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Abstract Background There has been a rising incidence of invasive aspergillosis (IA) in critically ill patients, even in the absence of an apparent predisposing immunodeficiency. The diagnosis of IA is difficult because clinical signs are not sensitive and specific, and serum galactomannan has relatively low sensitivity in this group of patients. Therefore, more prompt and accurate disease markers for early diagnosis are needed. To establish disease markers demands a thorough knowledge of fungal antigens which may be detected in the serum or other body fluids of patients. Herein we report novel immunodominant antigens identified from extracellular proteins of Aspergillus fumigatus. Results Extracellular proteins of A. fumigatus were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and probed with the sera from critically ill patients with proven IA. The immunoreactive protein spots were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF -MS). Forty spots from 2DE gels were detected and 17 different proteins were identified as immunogenic in humans. Function annotation revealed that most of these proteins were metabolic enzymes involved in carbohydrate, fatty acid, amino acid, and energy metabolism. One of the proteins, thioredoxin reductase GliT (TR), which showed the best immunoactivity, was analyzed further for secretory signals, protein localization, and homology. The results indicated that TR is a secretory protein with a signal sequence exhibiting a high probability for secretion. Furthermore, TR did not match any human proteins, and had low homology with most other fungi. The recombinant TR was recognized by the sera of all proven IA patients with different underlying diseases in this study. Conclusions The immunoreactive proteins identified in this study may be helpful for the diagnosis of IA in critically ill patients. Our results indicate that TR and other immunodominant antigens have potential as biomarkers for the serologic diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common complication following intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) and is a major contributing factor to its high mortality rate. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), a NAD+-dependent deacetylase, has been reported to have an important role in apoptosis inhibition, oxidative stress resistance and cell lifespan extension through its deacetylation of forkhead box protein O3 (FOXO3). It has been demonstrated that icariin (ICA), a flavonoid extracted from Epimedium, upregulates SIRT1 expression. The aim of the present study was to examine whether ICA-mediated SIRT1/FOXO3 signaling pathway activation had a protective effect on intestinal I/R-induced ALI. The effects of ICA on intestinal I/R-induced ALI and its regulation of the SIRT1/FOXO3 signaling pathway on intestinal I/R-induced ALI were investigated in rats. The results demonstrated that ICA pretreatment markedly reduced intestinal I/R-induced ALI as indicated by histological alterations, including decreased tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6), reduced oxidative stress, acetylated FOXO3 and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2)-interacting mediator of cell death levels, and increased glutathione (GSH), GSH peroxidase, SIRT1, manganese superoxide dismutase and Bcl-2 levels in rat lung tissues. Furthermore, ICA pretreatment upregulated SIRT1 expression, which then downregulated FOXO3 acetylation. In conclusion, ICA exhibited significant protective effects in intestinal I/R-induced ALI. The protective effect of ICA may be attributed to the upregulation of SIRT1, which contributed to FOXO3 deacetylation and the modulation of downstream antioxidative and anti-apoptotic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled: This study is dedicated to investigate the expression patterns of sperm protein 17 (Sp17), melanoma-specific antigen (MAGE)-C1 and New York esophageal squamous cell carcinoma-1 (NY-ESO-1), to explore the correlation between these cancer-testis antigens and clinical parameters, and to evaluate their values in diagnosis and differentiation of hepatocellular carcinoma., Methods: Immunohistochemical staining was performed in 45 paraffin-embedded hepatocellular carcinoma specimens. 45 normal peripheral hepatic tissues collected from adjacent non-cancerous areas were used as controls., Results: Positive results of immunohistostaining were obtained in 16 (35.6%), 7 (15.6%) and 36 (80.0%) samples using MAGE-C1, NY-ESO-1 and Sp17 antibodies, respectively. The immunoreactivity of Sp17 was also found in 7 (14.0%) control samples. A statistical correlation between the frequency of Sp17 expression and tumor differentiation grade in hepatocellular carcinoma was confirmed., Conclusions: Sp17 is highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. The frequency of Sp17 expression is closely related to the pathologic differentiation in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: To study the genotype distribution of extended-spectrum p-lactamases (ESBLs) and AmpC p-lactamases produced in E. coli isolated from men with urinary infection in Nanjing., Methods: Organisms of clinical infection were identified by automatic microbial system (Vitek-32). ESBLs were detected by disk diffusion confirmatory test, and ESBLs and AmpC p-lactamases by three-dimensional extract test (TDET) , the presence of plasmid-mediated ESBLs and ampC genes determined by PCR, and conjugal transfer assays of the ampC resistance determinants carried out by a broth mating procedure., Results: ESBLs were produced in 24. 6% (46/187) of the E. coli and the 46 E. coli isolates showed p-lactamase activity in TDET, 3 positive for both ESBLs and AmpC beta-lactamases and 43 for ESBLs only. Forty-four of the 46 isolates were shown by PCR to contain at least one of the genes blaTEM, blaOXA, bla(CTX-M), but no blaSHA. AmpC specific amplication products were observed in 3 of the 46 isolates, of which 2 were of CIT type, and 1 of DHA type. All of the 3 transconjugants transferred the plasmids harbouring ampC genes to recipients., Conclusion: CTX-M is the most common genotype in plasmid-mediated ESBLs produced by E. coli isolated from men with urinary infection in Nanjing. Present findings indicate that AmpC-producing E. coli are present in this hospital, and ampC-encoding plasmids are transferable.