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Background: Streptococcus suis is an emerging zoonotic pathogen that mainly causes meningitis, sepsis, arthritis, endocarditis, and endophthalmitis in human. To the best of our knowledge, Spinal canal infection caused by Streptococcus suis has rarely been reported.Case Presentation: Here we report a case of spinal canal infection caused by Streptococcus suis in a 50-year-old male patient. The patient had a history of close contact with sick pigs days before disease onset. Initially he presented with headache and fever. After admission, the patient began to experience lower back pain, which led physicians to perform a lumber puncture. Meta-genomic next generation sequencing helped identify Streptococcus suis in the cerebrospinal fluid. MRI imaging indicated a spinal canal infection caused by Streptococcus suis.Conclusions: Spinal canal infection is an uncommon disease of Streptococcus suis infection. This case report indicates that people presented with fever, headache and lower back pain should also be suspected as Streptococcus suis infection, especially for those who have had a history of sick pig contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helicobacter -induced chronic inflammation and immune disorders are closely associated with the development of gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) exhibit strong immunosuppressive properties and promote the growth of various solid tumors. However, the role of MDSCs in the development of MALT lymphoma has not been elucidated so far. We detected significant infiltration and enrichment of MDSCs in patients with MALT lymphoma, as well in Helicobacter felis -infected mouse model of gastric MALT lymphoma. In addition, the expression of arginase-1 and inducible nitric oxide synthase was significantly elevated both in gastric MALT lymphoma tissues and H. felis -infected stomach. Persistent H. felis infection closely reproduced the development of gastric MALT lymphoma and was accompanied by increased numbers of γδT17 cells. Accumulation of γδT17 cells was also validated in the human gastric MALT lymphoma tissues. Furthermore, the elevated cytokines interleukin-23 and interleukin-1β, as well as chemokines CCL20/CCR6, may be involved in the accumulation of γδT17 cells and the subsequent immunosuppression. These findings highlight the role of MDSCs and γδT17 cells in immune dysregulation during gastric MALT lymphoma development and their potential as therapeutic targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The NLRP3 inflammasome plays a pro-tumorigenic role in various malignancies. However, its potential role in lymphomagenesis remains unclear. In this study, we identified an immunosuppressive state in patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), which was characterized by markedly elevated interleukin (IL)-18 levels in lymphoma tissues and positive correlation with programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. Furthermore, NLRP3 inflammasome activation in DLBCL cell lines upregulated PD-L1 and reduced the proportion of cytotoxic T cells. NLRP3 inflammasome blockade in vivo suppressed lymphoma growth and ameliorated anti-tumor immunity by downregulating PD-L1 in the tumor microenvironment and decreasing the proportion of PD-1/TIM-3-expressing T cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, tumor-associated macrophages, and regulatory T cells. Further in vivo studies revealed IL-18 as the main effector cytokine involved in the negative regulation of anti-lymphoma immunity. Interestingly, NLRP3 blockers combined with anti-PD-L1 treatment exerted antagonistic effects during lymphoma therapy. Altogether, our findings indicate that NLRP3 inflammasome promotes immunosuppression by modulating PD-L1 and immune cells. Accordingly, this study highlights the prognostic and therapeutic values of the NLRP3 inflammasome in lymphoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are the highest priority pathogens of the World Health Organization, and their prevalence in end-stage liver disease (ESLD) patients is increasing. CRE colonization is an independent risk factor for CRE infections. We aimed to assess risk factors and explore the relationship between CRE colonization, infection, and prognosis in patients with ESLD. A total of 311 patients with ESLD were screened for CRE colonization by fecal swabs from October 2020 to January 2022. Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested using the broth microdilution method. Carbapenem resistance genes, multilocus sequence type, and capsular serotype were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Seventeen CRE strains were detected, among which the most common was Klebsiella pneumoniae . The CRE colonization rate was 5.5%. Artificial liver support was an independent risk factor for CRE colonization. Compared to the non-CRE colonization group, the colonization group had a higher incidence of CRE infection and a worse prognosis. Furthermore, these strains were not closely related, and all were sensitive to polymyxin and tigecycline. There was a high colonization rate in ESLD patients, and colonization strains were highly diverse. CRE colonization deserves attention in these patients, especially when treated with artificial liver support.

Purposes: The conventional risk stratification of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), based on cytogenetics, cannot meet the demand for accurate prognostic evaluations. In recent years, gene mutations are found to be potential markers for more accurate risk stratification, but reports on mutation screening of Chinese AML are limited. We aim to display the mutation patterns of Chinese AML patients, reveal the genotype-phenotype correlations and make a comparison with Caucasians patients., Methods: Genome DNA from 78 patients' bone marrow were extracted for targeted gene mutation panel by next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology. Statistics and bioinformatics were used to analyze the correlations between gene mutations and clinical features, as well as the comparison of our results with the Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network (TCGA) public AML dataset., Results: We found patients with mutations of FLT3 and TET2 had higher bone marrow blasts, peripheral blasts and white blood cell (WBC) count, mutations of SRSF2 were related with age, and mutations of FLT3-ITD, DNMT3A, IDH1, TET2 and SRSF2 were risk factors for overall survival. What's more, we discovered 15 novel mutations and difference of mutational incidence in 6 genes between Chinese and Caucasians AML. Bioinformatic analysis revealed some relationship between gene mutations and expressions as well as drug sensitivities., Conclusions: We made an investigation on the mutation patterns of Chinese AML patients by NGS technique and revealed correlations between gene mutations and clinical features. Thus we recommend routine testing of suspected genes for better prognostic prediction and individualized treatment., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To analyze the efficacy and safety of entecavir (ETV) treatment for up to 5 years in nucleos(t)ide-naïve chronic hepatitis B patients in real life., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 230 nucleos(t)ide naïve chronic hepatitis B patients who received ETV 0.5 mg/day monotherapy for at least 3 months, of whom 113 were HBeAg positive and 117 were HBeAg negative. The primary endpoints was cumulative probability of achieving a virological response (undetectable serum HBV DNA, <100IU/mL). Secondary endpoints were rates of ALT normalization (ALT < upper limit of normal), HBeAg seroconversion, resistance, and safety., Results: The median follow-up duration was 27.5 months (3-73 months) and mean age was 42 years. With 230, 214, 180, 142, 88, 42 and 11 patients followed-up for at least 3 months,6 months, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years, respectively. In all, Incremental increases were observed in the rates of undetectable HBV DNA. 67.0%, 85.0%, 89.4%, 94.4%, 95.5%, 97.6%, 100% had undetectable HBV DNA at month 3, month 6, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years and 5 years. Proportions of patients achieving normal ALT were 73.9%, 85.5%, 82.8%, 89.4%, 80.7%, 85.7%, 100%, respectively. The rate of HBeAg seroconversion reached 21.4% and 15.4% at year2, 3, respectively. One patient achieved HBsAg seroclearance after 1 year, and achieved anti-HBs seroconversion at year 3. Of 180 patients, HBV DNA was detectable (partial virological response, PVR) in 19 patients at year 1 of follow-up, twelve of 14 (85.7%) patients with PVR need more than 1 year of continuous ETV therapy to achieved VR. At baseline, no ETV-resistance was detected in 25 ETV-naïve patients. One patient developed ETV-resistance mutations due to noncompliance. No serious adverse event was reported., Conclusion: Long-term ETV treatment of nucleos(t)ide-naïve was effective and safe in real life. Adjustment of ETV monotherapy in nucleos(t)ide-naïve patients with a partial virological response at 1 year may be unnecessary.