Host exposure history and priority effects impact the development and reproduction of a dominant parasite

Within a single organism, numerous parasites often compete for space and resources. This competition, together with a parasite’s ability to locate and successfully establish in a host, can contribute to the distribution and prevalence of parasites. Coinfection with trematodes in snail intermediate hosts is rarely observed in nature, partly due to varying competitive abilities among parasite taxa. Using a freshwater snail host (Biomphalaria glabrata), we studied the ability of a competitively dominant trematode, Echinostoma caproni, to establish and reproduce in a host previously infected with a less competitive trematode species, Schistosoma mansoni. Snails were exposed to S. mansoni and co-exposed to E. caproni either simultaneously or 1 week, 4 weeks, or 6 weeks post S. mansoni exposure. Over the course of infection, we monitored the competitive success of the dominant trematode through infection prevalence, parasite development time, and parasite reproductive output. Infection prevalence of E. caproni did not differ among co-exposed groups or between co-exposed and single exposed groups. However, E. caproni infections in co-exposed hosts took longer to reach maturity when the timing between co-exposures increased. All co-exposed groups had higher E. caproni reproductive output than single exposures. We show that although timing of co-exposure affects the development time of parasite transmission stages, it is not important for successful establishment. Additionally, co-exposure, but not priority effects, increases the reproductive output of the dominant parasite.     

大肠癌患者尊严受损的影响因素及与症状群和生活质量的关系分析

摘要 目的：探讨大肠癌患者尊严受损的影响因素,并分析其与症状群和生活质量的关系。方法：纳入我院2018年6月～2020年4月收治的大肠癌患者110例,经患者尊严量表（PDI）评估尊严受损情况,并据此分成受损组（PDI＞50分）和未受损组（PDI≤50分）,经单因素和Logistic多元回归模型分析患者尊严受损的影响因素。利用安德森症状评估量表评估两组患者的症状,提取主因子分析症状群变化,采用简明生活质量量表（SF-36）评估两组生活质量并进行比较。结果：在110例患者中,尊严受损发生率为29.09%。受损组独立性、症状困扰、社会支持、生存困扰、平和心态评分及PDI总分高于未受损组（P＜0.05）。Logistic多元回归分析提示,患者临床分期Ⅳ期（OR=2.577,95%CI：1.385-4.795）、文化程度小学及以下（OR=2.996,95%CI：1.395-6.434）、家庭月收入<1000元（OR=2.068,95%CI：1.316-3.250）、肿瘤转移（OR=3.412,95%CI：1.498-7.772）、病程≥12个月（OR=3.898,95%CI：1.425-10.663）是大肠癌患者尊严受损的影响因素（P＜0.05）。受损组核心症状、症状对正常生活干扰程度评分及总分高于未受损组,但受损组躯体功能、躯体疼痛、躯体角色功能、心理健康、情绪角色功能、总体健康评分低于未受损组（P＜0.05）。结论：大肠癌患者尊严受损发生率较高,且与多种因素有关,尊严受损者的症状群明显加重,生活质量下降。     

冠状动脉磁共振血管成像和CT对可疑冠心病患者心脏事件的预测价值的比较研究

摘要 目的：探讨与比较冠状动脉核磁共振(MR)血管成像和CT对可疑冠心病患者心脏事件的预测价值。方法：2018年4月到2020年10月选择在本院诊治的103例可疑冠心病患者作为研究对象,所有患者都给予冠状动脉MRI血管成像与64层螺旋CT冠状动脉成像检查,记录影像学特征。随访患者的预后并进行预测价值分析。结果：103例可疑冠心病患者随访到2021年4月1日,发生心血管不良终点事件23例(不良事件组),发生率为22.3%。不良事件组的MRI血管成像显示右冠状动脉血管长度与内径都低于非不良事件组(P<0.05)。不良事件组的CT显示斑块率、斑块性质等与非不良事件组对比差异有统计学意义(P<0.05),两组斑块位置对比差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。多因素Cox回归分析显示斑块性质、斑块率、右冠状动脉血管长度与内径都为导致心血管不良终点事件的重要因素(P<0.05)。结论：冠状动脉MRI血管成像和CT都可有效预测可疑冠心病患者心脏事件发生情况,能满足临床诊断可疑冠心病与预测预后的要求。     

老年慢性心力衰竭患者甲状腺激素水平与认知功能、心功能及心血管事件的关系研究

摘要 目的：探讨老年慢性心力衰竭（CHF）患者甲状腺激素（TH）水平与认知功能、心功能及心血管事件的关系。方法：将我院2018年6月～2020年6月收治的140例老年CHF患者纳入研究,检测患者TH指标[血清三碘甲状腺原氨酸（T₃）、游离三碘甲状腺原氨酸（FT₃）、甲状腺素（T₄）、游离甲状腺素（FT₄）、促甲状腺激素（TSH）]水平。按蒙特利尔认知评估量表（MoCA）评分将患者分为认知障碍组（MoCA评分＜26分）、非认知障碍组（MoCA评分≥26分）,比较两组各TH指标与MoCA评分。比较不同纽约心脏病协会（NYHA）分级患者的TH指标与心功能指标[左室射血分数（LVEF）、左室舒张末期内径（LVEDD）、左室收缩末期内径（LVESD）]。根据患者住院期间是否发生心血管事件分为心血管事件组和非心血管事件组,比较两组各TH指标。经Pearson线性相关分析TH指标与MoCA评分、心功能指标的相关性。结果：认知障碍组血清T₃、FT₃水平及MoCA评分较非认知障碍组明显降低（P＜0.05）。Ⅲ级、Ⅳ级组的血清T₃、FT₃水平及LVEF较Ⅰ级、Ⅱ级组显著降低,其中Ⅳ级组低于Ⅲ级组（P＜0.05）。Ⅲ级、Ⅳ级组的LVEDD、LVESD较Ⅰ级、Ⅱ级组明显升高,且Ⅳ级组高于Ⅲ级组（P＜0.05）。心血管事件组血清T₃、FT₃水平较非心血管事件组显著降低（P＜0.05）。Pearson线性相关分析显示：血清T₃、FT₃水平与MoCA评分、LVEF呈正相关（均P＜0.05）,与LVEDD、LVESD呈负相关（均P＜0.05）。结论：老年CHF患者血清T₃、FT₃水平下调与其认知功能、心功能降低及心血管事件的发生密切相关,通过检测其血清T₃、FT₃水平,有利于进一步了解其病情变化。     

Performance of a simplified HEART score and HEART-GP score for evaluating chest pain in urgent primary care

BackgroundChest pain is a common symptom in urgent primary care. The distinction between urgent and non-urgent causes can be challenging. A modified version of the HEART score, in which troponin is omitted (‘simplified HEART’) or replaced by the so-called ‘sense of alarm’ (HEART-GP), may aid in risk stratification.MethodThis study involved a retrospective, observational cohort of consecutive patients evaluated for chest pain at a large-scale, out-of-hours, regional primary care facility in the Netherlands, with 6‑week follow-up for major adverse cardiac events (MACEs). The outcome of interest is diagnostic accuracy, including positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV).ResultsWe included 664 patients; MACEs occurred in 4.8% (n = 32). For  simplified HEART and HEART-GP, we found C‑statistics of 0.86 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.80–0.91) and 0.90 (95% CI 0.85–0.95), respectively. Optimal diagnostic accuracy was found for a simplified HEART score ≥2 (PPV 9%, NPV 99.7%), HEART-GP score ≥3 (PPV 11%, NPV 99.7%) and HEART-GP score ≥4 (PPV 16%, NPV 99.4%). Physicians referred 157 patients (23.6%) and missed 6 MACEs. A simplified HEART score ≥2 would have picked up 5 cases, at the expense of 332 referrals (50.0%, p < 0.001). A HEART-GP score of ≥3 and ≥4 would have detected 5 and 3 MACEs and led to 293 (44.1%, p < 0.001) and 186 (28.0%, p = 0.18) referrals, respectively.ConclusionHEART-score modifications including the physicians’ ‘sense of alarm’ may be used as a risk stratification tool for chest pain in primary care in the absence of routine access to troponin assays. Further validation is warranted.Supplementary InformationThe online version of this article (10.1007/s12471-020-01529-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Skeletal FGFR1 signaling is necessary for regulation of serum phosphate level by FGF23 and normal life span

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 23 produced by the bone is the principal hormone to regulate serum phosphate level. Serum FGF23 needs to be tightly regulated to maintain serum phosphate in a narrow range. Thus, we hypothesized that the bone has some phosphate-sensing mechanism to regulate the production of FGF23. Previously we showed that extracellular phosphate induces the phosphorylation of FGF receptor 1 (FGFR1) and FGFR1 signaling regulates the expression of Galnt3, whose product works to increase FGF23 production in vitro. In this study, we show the significance of FGFR1 in the regulated FGF23 production and serum phosphate level in vivo. We generated late-osteoblast/osteocyte-specific Fgfr1-knockout mice (Fgfr1^fl/fl; Ocn^Cre/+) by crossing the Ocn-Cre and the floxed Fgfr1 mouse lines. We evaluated serum phosphate and FGF23 levels, the expression of Galnt3 in the bone, the body weight and life span. A selective ablation of Fgfr1 aborted the increase of serum active full-length FGF23 and the enhanced expression of Galnt3 in the bone by a high phosphate diet. These mice showed more pronounced hyperphosphatemia compared with control mice. In addition, these mice fed with a control diet showed body weight loss after 23 weeks of age and shorter life span. These results reveal a novel significance of FGFR1 signaling in the phosphate metabolism and normal life span.     

Predictive markers of safety and immunogenicity of adjuvanted vaccines

Vaccination represents one of the greatest public health triumphs; in part due to the effect of adjuvants that have been included in vaccine preparations to boost the immune responses through different mechanisms. Although a variety of novel adjuvants have been under development, only a limited number have been approved by regulatory authorities for human vaccines. This report reflects the conclusions of a group of scientists from academia, regulatory agencies and industry who attended a conference on the current state of the art in the adjuvant field. Held at the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) in Rockville, Maryland, USA, from 18 to 19 April 2013 and organized by the International Association for Biologicals (IABS), the conference focused particularly on the future development of effective adjuvants and adjuvanted vaccines and on overcoming major hurdles, such as safety and immunogenicity assessment, as well as regulatory scrutiny. More information on the conference output can be found on the IABS website, http://www.iabs.org/.     

Superiority of total white blood cell count over other leukocyte differentials for predicting long-term outcomes in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome

Abstract

Context: Leukocytes have been found to be the predictor of outcome following acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Objective: We sought to determine the relationship between leukocyte differentials and developing major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in patients with non-ST elevation ACS (NSTE-ACS).

Materials and methods: A total of 490 consecutive patients were enrolled, and MACE incidence was evaluated at long-term follow-up period.

Results: Total white blood cell (WBC) was higher in subjects occurring MACE. Moreover, elevated total WBC, ≥7.5?×?10³/µL, independently predicted MACE.

Discussion and conclusion: Elevated admission total WBC can predict long-term MACE in NSTE-ACS patients better than other differentials.     

Acclimation responses to temperature vary with vertical stratification: implications for vulnerability of soil‐dwelling species to extreme temperature events

The occurrence of summer heat waves is predicted to increase in amplitude and frequency in the near future, but the consequences of such extreme events are largely unknown, especially for belowground organisms. Soil organisms usually exhibit strong vertical stratification, resulting in more frequent exposure to extreme temperatures for surface‐dwelling species than for soil‐dwelling species. Therefore soil‐dwelling species are expected to have poor acclimation responses to cope with temperature changes. We used five species of surface‐dwelling and four species of soil‐dwelling Collembola that habituate different depths in the soil. We tested for differences in tolerance to extreme temperatures after acclimation to warm and cold conditions. We also tested for differences in acclimation of the underlying physiology by looking at changes in membrane lipid composition. Chill coma recovery time, heat knockdown time and fatty acid profiles were determined after 1 week of acclimation to either 5 or 20 °C. Our results showed that surface‐dwelling Collembola better maintained increased heat tolerance across acclimation temperatures, but no such response was found for cold tolerance. Concordantly, four of the five surface‐dwelling Collembola showed up to fourfold changes in relative abundance of fatty acids after 1 week of acclimation, whereas none of the soil‐dwelling species showed a significant adjustment in fatty acid composition. Strong physiological responses to temperature fluctuations may have become redundant in soil‐dwelling species due to the relative thermal stability of their subterranean habitat. Based on the results of the four species studied, we expect that unless soil‐dwelling species can temporarily retreat to avoid extreme temperatures, the predicted increase in heat waves under climatic change renders these soil‐dwelling species more vulnerable to extinction than species with better physiological capabilities. Being able to act under a larger thermal range is probably costly and could reduce maximum performance at the optimal temperature.