Vogesella urethralis sp. nov., isolated from human urine, and emended descriptions of Vogesella perlucida and Vogesella mureinivorans.

A novel Vogesella strain, YM-1T, was recovered from human urine in PR China in 2017. Cells of strain YM-1T were Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped, aerobic, motile, non-spore-forming and poly-ß-hydroxybutyrate-accumulating. The strain contained C16:1ω6c/C 16:1ω7c, C16:0 and C18:0ω7c as major fatty acids; phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and an unidentified phospholipid as major polar lipids; and ubiquinone-8 as the predominant respiratory quinone. Comparison of 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that this strain had highest similarities to Vogesella perlucida DS-28T (98.8 %) and Vogesella mureinivorans 389T (98.1 %). The results of phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the novel strain was clustered and well separated with V. perlucida DS-28T and V. mureinivorans 389T within the genus Vogesella. The average nucleotide identity (ANI) and amino acid identity (AAI) analyses showed that this strain was not identified as V. perlucida DS-28T or V. mureinivorans 389T, with values well below the threshold limit for species demarcation (ANI <88.1 %, AAI <88.6 %). Based on the above results, strain YM-1T is proposed to be a novel species of the genus Vogesella with the name Vogesella urethralis sp. nov. (YM-1T=NBRC 113779=CGMCC 1.17135).

[Retrospective Analysis of Hematological Phenotypes in Patients with Gene Mutation and Deletion α-Thalassemia].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the differences between hematological phenotypes of patients with different genotypes in gene mutations and deletion α- thalassemia. METHODS: By screening the α- thalassemia gene test results in the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University from January 2015 to April 2020, the patients with mutation and deletion α- thalassemia were obtained, then the differences between hematological phenotypes of patients with different genotypes were analyzed. RESULTS: There were 96 patients with mutation combined with deletion α- thalassemia from the results of 24 054 α- thalassemia patients screened out, including 79 patients with non-deletion Hb H disease (αTα/--SEA) and 17 patients with mild α- thalassemia (αTα/-α), the incidence was 0.42%. Except the number of red blood cells (RBC) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV), the hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, hematocrit (Ht), average red blood cell hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), average red blood cell hemoglobin amount (MCH), average red blood cell volume (MCV) of the patients with αTα/--SEA genotype were significantly lower than those with αTα/-α genotype. The Hb of the patients with αCSα/--SEA and αQSα/--SEA genotype was (86±20)g/L and (84±9)g/L, respectirely, which was significantly lower than (114±16) g/L of αWSα/--SEA genotype (P<0.05); The MCHC of patients with αCSα/--SEA and αQSα/--SEA genotype was (278.8±8.5) g/L and (282.1±21.1)g/L, respectirely, which was also significantly lower than (315.4±19.5) g/L of αWSα/--SEA genotype (P<0.05); There was no significant difference between the patients with αCSα/--SEA and αQSα/--SEA genotype in hematological phenotypes. Except MCH and MCV, there was no significant differences between the patients with αWSα/--SEA and αTα/-α genotype in RBC, Hb, and Ht. The result of Hb A2 was (2.3±0.9)% for only 27 patients who performed electrophoretic analysis. There was no significant difference between the patients with αTα/--SEA and αTα/-α genotype in Hb A2, aslo among 3 types of the patients with αTα/--SEA genotype. CONCLUSION: The hematological phenotype changes caused by αWSα/--SEA genotype are similar to those of mild α- thalassemia, and both of them are significantly lighter than those patients with αCSα/--SEA and αQSα/--SEA genotype.

[Clinical value of PCR-flow Fluorescence Hybridization in Prenatal Genetic Diagnosis of Thalassemia].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the value of PCR-flow fluorenscence immunmicrobeads assay in prenatal gene diagnosis of thalassemia. METHODS: A total of 1001 pregnant women and their couples checked in the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University from January 2016 to August 2019 were selected. Both pregnant women and their spouses were the carriers of thalassemia gene. Samples such as amniotic fluid, were used to extract genomic DNA at the right time. Parallel detection of α- and ß- thalassemia genes to samples should be carried out by PCR-flow cytometric fluorescence hybridization and traditional multiple Gap-PCR and PCR-RDB techniques. The consistency of two methods in gene diagnosis of thalassemia was evaluated by analyzing the results of detection. RESULTS: 389 normal genotypes (38.86%, 389/1001) and 59 abnormal genotypes (61.14%, 612/1001) was cheked out by the two methods, including 416 cases of α-thalassemia, 162 cases of ß-thalassemia and 34 cases of αß- complex thalassemia. The main genotypes of α-thalassemia were --SEA, -α3.7 and -α4.2. The mutation frequency of CD41-42 was the highest among the ß-thalassemia genotypes, which followed by IVS-II-654 and CD17. A rare HKαα/--SEA thalassemia genotype was detected. Compared the traditional multiple Gap-PCR and PCR-RDB techniques, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and total consistent rate of PCR-flow fluorenscence immunmicrobeads assay were 100%, which showed that the two methods were completely consistent. CONCLUSION: Guangzhou is a area with high incidence of thalassemia, and the genetic types of thalassemia are complex and diverse. Prenatal diagnosis is the final barrier to the prevention of thalassemia. PCR flow-cytometric fluorescence hybridization, as a simple and fast technique, combined with traditional techniques in parallel contributed to the accuracy of prenatal gene diagnosis of thalassemia.

Validation of Prognosis Value of Cumulative Prognostic Scores Based on Serum High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Albumin Levels in Patients with Colorectal Cancer.

Aims: Noninvasive tools for the prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) are in urgent need. Lipids and proteins have been studied in CRC several years, thus a prognostic indicator based on preoperative serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and serum albumin (ALB) levels (HA score) in CRC patients and to compare the correlation with survival to that of the Glasgow prognostic score. Patient and methods: In the present study, the patient characteristics, clinicopathological factors, and the level of pre-treatment serum markers (HDL-C, ALB, CEA and CA19-9) were analyzed retrospectively in 248 patients with CRC. Results: In HA score, patients with reduced HDL-C and decreased ALB levels were allocated a score of 2, those with only one of these abnormalities were assign as score 1, and those with neither of these abnormalities were allocated a score of 0. The cut-off value of HDL-C and ALB were defined as median. Among these, the distribution of the HA score were 66 patients of score 2 (26.61%), 112 patients of score 1 (45.16%), and 70 patients of score 0(28.23%). The prognostic significance of the HA score was then determined by Univariate and multivariate cox hazards in CRC. Univariate analysis revealed that tumor invasion depth, lymph node metastasis, metastasis, TNM stage, CEA, CA19-9, HA score and GPS had a significant association with the OS and DFS of CRC, furthermore HA score (P<0.001, P<0.001) TNM stage(P<0.001, P<0.001) were retained as the prognostic factors that were associated with OS and DFS according to multivariate analyses. Conclusions: These results suggest that the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were shorter in CRC patients with a high level of HA score. Thus, our study has proposed that the evaluation of preoperative serum HA score may be used to predict OS and DFS of CRC.

High serum uric acid concentration predicts poor survival in patients with breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Uric acid is a product of purine metabolism. Recently, uric acid has gained much attraction in cancer. In this study, we aim to investigate the clinicopathological and prognostic significance of serum uric acid concentration in breast cancer patients. METHODS: A total of 443 female patients with histopathologically diagnosed breast cancer were included. After a mean follow-up time of 56months, survival was analysed using the Kaplan-Meier method. To further evaluate the prognostic significance of uric acid concentrations, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were applied. RESULTS: Of the clinicopathological parameters, uric acid concentration was associated with age, body mass index, ER status and PR status. Univariate analysis identified that patients with increased uric acid concentration had a significantly inferior overall survival (HR 2.13, 95% CI 1.15-3.94, p=0.016). In multivariate analysis, we found that high uric acid concentration is an independent prognostic factor predicting death, but insufficient to predict local relapse or distant metastasis. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that high uric acid concentration is related to the poor overall survival (p=0.013). CONCLUSIONS: High uric acid concentration predicts poor survival in patients with breast cancer, and might serve as a potential marker for appropriate management of breast cancer patients.