Risk Factors for Carbapenem-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Zhejiang Province, China.

Carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA) is a public health concern worldwide, but comprehensive analysis of risk factors for CRPA remains limited in China. We conducted a retrospective observational study of carbapenem resistance in 71,880 P. aeruginosa isolates collected in Zhejiang Province during 2015-2017. We analyzed risk factors for CRPA, including the type of clinical specimen; the year, season, and region in which it was collected; patient information, including age, whether they were an outpatient or inpatient, and whether inpatients were in the intensive care unit or general ward; and the level of hospital submitting isolates. We found CRPA was more prevalent among isolates from patients >60 years of age and in inpatients, especially in intensive care units. In addition, specimen types and seasons in which they were collected were associated with higher rates of CRPA. Our findings can help hospitals reduce the spread of P. aeruginosa and optimize antimicrobial drug use.

[Molecular mechanism of Shaofu Zhuyu decoction in treating endometriosis dysmenorrhea based on GPER2/MAPK/STAT1 axis].

The aim of this paper is to study the molecular mechanism of Shaofu Zhuyu decoction in treating dysmenorrhea of endometriosis based on GPER2/MAPK/STAT1 axis. In this study, HE staining was used to observe the pathological changes of the rats in each group. The levels of TNF-α and IL-6 were detected by ELISA assay. The mRNA expressions of neurotransmitter receptor (NK1) and GPER were detected by qPCR. The protein contents of MAPK and STAT1 were detected by Western blot. According to the results, compared with the model group, Shaofu Zhuyu decoction could significantly improve the inflammation of the ectopic uterine cavity tissue, decrease the contents of TNF-α and IL-6 in the uterine cavity, the mRNA expressions of NK1 and GPER, and the protein expressions of MAPK and STAT1. In conclusion, Shaofu Zhuyu decoction could effectively inhibit the expressions of GPER2, MAPK and STAT1, decrease the levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and NK1 mRNA and relieve the inflammatory pain in patients with endometriosis.

[Regulatory effect of Tripterygium wilfordii polycoride (TWP) towards TLR4/MyD88 independent pathway in TNBS/ethanol ulcerative colitis (UC) rat model].

In order to study the regulatory effect of Tripterygium wilfordii polycoride (TWP) towards TLR4/MyD88 independent pathway in TNBS/ethanol ulcerative colitis (UC) rat model, TNBS/ethanol enema was adopted to build TNBS/ethanol UC rat model. After the successful modeling procedure, 90 male Wistar rats are were divided into 6 groups, including namely normal group, model group, TWP low, middle, high dose groups (3, 6, 12 mg•kg⁻¹)and azathioprine (AZA) group (6 g•kg⁻¹), with 15 rats in each group. All rats in each group were administrated with corresponding medicines for 14 days. After 14 days of administration, corresponding colon tissues were taken for general and microscopic evaluation. Western blotting analysis and RT-PCR were adopted to test the mRNA and protein expressions of TLR4/MyD88 independent pathway-related molecules, namely TLR4, TRAM, TRIF, NF-κB and IFN-γ. The results showed that DAI, general and microscopic evaluations all indicated that TNBS/ethanol UC rat model was successful. TWP can improve UC-related clinical manifestation and heal colonic mucosa, which was equal to AZA. RT-PCR and WB results showed that the expression of TLR4/MyD88 independent pathway-related molecules in model group were significantly superior to that in normal group at either mRNA or protein level (P<0.01). Compared with model group, TWP can inhibit the expression of each node in TLR4/MyD88 independent pathway in a dose-dependent manner. The inhibitory effect of TWP with high dose towards the above molecules was inferior to that in model group at either mRNA or protein level (P<0.05). The inhibitory effect of TWP with high dose towards upstream molecules of TLR4/MyD88 independent pathway (TLR4, TRAM, TRIF, NF-κB) was slightly superior to AZA group at either mRNA or protein level. However, such inhibitory effect towards terminal inflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ) was inferior to AZA group at either mRNA or protein level. All the above differences had no statistical significance. Therefore, in TNBS/ethanol UC rat model, TLR4/MyD88 independent pathway took part in regulating inflammation. TWP exerted its anti-inflammation effect by inhibiting the expression of TLR4/MyD88 independent pathway in a dose-dependent manner.

Epidemiology and microbiology of nosocomial bloodstream infections: analysis of 482 cases from a retrospective surveillance study.

In many traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) hospitals, most patients are elderly with chronic diseases. Nosocomial bloodstream infections (nBSIs) are an important cause of morbidity and mortality. A retrospective surveillance study was performed to examine the epidemiology and microbiology of nBSIs in a TCM hospital from 2009 to 2011. A total of 482 patients with nBSIs were included in the study period. The incidence rate was 5.7/1000 admissions. Escherichia coli (25.5%) was the most common Gram-negative and coagulase-negative staphylococcus (CoNS) (14.1%) was the most common Gram-positive organism isolated. One-third of the E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from the nBSIs were the third-generation cephalosporin-resistant. Half of the Acinetobacter species isolates were resistant to imipenem. Of all the CoNS isolates, 90.7% were resistant to methicillin. Carbapenems and glycopeptide were the most frequently used for nBSI therapy. Only about one-third of patients (157/482) received appropriate empirical therapy. Septic shock, hemodialysis, Pitt bacteremia score >4, urinary tract infection, and appropriate empirical therapy were most strongly associated with 28-d mortality. The incidence of nBSIs was low in the TCM hospital but the proportion of nBSIs due to antibiotic-resistant organisms was high. A high Pitt bacteremia score was one of the most important risk factors for mortality in nBSIs. Therefore, the implementation of appropriate empirical therapy is crucial to improve the clinical outcome of nBSIs.

[Study on effects of Tripterygium wilfordii polycoride in resisting macrophage inflammation and regulating inflammation via TLR4/NF-κB].

To investigate the effect of Tripterygium wilfordii polycoride (TWP) on LPS-induced macrophage inflammatory response, particularly the inhibitory effect on inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-1ß and the regulatory effect on inflammation via TLR4/NF-κB. The MTT method was adopted to test the effects of tested drugs, TWP, dexamethasone (DXM) and azathioprine (AZA) on cell growth to define the appropriate concentration. LPS was used to induce the inflammatory reaction in mouse RAW264. 7 cell lines. The Elisa kit was adopted to test the release level of TNF-α and IL-1ß. The Western blotting was applied to test the protein expressions of TNF-α and IL-1ß. The RT-PCR was adopted to test the expressions of TLR4 and NF-κB. According to the results, TWP could inhibit the release of macrophage inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-1ß in a dose dependent manner. All of TWP groups showed a weaker efficacy than that of the DXM group. But the TWP high dose group revealed a better effect on TNF-α and equal effect on IL-1ß compared with the AZA group. TWP show an equal or better effect in down-regulating TLR4 and NF-κB p65 expressions in a dose dependent manner than DXM and AZA. In conclusion, TWP could inhibit TLR4 and NF-κB p65, which may be related to the down-regulation of TLR4 and NF-κB p65 receptor expressions.