Matrix metalloproteinase-3 promoter polymorphisms but not dupA-H. pylori correlate to duodenal ulcers in H. pylori-infected females

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study investigated if the <it>H. pylori dupA </it>genotype and certain host single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors (TIMPs), including MMP-3, MMP-7, MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2, might correlate with ulcer risk of <it>H. pylori-</it>infected Taiwanese patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 549 <it>H. pylori-</it>infected patients enrolled, 470 patients (265 with gastritis, 118 with duodenal ulcer, and 87 with gastric ulcer) received SNPs analysis of MMP-3_{-1612 6A > 5A}, MMP-7_{-181 A > G}, MMP-9_{exon 6 A > G}, TIMP-1_{372 T > C}and TIMP-2_{-418 G > C}by PCR-RFLP. The 181 collected <it>H. pylori </it>isolates were detected for the <it>dupA </it>genotype by PCR. The rates of <it>dupA</it>-positive <it>H. pylori </it>infection were similar among patients with duodenal ulcer (22.8%), gastric ulcer (20.0%), and gastritis (25.5%) (<it>p </it>> 0.05). Males had higher rates of duodenal ulcer and gastric ulcer than females (<it>p </it>< 0.01). Of <it>H. pylori</it>-infected patients, the MMP-3 6A6A genotype were more common in patients with duodenal ulcers than in those with gastritis (87.7% <it>vs</it>. 74.9%, <it>p </it>< 0.05) in females. This genotype had a 2.4-fold (95% CI: 1.02-5.66) increased risk of duodenal ulcer, compared to those with the 5A carrier. Combining the MMP-3/TIMP-1 genotype as 6A6A/CC, the risk of duodenal ulcer increased up to 3.6 fold (<it>p </it>< 0.05) in <it>H. pylori-</it>infected females.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The MMP-3 promoter polymorphism, but not the <it>dupA</it>-status, may correlate with susceptibility to duodenal ulcer after <it>H. pylori </it>infection in Taiwanese females.</p

Association of the shuffling of Streptococcus pyogenes clones and the fluctuation of scarlet fever cases between 2000 and 2006 in central Taiwan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The number of scarlet fever occurrences reported between 2000 and 2006 fluctuated considerably in central Taiwan and throughout the nation. Isolates of <it>Streptococcus pyogenes </it>were collected from scarlet fever patients in central Taiwan and were characterized by <it>emm </it>sequencing and a standardized pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method. National weekly report data were collected for investigating epidemiological trends.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 23 <it>emm </it>types were identified in 1,218 <it>S. pyogenes </it>isolates. The five most prevalent <it>emm </it>types were <it>emm</it>12 (50.4%), <it>emm</it>4 (23.2%), <it>emm</it>1 (16.4%), <it>emm</it>6 (3.8%) and <it>emm</it>22 (3.0%). PFGE analysis with <it>Sma</it>I suggested that, with a few exceptions, strains with a common <it>emm </it>type belonged to the same clone. There were two large <it>emm</it>12 clones, one with DNA resistant to cleavage by <it>Sma</it>I. Each prevalent <it>emm </it>clone had major PFGE strain(s) and many minor strains. Most of the minor strains emerged in the population and disappeared soon after. Even some major strains remained prevalent for only 2–3 years before declining. The large fluctuation of scarlet fever cases between 2000 and 2006 was associated with the shuffling of six prevalent <it>emm </it>clones. In 2003, the dramatic drop in scarlet fever cases in central Taiwan and throughout the whole country was associated with the occurrence of a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak that occurred between late-February and mid-June in Taiwan.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The occurrences of scarlet fever in central Taiwan in 2000–2006 were primarily caused by five <it>emm </it>types, which accounted for 96.8% of the isolates collected. Most of the <it>S. pyogenes </it>strains (as defined by PFGE genotypes) emerged and lasted for only a few years. The fluctuation in the number of scarlet fever cases during the seven years can be primarily attributed to the shuffling of six prevalent <it>emm </it>clones and to the SARS outbreak in 2003.</p

Bacteremic pneumonia caused by Nocardia veterana in an HIV-infected patient

SummaryDisseminated Nocardia veterana infection has rarely been reported. We describe the first reported case of N. veterana bacteremic pneumonia in an HIV-infected patient. The isolate was confirmed by 16S rRNA sequencing analysis. The patient initially responded well to trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole treatment (minimum inhibitory concentration 0.25μg/ml), but died of ventilator-associated pneumonia

Helicobacter pylori with stronger intensity of CagA phosphorylation lead to an increased risk of gastric intestinal metaplasia and cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nearly all Taiwanese <it>H. pylori </it>stains are <it>cagA</it>-genopositive and encode CagA protein. In this study, we evaluated whether different intensity of tyrosine phosphorylated-CagA (p-CagA) had an impact on the clinical diseases and histological outcomes in this area.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We enrolled 469 dyspeptic patients and prospectively obtained the gastric biopsy specimens and the <it>H. pylori </it>isolates. These patients were categorized according to the clinical diseases, such as duodenal ulcer, gastric ulcer, gastric cancer, and gastritis with or without intestinal metaplasia. Their gastric specimens were reviewed by the updated Sydney's system. Furthermore, a total of 146 patients were randomly selected from each clinical category for evaluation of their isolates' p-CagA intensity by <it>in vitro </it>AGS cells co-culture. The p-CagA was sparse in 30 (20.5%), weak in 59 (40.5%), and strong in 57 (39%) isolates. The isolates from the patients of gastric cancer or gastritis with intestinal metaplasia had stronger p-CagA intensity than those of gastritis without intestinal metaplasia (<it>p </it>≤ 0.002). Moreover, the patients infected with isolates with strong or weak p-CagA intensity had a higher risk of gastric intestinal metaplasia (<it>p </it>< 0.05, odds ratio 3.09~15.26) than those infected with sparse p-CagA isolates.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Infection with <it>H. pylori </it>stains with stronger p-CagA intensity may lead to an increased risk of gastric intestinal metaplasia and cancer.</p

Use of ecstasy and other psychoactive substances among school-attending adolescents in Taiwan: national surveys 2004–2006

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>With the backdrop of a global ecstasy epidemic, this study sought to examine the trend, correlates, and onset sequence of ecstasy use among adolescents in Taiwan, where a well-established gateway drug such as marijuana is much less popular.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A multistage probability survey of school-attending adolescents in grades 7, 9, 10, and 12, aged 11–19 years, was conducted in 2004, 2005, and 2006. A self-administered anonymous questionnaire elicited response rates ranging from 94.3% to 96.6%. The sample sizes were 18232 respondents in 2004, 17986 in 2005, and 17864 in 2006.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In terms of lifetime prevalence and incidence, ecstasy and ketamine by and large appeared as the first and second commonly used illegal drugs, respectively, among middle (grades 7 and 9) and high school students (grades 10 and 12) during the 3-year survey period; however, this order was reversed in the middle school-aged students starting in 2006. Having sexual experience, tobacco use, and betel nut use were factors consistently associated with the onset of ecstasy use across years. The majority of ecstasy users had been involved in polydrug use, such as the use of ketamine (41.4%–53.5%), marijuana (12.7%–18.7%), and methamphetamine (4.2%–9.5%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>From 2004 to 2006, a decline was noted in the prevalence and incidence rate of ecstasy, a leading illegal drug used by school-attending adolescents in Taiwan since the early 2000s. The emerging ketamine use trend may warrant more attention in the future.</p

Weak up-regulation of serum response factor in gastric ulcers in patients with co-morbidities is associated with increased risk of recurrent bleeding

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Serum response factor (SRF) is crucial for gastric ulcer healing process. The study determined if gastric ulcer tissues up-regulate SRF and if such up-regulation correlated with co-morbidities and the risk of recurrent bleeding.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Ulcer and non-ulcer tissues were obtained from 142 patients with active gastric ulcers for SRF expression assessed by immunohistochemistry. Based on the degree of SRF expression between these two tissue types, SRF up-regulation was classified as strong, intermediate, and weak patterns. The patients were followed-up to determine if SRF up-regulation correlated to recurrent bleeding.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Gastric ulcer tissues had higher SRF expression than non-ulcer tissues (<it>p </it>< 0.05). Patients with strong SRF up-regulation had lower rates of stigmata of recent hemorrhage (SRH) on the ulcer base than the others (<it>p </it>< 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression confirmed that co-morbidities and weak SRF up-regulation were two independent factors of recurrent gastric ulcer bleeding (<it>p </it>< 0.05). Combining both factors, there was an 8.29-fold (95% CI, 1.31~52.62; <it>p </it>= 0.03) higher risk of recurrent gastric ulcer bleeding.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>SRF expression is higher in gastric ulcer tissues than in non-ulcer tissues. Weak SRF up-regulation, combined with the presence of co-morbidities, increase the risk of the recurrent gastric ulcer bleeding.</p

Detection of the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background with JUNO

As an underground multi-purpose neutrino detector with 20 kton liquid scintillator, Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is competitive with and complementary to the water-Cherenkov detectors on the search for the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB). Typical supernova models predict 2-4 events per year within the optimal observation window in the JUNO detector. The dominant background is from the neutral-current (NC) interaction of atmospheric neutrinos with 12C nuclei, which surpasses the DSNB by more than one order of magnitude. We evaluated the systematic uncertainty of NC background from the spread of a variety of data-driven models and further developed a method to determine NC background within 15\% with {\it{in}} {\it{situ}} measurements after ten years of running. Besides, the NC-like backgrounds can be effectively suppressed by the intrinsic pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) capabilities of liquid scintillators. In this talk, I will present in detail the improvements on NC background uncertainty evaluation, PSD discriminator development, and finally, the potential of DSNB sensitivity in JUNO