First record and characterization of a powdery mildew on a member of the Juncaginaceae: <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leveillula taurica</Emphasis> on <Emphasis Type="Italic">Triglochin maritima</Emphasis>

The powdery mildew fungus Leveillula taurica (Erysiphales) is reported for the first time from the monocot Triglochin maritima (Juncaginaceae), a widespread salt marsh plant that causes economic losses because of its high toxicity to young livestock. This is the first report of an erysiphaceous fungus on a member of the Juncaginaceae. Morphological data, obtained by light and scanning electron microscopy, and ITS sequence data provided evidence that this fungus is referable to L. taurica. The ITS sequence for this fungus was identical with those reported for L. taurica hosted by Capsicum annuum in Australia and Elaeagnus angustifolia in Iran. This is the third host species and second monocot, in addition to Allium cepa and Solanum tuberosum, reported for L. taurica from Washington State, where the fungus was unreported before 2004.     

The clinical syndrome of Alzheimer's disease: aspects particularly relevant to clinical trials

This paper describes the natural history of the clinical syndrome of Alzheimer's disease (AD) including the cognitive deficit, the neuropsychiatric symptoms, impact on daily functioning, risk factors, medical complications and impact on the use of health-care resources. The clinical presentation of the disease varies greatly from the prodrome through end stage; instruments used to quantify the severity of each aspect of the disease have been developed and are described along with their use in clinical drug trials. Drug treatments for AD are usually developed by first showing a positive effect on the cognitive deficit, with later studies investigating drug effects on other clinical aspects of the disease.     

Proteomics and frailty: a clinical overview

Introduction: Frailty is consequent to age-dependent deregulation of several biological pathways and systems, encompassing namely sarcopenia, age-associated hormonal derangements, inflammation, and nutritional or metabolic deficiencies. Although the prevalence of frailty is usually between 10% and 20% in the general elderly population, its overall burden will increase exponentially along with the predictable prolongation of life expectancy. Risk prediction and early diagnosis will hence become pivotal for mitigating the clinical, social, and economic impact of this condition. The currently available research suggests that no single laboratory biomarker can efficiently help predicting or diagnosing frailty. However, its multifaceted pathogenesis suggests that a multi-marker approach, preceded by preliminary identification of specific proteomic signatures, may be the most promising strategy in frailty diagnostics.

Areas covered: This review critically analyzes recent proteomic studies exploring protein profiles in non-frail and frail subjects.

Expert commentary: Results of some recent proteomic studies attest that muscle proteome, chronic low-grade inflammation (inflammaging), along with characteristic vascular and hemostasis proteomic profiles, may help predict or diagnose frailty. Larger prospective studies are needed for confirming these findings and enabling their replication in real life scenarios. Albeit proteomic research in the field of age-dependent biologic impairment is in embryo, proteomics holds the greatest potential in frailty diagnostics.     

Current advances in aptamer‐assisted technologies for detecting bacterial and fungal toxins

Infectious diseases are among the common leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Associated with the emergence of new infectious diseases, the increasing number of antimicrobial‐resistant isolates presents a serious threat to public health and hospitalized patients. A microbial pathogen may elicit several host responses and use a variety of mechanisms to evade host defences. These methods and mechanisms include capsule, lipopolysaccharides or cell wall components, adhesions and toxins. Toxins inhibit phagocytosis, cause septic shock and host cell damages by binding to host surface receptors and invasion. Bacterial and fungal pathogens are able to apply many different toxin‐dependent mechanisms to disturb signalling pathways and the structural integrity of host cells for establishing and maintaining infections Initial techniques for analysis of bacterial toxins were based on in vivo or in vitro assessments. There is a permanent demand for appropriate detection methods which are affordable, practical, careful, rapid, sensitive, efficient and economical. Aptamers are DNA or RNA oligonucleotides that are selected by systematic evolution of ligands using exponential enrichment (SELEX) methods and can be applied in diagnostic applications. This review provides an overview of aptamer‐based methods as a novel approach for detecting toxins in bacterial and fungal pathogens.     

miR-200b-3p in plasma is a potential diagnostic biomarker in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Context: Circulating MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as novel biomarkers for tumour.

Objective: Evaluate the diagnostic potential of plasma miR-200b-3p in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

Materials and methods: miR-200b-3p was detected by qRT-PCR in paired pre-operative and post-operative plasmas from 80 OSCC patients and 80 healthy controls.

Results: Plasma miR-200b-3p was significantly upregulated in OSCC, and it was higher in WHO II/III grade than WHO I grade. The AUC of miR-200b-3p for OSCC was 0.9173. miR-200b-3p was significantly downregulated after surgery. High miR-200b-3p expression was associated with poor prognosis.

Discussion and conclusion: Plasma miR-200b-3p could be a potential diagnostic biomarker for OSCC.     

The potential role of exosomes in the diagnosis and therapy of ischemic diseases

In the past, exosomes have been thought of as cellular dust. Today, they are thought to be carriers of real biomarkers and intercellular biological information. The composition of exosomes differs according to their source, and the subsequent information they carry, such as protein, microRNA or mRNA, may also be different. Recent studies have demonstrated that exosomes in ischemic diseases can help to make an early diagnosis, and in cellular experiments and animal models, exosomes promote angiogenesis, restrain cell apoptosis and reduce inflammation, among other actions, to protect ischemic organs. There is evidence that these protective effects are related to microRNAs in exosomes. In this review, we discuss the use of exosomes for early diagnosis of ischemic diseases and recent advances in the therapeutic use of exosomes in cell and mammalian models of ischemic diseases.     

布鲁氏菌感染实验室诊断研究进展

布鲁氏菌(Brucella,简称布氏菌)是一种重要的人兽共患病原菌,布鲁氏菌病常发生在牛、羊、猪等家畜中,主要通过接触传播给人类。人类在感染该菌的早期并无特异性症状,其临床表现多样,若不能及时诊断并予以干预,可导致严重关节疼痛和菌血症,甚至引起死亡。布鲁氏菌病一旦广泛发病,不但对畜牧业造成巨大经济损失,还会严重威胁公共安全,因此,布鲁氏菌的快速准确诊断对防治疾病的发展具有重要意义。目前,针对该病原体常见的实验室检测方法包括微生物检测法、免疫学检测法、分子生物学检测法等。本文将就人感染布鲁氏菌的实验室诊断研究进展作以简要综述。     

耐多药结核分枝杆菌的研究进展

耐多药结核分枝杆菌(Mycobacterium tuberculosis,Mtb)的产生和播散,尤其是泛耐药菌株的出现,已成为新世纪结核病控制的三大难题之一。Mtb耐药机制的研究有助于快速分子诊断工具的发展,且能指导抗结核新药的开发。了解耐多药结核分枝杆菌的耐药机制、分子特征及治疗的研究进展,将为耐多药Mtb的防治提供依据。     

Diagnóstico microbiológico de las micosis invasoras

The prognosis of invasive fungal infections (IFI) depends on the speed of diagnosis and treatment. Conventional diagnostic methods are of low sensitivity, laborious and too slow, leading to the need for new, faster, and more efficient diagnostic strategies.There are several techniques for diagnosing a candidemia that are faster than the conventional blood culture (BC). Once yeast growth in BC is detected, species identification can be speeded up by mass spectrometry (30 minutes), commercialised molecular techniques (60-80 minutes) or fluorescent in situ hybridization (90 minutes). The combined detection of biomarkers (antimicellium, mannan and anti-mannan or β-glucan) has shown to be of greater use than their individual use. Commercialised nucleic acid amplification techniques (Septifast®, T2Candida®) are very reliable alternatives to BC. The detection of the capsular antigen of Cryptococcus, by means of latex agglutination or immuno-chromatography, is a valuable technique for cryptococcosis diagnosis.Direct microscopic examination and culture of representative specimens is used for the conventional diagnosis of IFI by filamentous fungi. Detection of galactomannan and β-glucan are considered diagnostic criteria for probable invasive aspergillosis and probable IFI, respectively, despite the lack of specificity of the latter. The detection of fungal volatile organic compounds in breath is an interesting diagnostic strategy in pulmonary infections. Although widely used, nucleic acid detection techniques are not considered diagnostic criteria for IFIs caused by moulds in consensus documents, due to their lack of standardisation. However, they are the only alternative to culture methods in invasive infections by Scedosporium/Lomentospora, Fusarium, zygomycetes, or dematiaceous fungi.     

Regulation and functions of MicroRNA‐149 in human cancers

MicroRNAs are small non‐coding RNAs that play critical roles in the regulatory mechanisms involving cell differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis and tumorigenesis. Recent research efforts have been conducted to apply these discoveries into clinical functions, including the early diagnosis and therapeutic outcome of patients with cancer. Previous studies have shown that microRNA‐149 (miR‐149) is dysregulated in various human cancers and exerts its effects on tumorigenesis and tumour progression. In this review, we summarized the potential roles of miR‐149 dysregulation and its target genes during tumorigenesis and clinical treatment of human cancers.