Seroprevalence and risk factors of hepatitis E virus infection in cancer patients in eastern China.

OBJECTIVES: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a single-stranded RNA virus infecting a variety of animals and humans. Little is known of HEV infection among cancer patients in China. This study provides new epidemiological data for the prevalence of HEV co-infection in cancer patients, indicating that HEV infection is common in this group. METHODS: A total of 950 cancer patients and 950 control volunteers from Shandong Province, eastern China, were recruited to participate in this investigation. Blood samples from patients and controls were examined for anti-HEV IgG and IgM antibodies using ELISAs. RESULTS: The overall seroprevalence of IgG and IgM antibodies to HEV was significantly higher in cancer patients (247/950, 26.0%) than in controls (123/950, 13.0%) (p<0.001). In cancer patients, 22.7% of serum samples were anti-HEV IgG-positive, and in control subjects, 11.0% were anti-HEV IgG-positive (p<0.001). For IgM antibodies, seroprevalence was 4.2% in cancer patients (n=40) and 2.1% in controls (n=20) (p=0.009). The seroprevalence of HEV was higher in cancer patients who had dogs in their home (31.7%) when compared to other cancer patients. The highest seroprevalence of HEV infection was found in leukemia patients (32.3%), followed by liver cancer patients (31.1%); the lowest HEV seroprevalence was detected in patients with gastric cancer (18.9%). CONCLUSIONS: This investigation revealed that the seroprevalence of HEV was significantly higher in cancer patients than in controls in eastern China. Therefore, cancer patients are a high-risk population and should be kept away from sources of HEV infection.

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in arthritis patients in eastern China.

BACKGROUND: There is accumulating evidence for an increased susceptibility to infection in patients with arthritis. We sought to understand the epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii infection in arthritis patients in eastern China, given the paucity of data on the magnitude of T. gondii infection in these patients. METHODS: Seroprevalence of T. gondii infection was assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a crude antigen of the parasite in 820 arthritic patients, and an equal number of healthy controls, from Qingdao and Weihai cities, eastern China. Sociodemographic, clinical and lifestyle information on the study participants were also obtained. RESULTS: The prevalence of anti-T. gondii IgG was significantly higher in arthritic patients (18.8%) compared with 12% in healthy controls (P < 0.001). Twelve patients with arthritis had anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies - comparable with 10 control patients (1.5% vs 1.2%). Demographic factors did not significantly influence these seroprevalence frequencies. The highest T. gondii infection seropositivity rate was detected in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (24.8%), followed by reactive arthritis (23.8%), osteoarthritis (19%), infectious arthritis (18.4%) and gouty arthritis (14.8%). Seroprevalence rates of rheumatoid arthritis and reactive arthritis were significantly higher when compared with controls (P < 0.001 and P = 0.002, respectively). A significant association was detected between T. gondii infection and cats being present in the home in arthritic patients (odds ratio [OR], 1.68; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.24 - 2.28; P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with and extend previous results, providing further evidence to support a link between contact with cats and an increased risk of T. gondii infection. Our study is also the first to confirm an association between T. gondii infection and arthritis patients in China. Implications for better prevention and control of T. gondii infection in arthritis patients are discussed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This is an epidemiological survey, therefore trial registration was not required.

Isolation and characterization of ZZ1, a novel lytic phage that infects Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates.

BACKGROUND: Acinetobacter baumannii, a significant nosocomial pathogen, has evolved resistance to almost all conventional antimicrobial drugs. Bacteriophage therapy is a potential alternative treatment for multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. In this study, one lytic bacteriophage, ZZ1, which infects A. baumannii and has a broad host range, was selected for characterization. RESULTS: Phage ZZ1 and 3 of its natural hosts, A. baumanni clinical isolates AB09V, AB0902, and AB0901, are described in this study. The 3 strains have different sensitivities to ZZ1, but they have the same sensitivity to antibiotics. They are resistant to almost all of the antibiotics tested, except for polymyxin. Several aspects of the life cycle of ZZ1 were investigated using the sensitive strain AB09V under optimal growth conditions. ZZ1 is highly infectious with a short latent period (9 min) and a large burst size (200 PFU/cell). It exhibited the most powerful antibacterial activity at temperatures ranging from 35°C to 39°C. Moreover, when ZZ1 alone was incubated at different pHs and different temperatures, the phage was stable over a wide pH range (4 to 9) and at extreme temperatures (between 50°C and 60°C). ZZ1 possesses a 100-nm icosahedral head containing double-stranded DNA with a total length of 166,682 bp and a 120-nm long contractile tail. Morphologically, it could be classified as a member of the Myoviridae family and the Caudovirales order. Bioinformatic analysis of the phage whole genome sequence further suggested that ZZ1 was more likely to be a new member of the Myoviridae phages. Most of the predicted ORFs of the phage were similar to the predicted ORFs from other Acinetobacter phages. CONCLUSION: The phage ZZ1 has a relatively broad lytic spectrum, high pH stability, strong heat resistance, and efficient antibacterial potential at body temperature. These characteristics greatly increase the utility of this phage as an antibacterial agent; thus, it should be further investigated.

An overview of veterinary medical education in China: current status, deficiencies, and strategy for improvement.

Especially in developing countries, the profession of veterinary medicine is closely tied with agriculture and government economic development, the national structure of education, and national public health. Currently, the Chinese veterinary medical educational system and accreditation standards are distinctly different from those of some more developed countries, such as the United States, Japan, or the countries of the European Union. Chinese veterinary education is still closely based on traditional Chinese education approaches and standards, which has led to some deficiencies in the Chinese system. With the development of a stronger economy in China and the growing trend toward globalization, and particularly since China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), some important questions about China's system of veterinary education are being raised: How can veterinary science develop more rapidly in China? How can it meet the needs of the growing Chinese society? How can China bring its veterinary medical practice more in line with that of other, more advanced countries? This article describes some of the realities of veterinary medical education in China, discusses several existing problems, and puts forward some ideas for possible reforms. It is hoped that by this means those outside China may gain insight into our veterinary education program and that this, in turn, will lead to helpful input from international educators and other professionals to help improve our programs.

Chronic morphine exposure induces degradation of receptive field properties of LGN cells in cats.

AIM: To investigate the effect of chronic morphine exposure on the receptive field properties of lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) neurons in cats. METHODS: Cats were injected with morphine (10 mg/kg) or saline twice daily, for 10 d. Subsequently, extracellular single-unit recording techniques were used to examine the sensitivity of LGN neurons to visual stimuli in chronic morphine-treated and saline-treated cats. RESULTS: Compared with saline-treated cats (as controls), LGN neurons in morphine-treated cats had decreased signal-to-noise ratios (1.9 vs 3.1), and orientation and direction sensitivity (0.103 vs 0.135 and 0.074 vs 0.10, respectively), accompanied by significant increases in spontaneous (27.4 vs 17.5) and evoked activity (preferred: 42.2 vs 38.1; average: 28.1 vs 22.3). CONCLUSION: Chronic morphine exposure can lead to the functional degradation of LGN neurons in cats, which might result from the effects of chronic morphine exposure on inhibitory neurotransmission.

[Characterization of phenylpyruvic acid and beta-benzyl phenylpyruvic acid by UV, IR, MS, and 1H NMR].

Characterization of phenylpyruvic acid (PPA) and beta-benzyl phenylpyruvic acid (BPPA) by UV, IR, MS and 1H NMR has been carried out. It is found that the absorption at 240 and 365 nm are observed in the UV spectrum of PPA and the absorption at 210 nm is the only one in BPPA. These demonstrate that PPA has the olefinic alcohol structure and BPPA hasn't. The IR absorption at 1,624.38 and 1,697.25 cm-1 of PPA are originated from two carboxy C=O because of its gem-diol structure, and the absorption at 1,706.6 and 1,728.6 cm-1 in BPPA is assignable to keto C=O and carboxy C=O, respectively. The main peaks in the MS spectrum of PPA are 164, 119, 91, 65, 45, 39, and BPPA 254, 236, 209, 181, 91, 77, 65, 39. The peaks at 4.124, 6.381, 7.184-7.748, 9.268 are observed in the 1H NMR spectrum of PPA and the peaks in BPPA are 2.90-3.02, 3.29-3.40, 4.73-4.81, 7.04-7.44, 8.99.