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Background: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a heterogeneous group of mainly chronic, debilitating and often stigmatizing diseases that largely affects low-income and politically marginalized populations, causing a large burden of public health, social and economies in the NTDs endemic countries. NTDs are caused by infections with a range of pathogen, including bacteria, parasites, protozoa and viruses. The accurate diagnosis of NTDs is important for reducing morbidity, preventing mortality and for monitoring of control programs. External Quality Assessment (EQA), a component of laboratory quality assurance, aims to assess the performance of participating laboratories in detecting parasitic infections. The aim of this paper is to report the findings and put forward the recommendations on capacity build from the EQA results of participating NTDs laboratories in selected countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region from 2012 to 2015. Methods: Reference or public health laboratories at national level working on NTDs in 6 countries participated in EQAs organized by the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases (NIPD) of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) based in Shanghai, China. Two representatives of each participating laboratory were invited to NIPD to detect NTDs' parasitic infections using the same prepared samples for serological tests (IHA and ELISA) and helminth eggs' morphological tests (Direct smear and Kato-Katz). All of the results were scored and analyzed by using SPSS statistics 19.0 software. Results: The percentage of participants who had EQA score ≥ 60 during 2012--2015 for direct smear test were 80.00% (2012), 71.43% (2013), 100% (2014) and 75.00% (2015), whereas for Kato-Katz test were 80.00% (2012), 57.14% (2013), 100% (2014) and 37.50% (2015), respectively. The detection rate of helminth eggs varied in different species, with Ascaris lumbricoides being the highest at 94.07% in average. All laboratories did very well with ELISA tests as shown by the high scores in all four years except Lab A in the first and last EQA. For the positive or negative judgments of serum samples, the total coincidence rates of ELISA between 2012 and 2015 were 90.00%, 99.29%, 94.29% and 98.75%, respectively. While the total coincidence rates of IHA were respectively 100%, 95.00%, 90.00% and 97.50%. However, detecting low levels of serum antibody remained problematic for IHA when the titres of samples were taken into consideration. Conclusion: This study demonstrate that EQA scheme have been beneficial to the participating laboratories. The EQA programme identifies certain deficiencies which were needed to overcome and improved the laboratories' performance in helminthiasis diagnosis. However, further optimization of accuracy and uniformity in NTDs diagnosis remains a big challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acute diarrhea is a global health problem, resulting in high morbidity and mortality in children. It has been suggested that enteric pathogen co-infections play an important role in gastroenteritis, but most research efforts have only focused on a small range of species belonging to a few pathogen groups. This study aimed to assess the impact of co-infections with a broad range of enteric pathogens on children aged below five years who suffer from acute diarrhea in southwest China. Method: A total of 1020 subjects (850 diarrhea cases and 170 healthy controls) were selected from four sentinel hospitals in Kunming, Yunnan province, southwest China, from June 2014 to July 2015. Stool specimens were collected to detect five virus (rotavirus group A, RVA; norovirus, NoV; Sapovirus, SaV; astrovirus, As; and adenovirus, Ad), seven bacterial (diarrheagenic Escherichia coli, DEC; non-typhoidal Salmonella, NTS; Shigella spp.; Vibrio cholera; Vibrio parahaemolyticus; Aeromonas spp.; and Plesiomonas spp.), and three protozoan (Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia lamblia, and Blastocystis hominis, B. hominis) species using standard microbiologic and molecular methods. Data were analyzed using the partial least square regression technique and chi-square test. Results: At least one enteric pathogen was detected in 46.7 % (n = 397) of acute gastroenteritis cases and 13.5 % (n = 23) of healthy controls (X² = 64.4, P < 0.05). Single infection with RVA was associated with acute diarrhea (26.5 % vs. 5.8 %, P < 0.05). The prevalence of a single infection with B. hominis in diarrhea cases was higher than in healthy controls (3.1 % vs. 0.5 %, OR = 4.7, 95 % CI: 1.01-112.0). Single infection with NoV GII was not associated with diarrhea (4.4 % vs. 3.5 %, OR = 1.2, 95 % CI: 0.5-3.3). Single infections with bacterial species were not observed. The prevalence of co-infections with two enteric pathogens in diarrhea cases was higher than in asymptomatic children (20.1 % vs. 5.3 %, P < 0.05). RVA-NoV GII was the most common co-infection in symptomatic children (4.4 %), with it aggravating the severity of diarrhea. Conclusions: Although it is clear that RVA has an overwhelming impact on diarrhea illnesses in children, co-infection with other enteric pathogens appears to also aggravate diarrhea severity. These findings should serve as evidence for public health services when planning and developing intervention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Yersinia pestis is the pathogen of the plague and caused three pandemics worldwide. Pneumonic plague is rarer than bubonic and septicemic plague. We report detailed clinical and pathogenic data for all the three sporadic cases of pneumonic plagues in China in 2014.Case Presentation: All the three patients are herders in Gansu province of China. They were all infected by Yersinia pestis and displayed in the form of pneumonic plague respectively without related. We tested patient specimens from the upper (nasopharyngeal swabs) or the lower (sputum) respiratory tract and whole blood, plasma, and serum specimens for Yersinia pestis. All patients had fever, cough and dyspnea, and for patient 2 and 3, unconscious. Respiratory symptoms were predominant with acute respiratory failure. The chest X-ray showed signs consistent with necrotizing inflammation with multiple lobar involvements. Despite emergency treatment, all patients died of refractory multiple organ failure within 24 h after admission to hospital. All the contacts were quarantined immediately and there were no secondary cases.Conclusions: Nowadays, the plague is epidemic in animals and can infect people who contact with the infected animals which may cause an epidemic in human. We think dogs maybe an intermediate vector for plague and as a source of risk for humans who are exposed to pet animals or who work professionally with canines. If a patient has been exposed to a risk factor and has fever and dyspnea, plague should be considered. People who had contact with a confirmed case should be isolated and investigated for F1 antigen analysis and receive post-exposure preventive treatment. A vaccination strategy might be useful for individuals who are occupationally exposed in areas where endemically infected reservoirs of plague-infected small mammals co-exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Schistosomiasis remains a serious public health problem in affected countries, and routine, highly sensitive and cost-effective diagnostic methods are lacking. We evaluated two immunodiagnostic techniques for the detection of Schistosoma japonicum infections: circulating antibody and circulating antigen assays. Methods: A total of 1864 individuals (between 6 and 72 years old) residing in five administrative villages in Hubei province were screened by serum examination with an indirect hemagglutination assay (IHA). The positive individuals (titer ≥20 in IHA) were reconfirmed by stool examination with the Kato-Katz method (three slides from a single stool specimen). Samples of good serum quality and a volume above 0.5 ml were selected for further testing with two immunodiagnostic antibody (DDIA and ELISA) and two antigen (ELISA) assays. Results: The average antibody positive rate in the five villages was 12.7%, while the average parasitological prevalence was 1.50%; 25 of the 28 egg-positive samples were also circulating antigen-positive. Significant differences were observed between the prevalence according to the Kato-Katz method and all three immunodiagnostic antibody assays (P-value <0.0001). Similar differences were observed between the Kato-Katz method and the two immunodiagnostic antigen assays (P-value <0.0001) and between the antigen and antibody assays (P-value <0.0001). Conclusion: Both circulating antibody and circulating antigen assays had acceptable performance characteristics. Immunodiagnostic techniques to detect circulating antigens have potential to be deployed for schistosomiasis japonica screening in the endemic areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rapid progression of residual tumor after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of hepatocellular carcinoma has been observed increasingly. However, its underlying mechanisms remain to be clarified. The present study was designed to determine whether low temperature of RFA at the target sites facilitates rapid progression of residual hepatic VX2 carcinoma and to clarify the possible underlying mechanisms. Methods: The residual VX2 hepatoma model in rabbits was established by using RFA at 55, 70 and 85°C. Rabbits that were implanted with VX2 hepatoma but did not receive RFA acted as a control group. The relationship between rapid progression of residual hepatic VX2 carcinoma and low temperature of RFA at the target sites was carefully evaluated. A number of potential contributing molecular factors, such as proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured. Results: The focal tumor volume and lung metastases of RFA-treated rabbits increased significantly compared with the control group (P < 0.05), and the greatest changes were seen in the 55°C group (P < 0.05). Expression of PCNA, MMP-9, VEGF, HGF and IL-6 in tumor tissues increased significantly in the RFA-treated groups compared with the control group, and of the increases were greatest in the 55°C group (P < 0.05). These results were consistent with gross pathological observation. Tumor re-inoculation experiments confirmed that low temperature of RFA at the target sites facilitated rapid progression of residual hepatic VX2 carcinoma. Conclusions: Insufficient RFA that is caused by low temperature at the target sites could be an important cause of rapid progression of residual hepatic VX2 carcinoma. Residual hepatic VX2 carcinoma could facilitate its rapid progression through inducing overexpression of several molecular factors, such as PCNA, MMP-9, VEGF, HGF and IL-6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rapid progression of residual tumor after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of hepatocellular carcinoma has been observed increasingly. However, its underlying mechanisms remain to be clarified. The present study was designed to determine whether low temperature of RFA at the target sites facilitates rapid progression of residual hepatic VX2 carcinoma and to clarify the possible underlying mechanisms.Methods: The residual VX2 hepatoma model in rabbits was established by using RFA at 55, 70 and 85 degrees C. Rabbits that were implanted with VX2 hepatoma but did not receive RFA acted as a control group. The relationship between rapid progression of residual hepatic VX2 carcinoma and low temperature of RFA at the target sites was carefully evaluated. A number of potential contributing molecular factors, such as proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured.Results: The focal tumor volume and lung metastases of RFA-treated rabbits increased significantly compared with the control group (P < 0.05), and the greatest changes were seen in the 55 degrees C group (P < 0.05). Expression of PCNA, MMP-9, VEGF, HGF and IL-6 in tumor tissues increased significantly in the RFA-treated groups compared with the control group, and of the increases were greatest in the 55 degrees C group (P < 0.05). These results were consistent with gross pathological observation. Tumor re-inoculation experiments confirmed that low temperature of RFA at the target sites facilitated rapid progression of residual hepatic VX2 carcinoma.Conclusions: Insufficient RFA that is caused by low temperature at the target sites could be an important cause of rapid progression of residual hepatic VX2 carcinoma. Residual hepatic VX2 carcinoma could facilitate its rapid progression through inducing overexpression of several molecular factors, such as PCNA, MMP-9, VEGF, HGF and IL-6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a heterogeneous group of mainly chronic, debilitating and often stigmatizing diseases that largely affects low-income and politically marginalized populations, causing a large burden of public health, social and economies in the NTDs endemic countries. NTDs are caused by infections with a range of pathogen, including bacteria, parasites, protozoa and viruses. The accurate diagnosis of NTDs is important for reducing morbidity, preventing mortality and for monitoring of control programs. External Quality Assessment (EQA), a component of laboratory quality assurance, aims to assess the performance of participating laboratories in detecting parasitic infections. The aim of this paper is to report the findings and put forward the recommendations on capacity build from the EQA results of participating NTDs laboratories in selected countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region from 2012 to 2015., Methods: Reference or public health laboratories at national level working on NTDs in 6 countries participated in EQAs organized by the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases (NIPD) of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) based in Shanghai, China. Two representatives of each participating laboratory were invited to NIPD to detect NTDs' parasitic infections using the same prepared samples for serological tests (IHA and ELISA) and helminth eggs' morphological tests (Direct smear and Kato-Katz). All of the results were scored and analyzed by using SPSS statistics 19.0 software., Results: The percentage of participants who had EQA score ≥ 60 during 2012-2015 for direct smear test were 80.00% (2012), 71.43% (2013), 100% (2014) and 75.00% (2015), whereas for Kato-Katz test were 80.00% (2012), 57.14% (2013), 100% (2014) and 37.50% (2015), respectively. The detection rate of helminth eggs varied in different species, with Ascaris lumbricoides being the highest at 94.07% in average. All laboratories did very well with ELISA tests as shown by the high scores in all four years except Lab A in the first and last EQA. For the positive or negative judgments of serum samples, the total coincidence rates of ELISA between 2012 and 2015 were 90.00%, 99.29%, 94.29% and 98.75%, respectively. While the total coincidence rates of IHA were respectively 100%, 95.00%, 90.00% and 97.50%. However, detecting low levels of serum antibody remained problematic for IHA when the titres of samples were taken into consideration., Conclusion: This study demonstrate that EQA scheme have been beneficial to the participating laboratories. The EQA programme identifies certain deficiencies which were needed to overcome and improved the laboratories' performance in helminthiasis diagnosis. However, further optimization of accuracy and uniformity in NTDs diagnosis remains a big challenge.

Background: We designed an easy posterolateral transforaminal endoscopic decompression technique, termed PTES, for radiculopathy secondary to lumbar disc herniation. The purpose of the study is to describe the technique of PTES and evaluate the efficacy and safety for treatment of lumbar disc herniation including primary herniation, reherniation, intracanal herniation, and extracanal herniation and to report outcome and complications., Methods: PTES was performed to treat 209 cases of intracanal or extracanal herniations with or without extruding or sequestrated fragment, high iliac crest, scoliosis, calcification, or cauda equina syndrome including recurrent herniation after previous surgical intervention at the index level or adjacent disc herniation after decompression and fusion. Preoperative and postoperative leg pain was evaluated using the 10-point visual analog scale (VAS) and the results were determined to be excellent, good, fair, or poor according to the MacNab classification at 2-year follow-up., Results: The patients were followed for an average of 26.3 ± 2.3 months. The VAS score of leg pain significantly dropped from 9 (6-10) before operation to 1 (0-3) (P < 0.001) immediately after the operation and to 0 (0-3) (P < 0.001) 2 years after operation. At 2-year follow-up, 95.7% (200/209) of the patients showed excellent or good outcomes, 2.9% (6/209) fair and 1.4% (3/209) poor. No patients had any form of permanent iatrogenic nerve damage and a major complication, although there were one case of infection and one case of recurrence., Conclusions: PTES for lumbar disc herniation is an effective and safe method with simple orientation, easy puncture, reduced steps, and little X-ray exposure, which can be applied in almost all kinds of lumbar disc herniation, including L5/S1 level with high iliac crest, herniation with scoliosis or calcification, recurrent herniation, and adjacent disc herniation after decompression and fusion. The learning curve is no longer steep for surgeons.

Background: Acute diarrhea is a global health problem, resulting in high morbidity and mortality in children. It has been suggested that enteric pathogen co-infections play an important role in gastroenteritis, but most research efforts have only focused on a small range of species belonging to a few pathogen groups. This study aimed to assess the impact of co-infections with a broad range of enteric pathogens on children aged below five years who suffer from acute diarrhea in southwest China., Method: A total of 1020 subjects (850 diarrhea cases and 170 healthy controls) were selected from four sentinel hospitals in Kunming, Yunnan province, southwest China, from June 2014 to July 2015. Stool specimens were collected to detect five virus (rotavirus group A, RVA; norovirus, NoV; Sapovirus, SaV; astrovirus, As; and adenovirus, Ad), seven bacterial (diarrheagenic Escherichia coli, DEC; non-typhoidal Salmonella, NTS; Shigella spp.; Vibrio cholera; Vibrio parahaemolyticus; Aeromonas spp.; and Plesiomonas spp.), and three protozoan (Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia lamblia, and Blastocystis hominis, B. hominis) species using standard microbiologic and molecular methods. Data were analyzed using the partial least square regression technique and chi-square test., Results: At least one enteric pathogen was detected in 46.7 % (n = 397) of acute gastroenteritis cases and 13.5 % (n = 23) of healthy controls (χ(2) = 64.4, P < 0.05). Single infection with RVA was associated with acute diarrhea (26.5 % vs. 5.8 %, P < 0.05). The prevalence of a single infection with B. hominis in diarrhea cases was higher than in healthy controls (3.1 % vs. 0.5 %, OR = 4.7, 95 % CI: 1.01-112.0). Single infection with NoV GII was not associated with diarrhea (4.4 % vs. 3.5 %, OR = 1.2, 95 % CI: 0.5-3.3). Single infections with bacterial species were not observed. The prevalence of co-infections with two enteric pathogens in diarrhea cases was higher than in asymptomatic children (20.1 % vs. 5.3 %, P < 0.05). RVA-NoV GII was the most common co-infection in symptomatic children (4.4 %), with it aggravating the severity of diarrhea., Conclusions: Although it is clear that RVA has an overwhelming impact on diarrhea illnesses in children, co-infection with other enteric pathogens appears to also aggravate diarrhea severity. These findings should serve as evidence for public health services when planning and developing intervention programs.

Background: Yersinia pestis is the pathogen of the plague and caused three pandemics worldwide. Pneumonic plague is rarer than bubonic and septicemic plague. We report detailed clinical and pathogenic data for all the three sporadic cases of pneumonic plagues in China in 2014., Case Presentation: All the three patients are herders in Gansu province of China. They were all infected by Yersinia pestis and displayed in the form of pneumonic plague respectively without related. We tested patient specimens from the upper (nasopharyngeal swabs) or the lower (sputum) respiratory tract and whole blood, plasma, and serum specimens for Yersinia pestis. All patients had fever, cough and dyspnea, and for patient 2 and 3, unconscious. Respiratory symptoms were predominant with acute respiratory failure. The chest X-ray showed signs consistent with necrotizing inflammation with multiple lobar involvements. Despite emergency treatment, all patients died of refractory multiple organ failure within 24 h after admission to hospital. All the contacts were quarantined immediately and there were no secondary cases., Conclusions: Nowadays, the plague is epidemic in animals and can infect people who contact with the infected animals which may cause an epidemic in human. We think dogs maybe an intermediate vector for plague and as a source of risk for humans who are exposed to pet animals or who work professionally with canines. If a patient has been exposed to a risk factor and has fever and dyspnea, plague should be considered. People who had contact with a confirmed case should be isolated and investigated for F1 antigen analysis and receive post-exposure preventive treatment. A vaccination strategy might be useful for individuals who are occupationally exposed in areas where endemically infected reservoirs of plague-infected small mammals co-exist.

Background: Humoral and cellular immune responses play protective roles against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection. However, hookworm infection decreases the immune response to hookworm and bystander antigens. Currently, immune responses to co-infection of MTB and hookworm are still unknown, although co-infection has been one of the public health problems in co-endemic areas of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and hookworm disease. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate B and T cell immune responses to the co-infection., Methods: Seventeen PTB cases co-infected with hookworm, 26 PTB cases, 15 patients with hookworm infection, and 24 healthy controls without PTB or hookworm infection were enrolled in the study. Expressions of CD3, CD4, CD8, CD10, CD19, CD20, CD21, CD25, CD27, CD38, FoxP3, and PD-1 were assessed on B and T cell subsets using multicolor flow cytometry., Results: For the B cell (CD19(+)) subsets, naïve B cells (CD10(-)CD27(-)CD21(+)CD20(+)), plasma cells (CD10(-)CD27(+)CD21(-)CD20(-)), and tissue-like memory B cells (CD10(-)CD27(-)CD21(-)CD20(+)) had higher proportions, whilst resting memory B cells (CD10(-)CD27(+)CD21(+)CD20(+)) had lower proportions in the group co-infected with MTB and hookworm as compared to other groups. Frequencies of activated memory B cells (CD10(-)CD27(+)CD21(-)CD20(+)) did not differ among the four groups. For the T cell (CD3(+)) subsets, frequencies of regulatory T cells (CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+)) and exhausted CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells (CD4(+)PD-1(+) and CD8(+)PD-1(+)) were higher, and frequencies of activated CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells (CD4(+)CD38(+) and CD8(+)CD38(+)) were lower in the co-infected group as compared to the other groups., Conclusion: The change patterns of the cell profile of circulating lymphocytes were indentified in human co-infection of MTB and hookworm, which might indicate that the humoral and cellular immune responses are more suppressed.

Background: Schistosomiasis remains a serious public health problem in affected countries, and routine, highly sensitive and cost-effective diagnostic methods are lacking. We evaluated two immunodiagnostic techniques for the detection of Schistosoma japonicum infections: circulating antibody and circulating antigen assays., Methods: A total of 1864 individuals (between 6 and 72 years old) residing in five administrative villages in Hubei province were screened by serum examination with an indirect hemagglutination assay (IHA). The positive individuals (titer ≥20 in IHA) were reconfirmed by stool examination with the Kato-Katz method (three slides from a single stool specimen). Samples of good serum quality and a volume above 0.5 ml were selected for further testing with two immunodiagnostic antibody (DDIA and ELISA) and two antigen (ELISA) assays., Results: The average antibody positive rate in the five villages was 12.7%, while the average parasitological prevalence was 1.50%; 25 of the 28 egg-positive samples were also circulating antigen-positive. Significant differences were observed between the prevalence according to the Kato-Katz method and all three immunodiagnostic antibody assays (P-value <0.0001). Similar differences were observed between the Kato-Katz method and the two immunodiagnostic antigen assays (P-value <0.0001) and between the antigen and antibody assays (P-value <0.0001)., Conclusion: Both circulating antibody and circulating antigen assays had acceptable performance characteristics. Immunodiagnostic techniques to detect circulating antigens have potential to be deployed for schistosomiasis japonica screening in the endemic areas.

Background: Adenylate kinase 2 (AK2) is a phosphotransferase that catalyzes the reversible reaction 2ADP(GDP) ↔ ATP(GTP) + AMP and influences cellular energy homeostasis. However, the role of AK2 in regulating cell proliferation remains unclear because AK2 has been reported to be involved in either cell proliferation or cell apoptosis in different cell types of various organisms., Results: This study reports AK2 promotion of cell proliferation using the lepidopteran insect Helicoverpa armigera and its epidermal cell line HaEpi as models. Western blot analysis indicates that AK2 constitutively expresses in various tissues during larval development. Immunocytochemistry analysis indicates that AK2 localizes in the mitochondria. The recombinant expressed AK2 in E. coli promotes cell growth and viability of HaEpi cell line by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. AK2 knockdown in larvae by RNA interference causes larval growth defects, including body weight decrease and development delay. AK2 knockdown in larvae also decreases the number of circulating haemocytes. The mechanism for such effects might be the suppression of gene transcription involved in insect development caused by AK2 knockdown., Conclusion: These results show that AK2 regulates cell growth, viability, and proliferation in insect growth and development.

Background: Toxoplasmosis is a widespread zoonotic parasitic disease that occurs in both animals and humans. Traditional molecular assays are often difficult to perform, especially for the early diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii infections. Here, we established a novel loop-mediated isothermal amplification targeting the 529 bp repeat element (529 bp-LAMP) to detect T. gondii DNA in blood samples of experimental mice infected with tachyzoites of the RH strain., Findings: The assay was performed with Bst DNA polymerase at 65°C for 1 h. The detection limit of the 529 bp-LAMP assay was as low as 0.6 fg of T. gondii DNA. The sensitivity of this assay was 100 and 1000 fold higher than that of the LAMP targeting B1 gene (B1-LAMP) and nested PCR targeting 529 bp repeat element (529 bp-nested PCR), respectively. The specificity of the 529 bp-LAMP assay was determined using the DNA samples of Trypanosoma evansi, Plasmodium falciparum, Paragonimus westermani, Schistosoma japonicum, Fasciola hepatica and Angiostrongylus cantonensis. No cross-reactivity with the DNA of any parasites was found. The assay was able to detect T. gondii DNA in all mouse blood samples at one day post infection (dpi)., Conclusions: We report the following findings: (i) The detection limit of the 529 bp-LAMP assay is 0.6 fg of T. gondii DNA; (ii) The assay does not involve any cross-reactivity with the DNA of other parasites; (iii) This is the first report on the application of the LAMP assay for early diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in blood samples from experimentally infected mice. Due to its simplicity, sensitivity and cost-effectiveness for common use, we suggest that this assay should be used as an early diagnostic tool for health control of toxoplasmosis.

Background: Schistosomiasis japonica (schistosomiasis) is a zoonosis that can seriously affect human health. At present, the immunodiagnostic assays for schistosomiasis detection are time-consuming and require well-trained personnel and special instruments, which can limit their use in the field. Thus, there is a pressing need for a simple and rapid immunoassay to screen patients on a large scale. In this study, we developed a novel rapid dipstick with latex immunochromatographic assay (DLIA) to detect anti-Schisaosoma japonicum antibodies in human serum., Results: Using latex microspheres as a color probe, DLIA was established to test standard positive and negative sera, in comparison with the classical enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The sensitivity and specificity of DLIA were 95.10% (97/102) and 94.91% (261/275), respectively. The cross-reaction rates with clonorchiosis, intestinal nematodes, Angiostrongylus cantonensis and paragonimiasis were 0, 0, 0 and 42.11% respectively. All the results showed no significant difference to the ELISA. In field tests, 333 human serum samples from an endemic area were tested with DLIA, and compared with ELISA and Kato-Katz method. There was no significant difference between DLIA and ELISA on positive and negative rates of detection; however, significant differences existed between DLIA and Kato-Katz method, and between ELISA and Kato-Katz method. The kappa value between DLIA and ELISA was 0.90., Conclusions: This is the first study in which DLIA was used to detect anti-Schistosoma japonicum antibody. The results show that DLIA is a simple, rapid, convenient, sensitive and specific assay for the diagnosis of schistosomiasis and is therefore very suitable for large-scale field applications and clinical detection.

Background: Since its discovery, HIV/AIDS has arguably captured more attention among the Chinese biomedical research community than most other infectious diseases. Traditional parasitic diseases, on the other hand, are perceived as being increasingly neglected. However, it has long been recognized that interactions between HIV and other infective agents, including parasites, influence the health status of people living with HIV/AIDS. This study aimed at systematically reviewing the Chinese scientific literature on HIV/AIDS and parasites between 1986 and 2006 in order to substantiate or refute these claims, and to highlight neglected research areas., Results: Searching the three largest Chinese scientific literature databases, in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) a total of 24,511 citations dealing with HIV/AIDS and 15,398 parasite-specific publications were identified. Wanfang Data and VIP Information (VIP) contained 15,925 and 13,873 entries dealing with HIV/AIDS respectively, while 12,043 and 7,068 hits were scored when searching for parasitological references. The number of publications dealing with HIV/AIDS in China increased exponentially from 6 in 1986 to 3,372 in 2006 whereas the publication activity in the field of parasitology was more erratic and lately started to decline. Epidemiology was the most-reported field of endeavor, accounting for 26.0% and 24.6% of the HIV/AIDS and parasitological literature, respectively, while publications dealing with health education only represented 2.9% and 0.7% of all publications, respectively. The total number of Chinese articles focusing on HIV/AIDS and parasite co-infection was 650, with large year-on-year differences in publication numbers. The single-most frequently studied system was HIV-Pneumocystis carinii co-infection., Conclusion: The present study revealed that in China, the fields of parasitic diseases, especially opportunistic parasitic infections linked with HIV/AIDS, is increasingly neglected. This suggests a need to enhance research in the field of opportunistic parasitic infections and parasitology in general.