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Infectious diseases have emerged as a significant global concern, posing a substantial burden in terms of high morbidity and mortality and presenting considerable challenges in clinical diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, it is highly desired to develop new strategies for sensitive and accurate bacteria detection to address the global epidemic of antibiotic resistance. In this study, a new technique utilizing a dual proximity ligation mediated chain extension and displacement strategy was developed for precise identification and highly sensitive detection of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The antibodies recognize both protein A and PBP2a on the surface of MRSA, leading to the initiation of proximity ligation and signal amplification processes. The signal amplification procedure generated a substantial number of G-quadruplex sequences, which subsequently bind with thioflavin T (ThT) to significantly amplify its fluorescence, enabling the detection of MRSA with a low detection limit of 3.5 cfu mL -1 . In this method, dual proximity ligation assays were integrated to mediate the signal amplification process, thus endowing the method with a greatly elevated specificity in both MRSA identification and signal amplification. Due to its non-label format, high selectivity, and sensitivity, this method can serve as a practical and versatile approach for detecting different bacteria in the early stages of infectious diseases.

Objective: To summarise the efficacy and toxicity of salvage low-dose-rate brachytherapy (LDR-BT) and compare these findings with the published data on salvage high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT)., Methods: We reviewed PubMed and EMBASE for studies published up to May 2024, mainly focusing on recurrence-free survival (RFS) with salvage LDR-BT across subgroups. We also compared RFS and adverse events with HDR-BT as a secondary objective. We reconstructed survival curves using a semi-automated tool called WebPlotDigitizer, along with a new shiny application integrated with R., Results: A total of 31 studies (891 patients) met the inclusion criteria for salvage LDR-BT. The median RFS of patients treated with salvage LDR-BT was 131.6 months, with 2-, 3- and 5-year rates of 84.6%, 74.3% and 63.5%. Lower median age (65-70 years vs 72.3-75 years, hazard ratio [HR] 0.50, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.35-0.70; P < 0.0001) and higher adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) proportion (83.8%-100% vs 0%-47%, HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.55-0.65; P = 0.036) were positive RFS factors. Compared to HDR-BT, salvage LDR-BT demonstrated improved RFS for all patients (HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.55-0.81; P < 0.0001). Specifically, salvage LDR-BT exhibited superior RFS (P < 0.05) for patients with a median age ≤70 years at recurrence, a median time from primary treatment to salvage therapy (TPTS) of ≥70 months, a median pre-salvage prostate-specific antigen level of ≥5 ng/mL, and a proportion of adjuvant ADT of ≥53%, compared to HDR-BT. However, LDR-BT was associated with a higher rate of severe gastrointestinal (GI; 3.5% vs 0.3%, odds ratio [OR] 0.08, 95% CI 0.03-0.28; P < 0.0001) and genitourinary (GU) toxicities (12.7% vs 5.8%, OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.30-0.60; P < 0.001) compared to HDR-BT., Conclusions: In specific cohorts, salvage LDR-BT appears to yield superior RFS but entails a higher incidence of severe GI/GU toxicities compared to HDR-BT., (© 2025 BJU International.)