combination of CA125 + CA199 had the largest AUC (0.783) and the highest specificity (86.4%). The combined diagnosis of E2+CA125+CA199 had a higher AUC than the combined diagnosis of the two indicators (0.805), with a sensitivity of 77.2%, and a specificity of 70.9%. Conclusion: The most relevant factors for benign ovarian tumors are E2, CA125, and CA199 and the combination of these three indicators has the highest AUC for disease prediction while increasing the detection rate of benign ovarian tumors.

Binding mechanism and antioxidant capacity of selected phenolic acid - ß-casein complexes.

Phenolic acids are added to some dairy products as functional ingredients. The molecular interactions between the phenolic acids and milk proteins impacts their functional performance and product quality. In this study, the interactions between a milk protein (ß-casein) and a number of phenolic acids was investigated: 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DA); gallic acid (GA); syringic acid (SA); caffeic acid (CaA); ferulic acid (FA); and, chlorogenic acid (ChA). The structural characteristics of the phenolic acids, such as type, hydroxylation, methylation, and steric hindrance, affected their binding affinity to ß-casein. The strength of the binding constant decreased in the following order: CaA > ChA > FA > SA > GA > DA. Cinnamic acid derivatives (CaA, FA, and ChA) exhibited a stronger binding affinity with ß-casein than benzoic acid derivatives (DA, GA, and SA). Hydrophobic forces and electrostatic interactions dominated the interactions of ß-casein with benzoic acid and cinnamic acid derivatives, respectively. The number of hydroxyl groups on the phenolic acids enhanced their binding ability, while steric hindrance effects reduced their binding ability. The influence of methylation depended on phenolic acid type. After binding with phenolic acids, the conformation of the ß-casein changed, with a loss of random coil structure, an increase in α-helix structure, and a decrease in surface hydrophobicity. Furthermore, the presence of ß-casein decreased the in vitro antioxidant capacities of the phenolic acids, especially for gallic acid. These findings provide some useful insights into the structure-activity relationships of the interaction between ß-casein and phenolic acids.

Amino acid-amidated pectin: Preparation and characterization.

There is interest in extending the functionality of natural polymers using simple chemical derivatization methods. In this study, the ability of pectin to react with various amino acids (40 °C) in aqueous solution without a catalyst was investigated, including glutamic acid, glycine, cysteine, lysine, and arginine. Only glycine, lysine, and arginine could form conjugates with pectin under these conditions. Amino acid-amidated pectin (AAAP) conjugates with a degree of amidation of 6.50% were prepared and characterized using elemental analysis, FT-IR, and 1H NMR. Size exclusion chromatography combined with multiangle light scattering and refractive index detection indicated pectin degradation occurred during the reaction. These results were supported by measurements of apparent viscosities. Scanning electron microscopy showed appreciable differences among the surface topographies of samples. Cell culture experiments showed the AAAP conjugates exhibited no cytotoxic effects. Our results suggested the AAAP conjugates may be suitable for use as new functional ingredients in food industry.

Transcriptome sequencing of a toxic dinoflagellate, Karenia mikimotoi subjected to stress from solar ultraviolet radiation.

Solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a stress factor in aquatic environments and may act directly or indirectly on orgnisms in the upper layers of the water column. However, UVR effects are usually species-specific and difficult to extrapolate. Here we use the HAB-forming, toxic dinoflagellate Karenia mikimotoi (which was found to be relatively resistant in previous studies) to investigate its transcriptional responses to a one-week UVR exposure. For this, batch cultures of K. mikimotoi were grown with and without UVR, and their transcriptomes (generated via RNAseq technology) were compared. RNA-seq generated 45.31 million reads, which were further assembled to 202600 unigenes (>300bp). Among these, ca. 61% were annotated with NCBI, NR, GO, KOG, PFAM, Swiss-Prot, and KEGG database. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 722 differentially expressed unigenes (DEGs, defined as being within a |log2 fold change| ≥ 2 and padj < 0.05) responding to solar UVR, which were only 0.36% of all unigenes. 716 unigenes were down-regulated, and only 6 unigenes were up-regulated in the UVR compared to non-UVR treatment. KEGG pathway further analysis revealed DEGs were involved in the different pathway; genes involved in the ribosome, endocytosis and steroid biosynthesis pathways were highly down-regulated, but this was not the case for those involved in the energy metabolisms (including photosynthesis, oxidative phosphorylation) which may contribute to the sustainable growth observed in UVR treatment. The up-regulated expression of both zinc-finger proteins (ZFPs) and ribosomal protein L11 (RPL11) may be one of the acclimated mechanisms against UVR. In addition, this work identified down-regulated genes involved in fatty acid degradation and the hydrophobic branched chain amino acids (e.g., Valine, leucine, and isoleucine), which act as structural components of cell membranes modulating lipid homeostasis or turnover. In conclusion, the present study suggests that the toxic dinoflagellate K. mikimotoi has limited transcriptomic regulation but confirms that it appears as a tolerant species in response to solar UVR. These findings expand current knowledge of gene expression in HAB-forming species in response to natural environment factors such as solar radiation.

Modification of a polyethersulfone membrane with a block copolymer brush of poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine-co-glycidyl methacrylate) and a branched polypeptide chain of Arg-Glu-Asp-Val.

Polyethersulfone (PES) has good thermal stability, superior pH, chlorine tolerance, and excellent chemical resistance; however, the hydrophilicity and biocompatibility of PES need to be improved for its real applications. In this study, we report a surface modification method for the preparation of a functional PES membrane with hydrophilic polymer chains (MPC and GMA) via surface-initiated electrochemically-mediated atom-transfer radical polymerization (SI-eATRP) technology, and the Arg-Glu-Asp-Val polypeptide groups (REDV) were immobilized onto the modified membrane by a ring-opening reaction. XPS and SEM were used to analyze the chemical composition and morphology of the modified membrane surfaces, confirming that the hydrophilic polymer chains MPC and GMA and the polypeptide group REDV were successfully grafted onto the PES membrane surface. The static water contact angle decreased from 89° to 50-65°, and the hydrophilic property of the modified membrane was enhanced. The water flux increased from 4.29 L m-2 h-1 for the pristine PES membrane to 25 L m-2 h-1 for the modified membrane with PGMA chains grafted on it and REDV functional groups immobilized on it; note that the antifouling tests showed that all the modified membranes had the higher flux recovery ratio values (FRR) of above 80% than the pristine PES membrane (about 60%), and the APTT for the modified membrane increased from 46 s to 93 s, indicating that these modified membranes could be applied in the separation and blood purification fields.