Serological Survey of Zika Virus in Humans and Animals in Dejiang Prefecture, Guizhou Province, China / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

OBJECTIVE@#The current outbreak of Zika virus (ZIKV) poses a severe threat to human health. Two ZIKV strains were isolated from mosquitoes collected from the Dejiang prefecture in China in 2016, which was the first isolation of ZIKV in nature in China.@*METHODS@#In this study, serum samples were collected from 366 healthy individuals and 104 animals from Dejiang prefecture in 2017, and the plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) was used to evaluate the seroprevalence of ZIKV.@*RESULTS@#None of the 366 residents from whom the samples were collected were seropositive for ZIKV. None of the 11 pigs from whom the samples were collected were seropositive for ZIKV, while 1 of 63 (1.59%) chickens and 2 of 30 (6.67%) sheep were seropositive for ZIKV.@*CONCLUSION@#The extremely low seropositivity rate of ZIKV antibodies in animals in the Dejiang prefecture, Guizhou province in this study indicates that ZIKV can infect animals; however, there is a low risk of ZIKV circulating in the local population.

Effects and mechanisms of auricular vagus nerve stimulation on high-fat-diet--induced obese rats.

OBJECTIVE: Obesity is a major public health problem. Regulating food intake and promoting metabolism of fat are two important options for treating obesity. Auricular vagus nerve stimulation (AVNS) is considered as an alternative approach to vagal nerve stimulation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of AVNS and its mechanisms on obesity in obese rats. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either a high-fat diet (HFD) or a normal diet for 8 wk. Qualified HFD rats were randomly divided into three groups: the HFD group, the AVNS group, and the sham group for 6 wk treatment. Body weight and daily energy intake were recorded weekly. The rats were sacrificed for measurement of weight of bilateral perirenal, epididymal white adipose tissue (WAT), dorsal brown adipose tissue (BAT), and gastric emptying. Serum cholecystokinin (CCK), peptide YY3 to 36 (PYY3-36) and norepinephrine (NE) were assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to assess the mRNA expressions of CCK subtype receptor a (CCKa) in the antrum, PYY3-36 receptor in the distal ileum, ß3-adrenoceptor, and uncoupling protein gene 1 (UCP1) in the BAT. RESULTS: Compared with HFD group, AVNS significantly reduced body weight and epididymal WAT and increased BAT weight, serum NE, mRNA expressions of ß3-adrenoceptors, and UCP1 of the BAT, but had no effect on daily energy intake, perirenal WAT weight, gastric emptying, serum levels of CCK and PYY, or mRNA expressions of CCKa receptor and PYY3-36 receptor in the relevant tissues. The sham group, as a comparison group for AVNS, saw less effect in any of the indexes compared with the HFD group. AVNS had more effect on weight loss, reduction of perirenal WAT, and increase of NE, ß3-adrenoceptor, and UCP1 than sham. CONCLUSIONS: AVNS was more effective in reducing body weight and causing visceral fat loss. Biochemical tests found more NE released in the serum and more ß3-adrenoceptor and UCP1 expression in the BAT. All of these features suggested that energy expenditure might play an important role in obesity management by AVNS.

Analysis on molecular epidemiological features of enterovirus type 71 in Guizhou Province, 2008-2011 / 病毒学报

To study the genotype and molecular epidemiological features of enterovirus type 71 (EV71) in Guizhou Province. The hand-foot-mouth disease(HFMD) patients since 2008 in Guizhou Province were surveyed. EV71 RNA positive samples, including mild cases, death cases and cases of serious conditions, were used for subsequent cell culture and sequencing of VP1 complete gene. Genotypes were compared between domestic and foreign epidemic strains. The results showed that the main pathogenwas EV71 subtype C4a in 2008, 2009 and 2011. The nucleotide homology was 95. 3 - 99. 7% among 109 sequenced strains isolated in Guizhou Province. Guizhou strains were more similar to the representative strains from neighbor Province or City, including Shandong, Shanghai, Nanjing, Jilin and Ningbo. There was no distinct sequence difference among the isolates from either of death, mild case or case of serious condition at the nucleotide and amino acid levels. The diversity of nucleotide sequence of isolates was less within same region and year than those trans-regional strains or strains in different year.

Analysis of the genetic differences in the nucleoprotein between rabies virus and its vaccine strains in Guizhou province from year 2005 to 2010 / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This study was to explore the differences in the nucleoprotein gene between rabies virus (RABV) and its vaccine strains in Guizhou province from year 2005 to 2010.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Samples from 4 rabies patients and cerebral tissue samples of 28 rabies infected dogs were collected from different districts in Guizhou province between year 2005 and 2010. Direct Immunofluorescence Assay (DFA) and RT-nested PCR assay were applied to detect the overall length of N gene sequence. Meanwhile, based on the comparison between the homology and phylogenetic tree, the differences in N gene sequence between the prevalent RABV and the RABV vaccine strains collected from NCBI database in these years.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>According to DFA and RT-nested PCR assay, the antigen and nucleic acid of the 21 dogs and 4 human samples were both confirmed positive; whose full length of N gene sequences were both 1353 bp. The homological analysis showed that the 25 strains of RABV virus and the RABV type I virus stored by GenBank database shared a high homology in N gene nucleotide and amino acid sequences, which were 89%-100% and 98%-100%, respectively. Besides, the homology between the 25 strains of RABV virus and its vaccines in nucleotide and amino acid sequences were separately 86%-95% and 96%-100%. The N gene of vaccines for livestock shared the highest homology with HEP-Flury strain in the nucleotide and amino acid, which were 88%-89% and 98%-99%, respectively. The vaccines for human use showed its greatest homology with the CTN strain in nucleotide (86%-100%) and amino acid (96%-100%). The phylogenetic tree analysis indicated that the 25 strains of RABV virus, RABV type I virus and the CTN vaccine strains constituted one individual cluster, which was least different from the CTN vaccine for human use.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The prevalent RABV virus, the vaccine HEP-Flury for livestock and the vaccine CTN for human use were found to be highly similar in N gene expression in Guizhou province from 2005 to 2010.</p>