Comparative evaluation of serological tests used for the diagnosis of rickettsial diseases prevalent in the temperate region of North India

PurposeThe clinical manifestations of rickettsial diseases mimic other endemic infections with similar presentations thus posing a serious challenge to clinicians for their diagnosis. For the diagnosis of rickettsial disease serological tests like Weil Felix, ELISA and IFA are used. There are limited studies that have evaluated different serological tests for the diagnosis of rickettsial diseases. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the ELISA and Weil Felix test for the diagnosis of rickettsial diseases prevalent in this region.MethodsSamples from 281 patients clinically suspected of rickettsial diseases were tested for spotted fever group (SFG), typhus group (TG) and scrub typhus group (STG) by Weil Felix, ELISA and IFA was taken as the gold standard. Baseline titers and cut-off ODs were calculated by taking samples from healthy blood donors.ResultsThe sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of Weil Felix test ranged from 30% to 44%, 83.46%–97.86%, 9%–77%, 92–96% respectively. The sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative predictive value of ELISA ranged from 80.77% to 96.15%, 96.33%–98.43%, 70.21%–88.64%, 92.89%–99.60% respectively. Maximum cross-reactions were observed between SFG and STG by the Weil Felix test and between STG and TG by ELISA.ConclusionsELISA was found to be sensitive and specific for the diagnosis of rickettsial diseases. It is easy to perform, does not require a technical expert for result interpretation and a large number of samples can be processed at a time.     

自然疗养因子的作用机制研究进展

自然疗养因子所涵盖的内容丰富,其生物学效应及形成复杂。现代疗养学在形成过程中相继提出自然疗养因子对机体作用的理论或假说。随着医学模式的转变和现代医学的发展,自然疗养因子作用机制研究从分子、细胞到组织器官,涉及机体物质代谢、神经系统、内分泌和免疫等功能的相互作用,形成整体的各个水平产生适应的作用机制;研究证实自然疗养因子的作用最根本的表现为改善机体内环境稳态和机体与外环境间的平衡,是靠机体的适应性反应机制实现的;其次与祖国医学“天人合一”整体观一脉相承。近年来,研究证实环境因素通过基因的重返表达对表观遗传产生影响,同时疗养因子参与机体的生物节律调控不断深入,机体对自然疗养因子的应答反应是受到多种因素的影响,包括机体状态、疗养因子的种类、性质、作用剂量、应用时间、季节及个体差异等。本文主要对自然疗养因子的作用机制及对机体的作用等方面进行总结。     

Effect of postural changes on aldosterone to plasma renin ratio in patients with suspected secondary hypertension

AimsTo study the influence of postural changes on aldosterone to renin ratio (ARR) in patients with suspected secondary hypertension and to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the recommended seated ARR compared to supine and upright ARR for primary aldosteronism screening.MethodsFifty-three hypertensive patients were prospectively hospitalized for secondary hypertension exploration (age: 51 ± 12, 66% males). After withdrawal of drugs interfering with renin angiotensin system, plasma aldosterone and direct renin concentration were measured in the morning, at bed after an overnight supine position, then out of bed after 1 hour of upright position and finally 2 hours later after 15 minutes of seating. Minimal renin value was set at 5 μUI/mL.ResultsReferring to ARR cut-off of 23 pg/μUI, the sensitivity of seated ARR was 57.1% and specificity was 92.3%. The negative and positive predictive values were 95.1% and 45.2% respectively. Compared to these results, a cut-off of 19 improved sensitivity to 85.7% with a specificity of 89.7%. Negative and positive predictive values were 98.3% and 41.1% respectively. Seated ARR mean value was lower than supine and upright ARR mean values, due to an overall increase in renin at seating compared to the supine position by factor 1.9 while aldosterone just slightly increased by factor 1.2. Seated ARR correlated to supine and upright ARR: correlation coefficients (r) 0.90 and 0.93 respectively (P < 0.001).ConclusionsCurrent recommended measurement of ARR in the seating position is fairly correlated to supine and upright ARR. A suggested cut-off value of 19 instead of 23 pg/μUI increased the discriminating power of this test.     

Reliability of Sonoelastography in Ductal Carcinoma

The objective of the study was to evaluate the reliability of sonoelastography in ductal carcinoma in patients in primary and secondary health care settings. Google Scholar, PubMed, Medline, Medscape, Wikipedia and NCBI were searched in January 2018 for all original research and review articles to identify relevant studies. Two reviewers selected the articles independently for based on the title and abstract. The selection criteria were sonoelastography accuracy for diagnosing ductal carcinoma as index text, B-mode sonography, and micropure imaging; surgery and histologic findings were used as reference text; and benign and malignant breast abnormalities and ductal carcinoma were used as target conditions. Two reviewers extracted the data on selected study characteristics, and the results were used to construct the tables and figures. Fifteen studies on ductal carcinoma were found. The overall sensitivity of sonoelastography in diagnosing ductal carcinoma was 85.7%, and the specificity, 79.8%. On the basis of the literature review, it was concluded that sonoelastography has high sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing ductal carcinoma.     

STRmix™ put to the test: 300 000 non-contributor profiles compared to four-contributor DNA mixtures and the impact of replicates

Probabilistic genotyping approaches are increasingly used for the interpretation of DNA mixtures. To explore the specificity of one of these systems (STRmix^™), we conducted an extensive study using 24 complex mixtures: all were known or apparent 4-person mixtures with at least one contributor representing less than 20% of total DNA, and all mixtures had at least one contributor with suboptimal DNA quantity. Those mixtures were either generated in-house or from casework. All the mixtures were compared to 300,000 virtual non-contributors, resulting in a dataset of 7.2 million comparisons. The great majority of the non-contributor comparisons led to a LR lower than 1 for a specificity of 99.1%. The effect of using replicate amplifications to calculate the LR of non-contributors was also assessed as triplicates were used and led to an increased specificity of 99.8%. The very large extent of the analyzed data shows that STRmix^™ has an excellent ability to discriminate non-contributors from complex DNA mixtures.     

A highly specific Serratia-infecting T7-like phage inhibits biofilm formation in two different genera of the Enterobacteriaceae family

Due to the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria, bacteriophages have become a viable alternative in controlling bacterial growth or biofilm formation. Biofilm is formed by extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and is one of the factors responsible for increasing bacterial resistance. Bacteriophages have been studied as a bacterial control agent by use of phage enzymes or due to their bactericidal activities. A specific phage against Serratia marcescens was isolated in this work and was evaluated its biological and genomic aspects. The object of this study was UFV01, a bacteriophage belonging to the Podoviridae family, genus Teseptimavirus (group of lytic viruses), specific to the species S. marcescens, which may be related to several amino acid substitutions in the virus tail fibers. Despite this high specificity, the phage reduced the biofilm formation of several Escherichia coli strains without infecting them. UFV01 presents a relationship with phages of the genus Teseptimavirus, although it does not infect any of the E. coli strains evaluated, as these others do. All the characteristics make the phage an interesting alternative in biofilm control in hospital environments since small breaks in the biofilm matrix can lead to a complete collapse.     

核酸快速检测系统在新型冠状病毒检测中的应用评价

目的:探讨核酸快速检测系统在新型冠状病毒(SARS-CoV-2)检测中的性能与应用评价。方法:收集北京市疾病预防控制中心和中日友好医院检验科2020年2至7月的临床样本,评价核酸快速检测系统对SARS-CoV-2检测的敏感度、特异度、抗干扰能力、精密度以及临床样本检测符合率。分析敏感度的评价通过检测浓度梯度稀释的SARS-CoV-2样本,每个样本重复检测20次;分析特异度的评价是使用该系统检测与SARS-CoV-2感染部位相同或症状相似的病原体或假病毒及人源DNA和RNA;抗干扰能力研究是通过检测具有潜在干扰物质的样本进行评价;精密度研究通过评价试剂批内及批间的检测差异;临床样本检测符合率研究使用该系统检测230例咽拭子样本和95例痰液样本,并与传统实时荧光定量PCR(RT-qPCR)结果及临床诊断结果比较。结果:核酸快速检测系统对SARS-CoV-2核酸检测的分析敏感度为400拷贝/ml;核酸快速检测系统对感染部位相同或感染症状相似的病原体和人源核酸的检测结果均为阴性,分析特异度表明该系统与相关病原体及人源核酸无交叉反应;精密度表明批内/批间试验的高、中、低浓度样本的Ct值变异系数为1.90%~3.92%,均小于5%;加入潜在干扰物质后样本检测结果仍为阳性,说明样本中可能存在的干扰物质对检测结果无影响;与RT-qPCR结果及临床诊断结果符合率分别为98.46%和97.85%。结论:基于分子并行反应的核酸快速检测系统可作为一种快速检测SARS-CoV-2的选择方法。     

Performance of EAST in diagnosing inhalant allergens in children with allergic rhinitis

The performance of enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (EAST) for identifying six indoor allergens was evaluated using skin prick test (SPT) as reference tests in 154 children with allergic rhinitis. Sensitivity of EAST ranged from 9% (cat) to 54% (HDM) with specificity of 74%(cockroach) to 100% (cat) with an agreement ranged from 58 to 86%. Cut off values ?> ?0.35 kU/L showed best sensitivity and specificity. Our findings agree with extant literature which suggests that the ability of EAST to determine the precipitating allergen is moderate. Assays for definitively identifying the inhalant allergen are currently not available.     

转录因子MAZ对c1orf109基因转录表达调控的体外研究

目的:本文旨在研究转录因子Myc相关锌指蛋白(MAZ)在体外对人类1号染色体开放阅读框109(c1orf109)基因的转录表达调控。方法:体外条件下,采用凝胶电泳迁移实验筛选c1orf109基因启动子区MAZ的结合位点,并利用本室构建的由c1orf109启动子驱动的增强型绿色荧光蛋白报告载体与MAZ和转录因子特化蛋白1(Sp1)的表达质粒共转染He La细胞,24 h后,用激光共聚焦显微镜和流式细胞术检测c1orf109基因的转录表达情况。结果:c1orf109启动子区可与MAZ结合,且有与Sp1共享的结合位点;MAZ与Sp1皆可抑制c1orf109的转录表达,且Sp1的抑制作用大于MAZ(P0.05)。结论:MAZ与Sp1两个转录因子共同调控c1orf109基因在生理及病理条件的表达,且调控方向一致。这种冗余机制调控方式的存在提示该基因的精确表达调控对于细胞行使其生物学功能可能具有重要意义