Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) is a common human pathogen associated with many diseases. The present paper aimed to investigate that the inhibitory effect of chaetocin, a metabolite isolated from Chaetomium, on CVB3 replication in vitro. Treatment of HeLa cells with 250 nmol/L chaetocin increased the relative cell viability from (21.9±1.8)% to (70.1±4.3)%, while the production of progeny virus in chaetocin-treated cells was only (5.3±0.8)% of that in untreated cells. The viral RNA level in chaetocin-treated cells was also reduced to about (13±8.3)% of the control. Chaetocin treatment also increased the relative cell viability of CVB3-infected Vero cells from (64.6±1.7)% to (87.2±4.8)%. This inhibitory effect of chaetocin was partially remediated by the antioxidant agent N-acetyl cysteine. Further analysis of the mechanism may help the development of antiviral drug against CVB3 and other enteroviruses.

Human immunodeficiency virus type I （HIV-1） infection leads to severe immune dysfunction. In addition to the progressive depletion and dysfunction of CD4+ T cells, HIV-1 infection also leads to extensive defects in the humoral arm of the immune system. This study aimed to describe the distribution of B cell subpopulations and profiles of activated, apoptosis-associated and costimulatory molecules in each subpopulation. The results showed that the peripheral blood B cell counts in HIV-1 infected patients were significantly lower than that in the healthy controls, but could be restored by antiretroviral therapy (ART). The decline of B cell counts was manifested by the decrease of immature B cells, Naïve B cells, resting memory B cells, and plasmablast. However, tissue-like memory B cells increased significantly. ART could restore the frequencies of naïve B and tissue-like memory B cells, but not the resting memory B cells. CD38 was significantly upregulated in immature B cells, naïve B cells, resting memory B cells and tissue-like memory B cells in HIV-1-infected patients, when compared to healthy controls. All subpopulations showed higher expression of CD95, and naïve B cells, tissue-like memory B cells and plasmablasts exhibited decreased levels of Bcl-2. PD-1 was elevated only in the resting memory cells and plasmablasts. The mean fluorescent intensity of CD40 was diminished in all B cell subpopulations, whereas CD70 decreased in all subpopulations except immature B cells. However, ART could only partially restore the altered expression of the mentioned molecules. These results suggest that HIV-1 infection leads to perturbation of B cell subpopulations, and B cell subpopulations display hyperactivation, susceptibility to apoptosis and impaired interaction with T cells. These alterations could only be restored partially by successful ART, therefore, effective immune intervention strategies should be required.

The clinical and laboratory analysis of 380 urogenital tract secretion samples from sexually transmitted diseases patients for Chlamydia trachomatis detection was performed by polymorphonuclear leukocyte count and fluorescent real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results showed that of 216 male patients 92.6% presented urethral polymorphonuclear leukocyte count ≥5, and 62 cases (28.70%) were Chlamydia trachomatis-positive detected by PCR. There were 30 case with Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrheae coinfection (13.98%). Of 164 female patients, 53.0% presented cervical canal polymorphonuclear leukocyte count ≥10, and 33 cases (20.1%) were Chlamydia trachomatis-positive detected by PCR. The results indicate that the application of real-time fluorescent PCR can improve positive detection rate of Chlamydia trachomatis and control its spread in sexually transmitted disease clinics.

This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Magnesium Isoglycyrrhizinate Injection to treat acute hepatic dysfunction caused by anti-tubercular therapies. In this randomized double blinded and active drug controlled clinical study, new pulmonary tuberculosis patients with hepatic dysfunctiondeterioration associated with anti-tubercular therapies were recruited and randomly divided into two groups and treated with Magnesium Isoglycyrrhizinate Injection and Tiopronin (another liver function protector, as an controlled drug), respectively. The Magnesium Isoglycyrrhizinate Injection group showed more significant improvement in function parameters of liver than the control group. It was concluded that Magnesium Isoglycyrrhizinate Injection can improve acute hepatic dysfunction associated with anti-tubercular therapies.

Streptococcus bovis is a human opportunistic pathogen, mainly infecting immunosuppressive population or cancer patients. Two cases of perianal abscess patients confirmed infection with Streptococcus bovis by pus bacteria culture after excision of anus. The patients were young, with high white blood cell count and low albumin level. The infection might be related with patients’ unhealthy living habits and low albumin level. The analysis of the clinical characteristics and diagnostic methods are focused, which will improve clinicians’ awareness and attention to this infection.

Skin is the largest human organ, inhabited by diverse microorganisms, and most of these microorganisms are harmless or even beneficial to their host. The skin surface is highly variable depending on the characteristics of surface structure and environmental factors, and this drives the variation of skin microbial communities. The development of molecular methods let us know high diversity and variation of microbial communities in human skins, and let us understand skin microorganisms with the perception of skin as an ecosystem. The purpose of this review is to brie?y describe the patterns of skin microbial community and its association with skin diseases, and some of related applications.

Abstract: In recent 70 years, the wide use of antibiotics leads to the increasing drug-resistance bacteria. In America, from 1999 through 2005, estimated MRSA-related hospitalizations more than doubled, and MRSA-related hospitalizations with a diagnosis code for septicemia increased 81.2%. Therefore, it is urgent to seek novel countermeasures, which include antibacterial peptide and bacteriophage at present, to control drug-resistance bacteria. Despite bacteriophage was discovered earlier, it was ignored owing to antibiotic popularity. But now, bacteriophages come back into view as a result of increasing drug-resistance bacteria. Here, we introduce the research progress on bacteriophage and lysin control of Staphylococcus aureus.

Candida species are the most prevalent opportunistic fungal pathogens in humans causing superficial and serious systemic infections. The infection process can be divided into three stages: adhesion, invasion, and host cell damage. Adhesion is the first stage of invasive Candida infection process and is precisely controlled by a lot of adhesins. Many of these adhesion-related proteins are members of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored cell wall protein (GPI-CWP) family. This review is intended to summarize some important adhesion related to GPI-CWP: agglutinin-like sequence (Als), hyphal wall protein 1 (Hwp1), epithelial adhesin (Epa), and enhanced adherence to polystyrene 1 (Eap1).

Hepatitis C, caused by infection of hepatitis C virus (HCV), is an acute or chronic infectious disease involved with a significant proportion of population worldwide. In general, 50%-85% of the infections might become chronic hepatitis C or carriers, thereafter developing into cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently, the standard of care for chronic hepatitis C is pegylated interferon α (PEG-INFα) plus ribavirin (RBV). Nevertheless, about 50% of the patients infected with HCV genotype 1 fail to achieve sustained virological response (SVR) although they share the same or similar diagnosis. A number of clinical studies show that the efficacy of standard of care depent on both virus and host factors. The predictors of SVR on the HCV side include viral load and genotype; on the host side, gender, age, alcohol consumption, fibrosis stage, co-infection with other virus, genetic polymorphisms are included. Among those, the most important elements that may play significant roles in the individualized treatment of HCV infections are the viral load and genotype as well as the variation in the host gene interleukin 28B (IL-28B).

The survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) in the host is largely attributed to its ability to resist acidic environment within macrophages. M. tuberculosis inhibits the fusion of phagosomes with lysosomes, thus arresting the maturation and acidification process of phagosomes. Also, the bacterium resists the killing within the acidic phagosome-lysosome compartment. Here, the current understanding of the acidification of phagosomes and M. tuberculosis acid resistance mechanisms is reviewed.