Serological evidence of widespread exposure of Grenada fruit bats to chikungunya virus.

Antibody detection against selected potentially zoonotic vector-borne alphaviruses and flaviviruses was conducted on sera from bats from all six parishes in Grenada, West Indies. Sera were tested for (i) antibodies to flaviviruses West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, Ilhéus virus, Bussuquara virus (BSQV), Rio Bravo virus and all four serotypes of dengue virus (DENV) by plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT); (ii) antibodies to alphaviruses western equine encephalitis virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus and eastern equine encephalitis virus by epitope-blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); and (iii) antibodies to the alphavirus chikungunya (CHIKV) by PRNT. Two species of fruit bats were sampled, Artibeus jamaicensis and Artibeus lituratus, all roosting in or within 1,000 m of human settlements. Fifteen (36%) of the 42 bats tested for neutralizing antibodies to CHIKV were positive. The CHIKV-seropositive bats lived in localities spanning five of the six parishes. All 43 bats tested for epitope-blocking ELISA antibody to the other alphaviruses were negative, except one positive for Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus. All 50 bats tested for neutralizing antibody to flaviviruses were negative, except one that had a BSQV PRNT80 titre of 20. The CHIKV serology results indicate that bats living close to and within human settlements were exposed to CHIKV in multiple locations. Importantly, bats for this study were trapped a year after the introduction and peak of the human CHIKV epidemic in Grenada. Thus, our data indicate that bats were exposed to CHIKV possibly during a time of marked decline in human cases.

Diagnostic performance of anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies in juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

The prevalence rates of anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPAs) were investigated in a cohort of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients, and their diagnostic performances were compared. ACPAs, including anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide IgG (anti-CCP), anti-CCP IgG/IgA (anti-CCP3.1), citrullinated recombinant rat filaggrin antibodies (CPA), anti-mutated citrullinated vimentin (anti-MCV), and antibodies to citrullinated human IgG-derived peptides (RA/CP), were measured in the sera from 81 JIA patients. Serum samples from 55 children with other joint diseases or viral infections and 49 healthy donors were tested as controls. Of the 81 JIA patients, 7 (8.6%), 8 (9.9%), 17 (21.0%), 23 (28.4%), and 18 (22.2%) were found to be positive for anti-CCP, anti-CCP3.1, CPA, anti-MCV, and RA/CP, respectively, with specificities of 98.1, 95.1, 93.3, 84.6, and 86.5%. Analysis by subtype revealed that 7/7 (100%) of RF-positive polyarticular JIA patients tested positive at high serum levels for anti-MCV or RA/CP, and 5/7 (71.4%) were positive for anti-CCP, anti- CCP3.1, or CPA (P < 0.001, compared with controls). Eighteen of 81 JIA patients demonstrated joint erosions on radiographs and erosive arthritis occurred more often in ACPAs positive patients (P < 0.01). Our findings indicate that although ACPAs are not satisfactory screening biomarkers for JIA due to low sensitivity, ACPA measurement can aid in diagnosing RF-positive polyarticular JIA and identifying JIA patients with severe bone involvement. The diagnostic performance of each ACPA in JIA is different, and the careful selection of assays is necessary.

Investigating the recheck rules for urine analysis in children.

The aim of this study was to establish recheck rules of urinalysis in children by investigating the concordance rate of the results obtained using the LabUMat urine dry chemistry analyzer (referred to as dry chemistry) and the UriSed tangible composition analyzer with that of the microscopic examination. First, 1040 urine samples from children (mean age 6.5 years) were analyzed using LabUMat and UriSed analyzers, and subsequently subjected to microscopic examination. The missed detection rate was evaluated and recheck rules were established to avoid missed diagnoses of abnormal renal function. Finally, clinical validations of the recheck rules were performed on 200 additional specimens. Among the samples used to investigate the recheck rules, the samples with positive microscopic examination results accounted for 58.65% of the total, while the samples with negative results accounted for 41.35%. Of the positive samples, a major portion (>50%) were RBC positive. The samples that were WBC positive and CAST positive accounted for 23.08 and 7.69%, respectively. The concordance rate was 87.5% and the missed detection rate was 2.9%. For the validation of the recheck rules in 200 urine samples, the concordance rate was 87.5% and the missed detection rate was 2.4%. When the detection of occult blood, WBC, and protein by dry chemistry, and the detection of RBC, WBC, and CAST by the UriSed analyzer are inconsistent, or the differences between them greater than 2 levels, recheck by microscopic examination is suggested.

Study on the correlation between the expression of Ki67 and FasL and prognosis of cervical carcinoma.

This study aimed to investigate the correlation between the expression of Ki67 and FasL and prognosis of cervical carcinoma and to explore the biological processes and signal pathways related to cervical carcinoma. Cervical carcinoma tissue specimens from 200 patients and normal tissue specimens adjacent to lesions from 30 cases were collected in this study. Ki67 and FasL proteins in these specimens were detected by immunohistochemical methods. A series of statistical methods were carried out to investigate the correlation between the expression of Ki67 and FasL and prognosis of cervical carcinoma. The expression of Ki67 and FasL in cervical carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in normal cervical tissue. The positive rate of Ki67 and FasL increased with the increase in the degree of cervical lesions. There was a positive correlation between the expression of Ki67 and FasL in cervical lesions. The expression of Ki67 and FasL affected the five-year survival rate of postoperative patients. Ki67 and FasL were independent factors for the prognosis of patients with cervical cancer. The expression of Ki67 and FasL is closely related to the occurrence and development of cervical carcinoma. There is a positive correlation between Ki67 and FasL, and they may be biomarkers of cervical cancer.

Structure characterization of human cytomegalovirus UL131A, UL130 and UL128 genes in clinical strains in China.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) genetic determinants of endothelial cell tropism, leukocytes and dendritic cells have been identified in the genes UL131A, UL130, and UL128. We examined the structure of these three genes in HCMV. Eighteen low-passage clinical isolates and five non-passage strains from congenitally HCMV-infected infants in China were used to assess the structures of the UL131A, UL130, and UL128 genes and to find possible relationships between sequence polymorphism and different signs of HCMV disease. Comparisons were made between the UL131A, UL130, and UL128 genes of clinical strains and published sequences of Towne and Merlin strains. The UL131A coding region in the clinical strains was similar to that of Towne and Merlin strains, while UL130, and UL128 coding regions in the clinical strains were parallel with those of Towne and Merlin, respectively. Sequence comparison indicated that the UL130, and UL128 genes encode chemokine-like proteins in the clinical strain; the transmembrane regions of UL131A, and UL130 were conserved in all clinical and reference strains. The three genes of clinical strains from infants with different signs of HCMV disease had similar structure characterization. We conclude that the UL131A, UL130, and UL128 genes are highly conserved in these clinical strains. No correlation was found between the structure of the three genes and variations in HCMV disease. The finding of chemokine-like domains in UL130, and UL128 putative proteins suggests that the predicted products play a role in HCMV infectivity.