Ebola Virus RNA Stability in Human Blood and Urine in West Africa’s Environmental Conditions

We evaluated RNA stability of Ebola virus in EDTA blood and urine samples collected from infected patients and stored in West Africa’s environmental conditions. In blood, RNA was stable for at least 18 days when initial cycle threshold values were <30, but in urine, RNA degradation occurred more quickly.     

Hepatitis E: An Underdiagnosed,Emerging Infection in Nonendemic Regions

Although hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the primary cause of enterically transmitted acute hepatitis and jaundice in developing countries, locally acquired HEV infections are increasing in nonendemic countries. As such, HEV is emerging as an underdiagnosed cause of infection. This report describes three clinically variable cases of HEV infection with unusual clinical presentations. These cases highlight the fact that HEV should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with unexplained hepatitis (acute or chronic) with or without extrahepatic manifestations. HEV should also be considered in patients with persistently elevated liver enzymes who have not travelled to known HEV-endemic regions. Lack of knowledge among physicians and an absence of standardized diagnostic tests may result in increased morbidity and mortality from HEV infection.     

The relationships among monocyte subsets,miRNAs and inflammatory cytokines in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Background

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) causes irreversible myocardial damage and release of inflammatory mediators, including cytokines, chemokines and miRNAs. We aimed to investigate changes in the levels of cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α and IL-10), miRNAs profiles (miR-146 and miR-155) and distribution of different monocyte subsets (CD14++CD16-, CD14++CD16+, CD14+CD16++) in the acute and post-healing phases of AMI.

Inhibitors of the Hepatitis C Virus Polymerase; Mode of Action and Resistance

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a pandemic human pathogen posing a substantial health and economic burden in both developing and developed countries. Controlling the spread of HCV through behavioural prevention strategies has met with limited success and vaccine development remains slow. The development of antiviral therapeutic agents has also been challenging, primarily due to the lack of efficient cell culture and animal models for all HCV genotypes, as well as the large genetic diversity between HCV strains. On the other hand, the use of interferon-α-based treatments in combination with the guanosine analogue, ribavirin, achieved limited success, and widespread use of these therapies has been hampered by prevalent side effects. For more than a decade, the HCV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) has been targeted for antiviral development. Direct acting antivirals (DAA) have been identified which bind to one of at least six RdRp inhibitor-binding sites, and are now becoming a mainstay of highly effective and well tolerated antiviral treatment for HCV infection. Here we review the different classes of RdRp inhibitors and their mode of action against HCV. Furthermore, the mechanism of antiviral resistance to each class is described, including naturally occurring resistance-associated variants (RAVs) in different viral strains and genotypes. Finally, we review the impact of these RAVs on treatment outcomes with the newly developed regimens.     

The effect of short or long sleep duration on quality of life and depression: an internet-based survey in Japan

BackgroundTo date, no previous studies have evaluated the relationship between sleep duration and quality of life (QOL) or depression in the general population after controlling for daytime sleepiness and sleep disturbances.MethodsA web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted with 8698 subjects aged 20–69 years. We examined the relationships between weekday sleep duration and daytime sleepiness, sleep disturbance, QOL and depression, using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (without the item for sleep duration), 8-item Short Form and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D).ResultsDaytime sleepiness tended to increase in proportion to shorter weekday sleep durations. Sleep disturbances, physical and mental QOL, and CES-D scores were worse in both the shorter and longer sleep groups compared with the group with 7–8 h of sleep. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses revealed that short sleep duration but not long sleep duration was significantly associated with reduction of both physical and mental QOL, even after controlling for the presence of daytime sleepiness and sleep disturbance. Both short and long sleep duration were independently and significantly correlated with depression after controlling for daytime sleepiness; however, there was no statistically significant association after adjusting for the effects of sleep disturbance.ConclusionsThe results suggested adverse effects of short sleep but not long sleep on both physical and mental QOL. In addition, the negative impact of specific types of sleep disturbance on depression may be greater than the impact of shortening of sleep duration.     

肝细胞癌患者血清外泌体mRNA表达谱及临床意义分析

背景与目的:外泌体是包含了复杂RNA和蛋白质的小膜泡,其中肿瘤细胞分泌的外泌体中的mRNA携带了大量肿瘤细胞遗传信息,因此对外泌体中特异性mRNA的分析,有望找到肿瘤诊断的新型分子标志物和治疗靶点。本研究通过高通量筛选与生物信息学方法探讨肝细胞癌(HCC)患者血清外泌体mRNA的表达特征及其潜在功能。方法:采集3例HCC患者及3例正常人的静脉血,用外泌体提取试剂盒提取血清外泌体,用Magen试剂盒提取外泌体RNA,对血清外泌体mRNA进行纯化、行反转录形成cDNA、PCR扩增、测序,最后将对所得数据质量进行评价后与参考数据进行比对,分析得到差异表达外泌体mRNA,并采用GO和KEGG通路富集分析对差异基因进行功能与通路注释。结果:与正常人比较,HCC患者有397个外泌体mRNA表达上调,192个外泌体mRNA表达下调;其中,NRGN、PF4、RGS18等17个基因表达明显上调,CXCL8、MORF4L2、SYCP1等14个基因显明显下调。GO富集分析显示,表达上调的外泌体mRNA的靶基因与蛋白质结合、蛋白质异二聚化活性、免疫系统过程的调节、胞外囊泡、细胞外细胞器、应激反应等有关,表达下调的外泌体mRNA的靶基因与嗅觉受体活性、细胞因子活性、CXCR趋化因子受体结合、中间丝、中间丝状细胞骨架等有关;KEGG通路分析显示,在上调的外泌体mRNA中,30条通路被显著富集,在下调的外泌体mRNA中9条通路被显著富集,其中,在上调的外泌体mRNA中,血小板激活、Rap 1信号通路、吞噬体、病毒致癌、肌动蛋白细胞骨架的调节与抗原处理和呈递等是最丰富和最有意义的通路;在下调的外泌体mRNA中,基础转录因子和细胞因子-细胞因子受体相互作用分别是最丰富和最有意义的通路。结论:HCC患者与正常人的血清外泌体mRNA表达特征存在较大差异,其与HCC发生、发展、转移可能密切相关,这为寻找新的诊断标志物及治疗靶点提供了依据。     

PRNCR1在前列腺癌诊断及预后的价值

目的 探讨前列腺癌非编码RNA1（PRNCR1）在前列腺癌早期诊断及预后的价值。方法 选取2012年1月至2015年10月在本院诊治前列腺癌患者45例、良性前列腺增生患者88例，进行PRNCR1检验。结果 PRNCR1 检验的灵敏度84.4%（38/45）、特异度90.9%（80/88）、阳性预测值82.6%（38/46）、阴性预测值92.0%（80/87)、符合率88.7%（118/133），PRNCR1在前列腺癌组织中含量高于癌旁组织和良性前列腺增生组织，差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。两年内转移、复发、肿瘤死亡患者30例，其PRNCRA表达量高于两年内无转移、复发、死亡的患者（15例），差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。结论 PRNCR1表达在诊断前列腺癌有价值，PRNCR1高表达与患者预后不良有关。