Effects of Fluroquinolones in Newly Diagnosed,Sputum-Positive Tuberculosis Therapy: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

Background

Tuberculosis is a major public health problem especially in developing countries, the comparative efficacy and safety of fluroquinolones (FQs) for adult patients with newly diagnosed, sputum-positive tuberculosis remains controversial. We aimed to investigate the benefits and risks of FQs-containing (addition/substitution) regimens in this population.

Methods

A network meta-analysis was performed to compare FQs (C: ciprofloxacin; O: ofloxacin; Lo: levofloxacin; M: moxifloxacin; G: gatifloxacin) addition/substitution regimen with standard HRZE regimen (ie isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol) in newly diagnosed, sputum-positive tuberculosis. Medline, Embase and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were systematically searched, randomized trials with duration longer than 8 weeks were included. The primary outcome was week-8 sputum negativity, and secondary outcomes included treatment failure, serious adverse events and death from all cause.

Results

Twelve studies comprising 6465 participants were included in the network meta-analysis. Löwenstein-Jensen culture method showed that HRZEM (OR 4.96, 95% CI 2.83–8.67), MRZE (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.19–1.84) and HRZM (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.08–1.62) had more sputum conversion than HRZE by the eighth week, whereas HRC (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.19–0.77) and HRZO (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.24–0.92) were worse than HRZE. Moxifloxacin-containing regimens showed more conversion than HRZE by liquid method at the end of two months. But by the end of treatment, FQs-containing regimens didn’t show superiority than HRZE on treatment failure. There were no significant differences between any regimens on other outcomes like serious adverse events and all-cause death.

Conclusion

This comprehensive network meta-analysis showed that compared with HRZE, moxifloxacin-containing regimens could significantly increase sputum conversion by the eighth week for patients with newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis while HRC and HRZO regimens were inferior. But all the FQs-containing regimens did not show superiority in other outcomes (such as treatment failure, serious adverse events and all-cause death). Thus, HRZE is still an effective regimen for this population. Although moxifloxacin-containing regimens have deomonstrated their potential, FQs-containing regimens should be used with great caution to avoid widespread FQs-resistance worldwide.     

A Chemical and Enzymatic Approach to Study Site-Specific Sumoylation

A variety of cellular pathways are regulated by protein modifications with ubiquitin-family proteins. SUMO, the Small Ubiquitin-like MOdifier, is covalently attached to lysine on target proteins via a cascade reaction catalyzed by E1, E2, and E3 enzymes. A major barrier to understanding the diverse regulatory roles of SUMO has been a lack of suitable methods to identify protein sumoylation sites. Here we developed a mass-spectrometry (MS) based approach combining chemical and enzymatic modifications to identify sumoylation sites. We applied this method to analyze the auto-sumoylation of the E1 enzyme in vitro and compared it to the GG-remnant method using Smt3-I96R as a substrate. We further examined the effect of smt3-I96R mutation in vivo and performed a proteome-wide analysis of protein sumoylation sites in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To validate these findings, we confirmed several sumoylation sites of Aos1 and Uba2 in vivo. Together, these results demonstrate that our chemical and enzymatic method for identifying protein sumoylation sites provides a useful tool and that a combination of methods allows a detailed analysis of protein sumoylation sites.     

Prevalence of Sarcopenia and Its Relationship with Sites of Fragility Fractures in Elderly Chinese Men and Women

Objective

Sarcopenia might be associated with bone fragility in elderly individuals. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia and its association with fragility fracture sites in elderly Chinese patients.

Methods

Patients (322 men and 435 women) aged 65–94 years and with a history of fragility fractures in the ankle, wrist, vertebrae or hip, and healthy men (n = 1263) and women (n = 1057) aged 65–92 years without a history of fractures were enrolled. Whole-body dual energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to analyze skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), fat mass and bone mineral density. Sarcopenia was defined as SMI less than two standard deviations below the mean of a young reference group.

Results

Sarcopenia occurrence varied with fracture location. Sarcopenia was more common in females with vertebral and hip fractures and in men with hip and ankle fractures than in the non-fracture group). Sarcopenia was significantly more prevalent in men with wrist, hip and ankle fractures than in women. SMI was correlated with BMD in different fracture groups. Logistic regression analyses revealed that lower SMI was associated with an increased risk of hip fracture both in men and women and ankle fracture in men.

Discussion

Sarcopenia may be an independent risk factor for hip and ankle fractures in men, and for hip fractures in women.     

蓝藻基因工程应用研究进展

作为新的基因工程表达宿主,蓝藻以其独特的优势正逐渐引起人们的关注,自20世纪90年代以来,蓝藻已经形成了一套稳定的基因转化体系,20多年来已有30多种外源基因在蓝藻中表达成功。蓝藻表达系统将来有希望在制备重组药物、治理环境污染、农药生产等方面得到广泛应用。对蓝藻基因工程的发展及其在医药、环保、农业、生物传感器等方面的应用研究作一综述。最后分析了蓝藻基因工程发展的瓶颈表达效率低的问题,总结了研究者所作的努力：基因和剂型的选择、转录翻译元件的调控、宿主生理状态的调控等。     

伞房决明白粉病的初次报道(英文)

伞房决明是长江三角洲地区的园林绿化木本植物,在每年8月下旬至11月中旬会发生严重的白粉病,造成提前落叶,导致次年部分植株死亡。该病由Oidium cassiae-siameae引起。经过3年多的野外观察,未发现有性世代。初次报道伞房决明为Oidium cassiae-siameae白粉菌的新寄主。此真菌为中国大陆的初次记载。     

Structure of the Haemophilus influenzae HMW1B translocator protein: evidence for a twin pore

Secretion of the Haemophilus influenzae HMW1 adhesin occurs via the two-partner secretion pathway and requires the HMW1B outer membrane translocator. HMW1B has been subjected to extensive biochemical studies to date. However, direct examination of the structure of HMW1B has been lacking, leaving fundamental questions about the oligomeric state, the membrane-embedded beta-barrel domain, the approximate size of the beta-barrel pore, and the mechanism of translocator activity. In the current study, examination of purified HMW1B by size exclusion chromatography and negative staining electron microscopy revealed that the predominant species was a dimer. In the presence of lipid, purified HMW1B formed two-dimensional crystalline sheets. Examination of these crystals by cryo-electron microscopy allowed determination of a projection structure of HMW1B to 10 A resolution. The native HMW1B structure is a dimer of beta-barrels, with each beta-barrel measuring 40 A by 50 A in the two orthogonal directions and appearing largely occluded, leaving only a narrow pore. These observations suggest that HMW1B undergoes a large conformational change during translocation of the 125-kDa HMW1 adhesin.     

Synthesis, structural analysis, and SAR studies of triazine derivatives as potent, selective Tie-2 inhibitors

A novel class of selective Tie-2 inhibitors was derived from a multi-kinase inhibitor 1. By reversing the amide connectivity and incorporating aminotriazine or aminopyridine hinge-binding moieties, excellent Tie-2 potency and KDR selectivity could be achieved with 3-substituted terminal aryl rings. X-ray co-crystal structure analysis aided inhibitor design. This series was evaluated on the basis of potency, selectivity, and rat pharmacokinetic parameters.     

基于线粒体COⅠ基因序列探讨臂尾轮属的系统发生和几种轮虫的分类地位

通过对萼花臂尾轮虫、角突臂尾轮虫、壶状臂尾轮虫、十指臂尾轮虫、镰形臂尾轮虫、尾突臂尾轮虫和红臂尾轮虫等7种轮虫mtDNA COⅠ序列分析,并以透明囊足轮虫为外群,使用MEGA软件构建臂尾轮属轮虫系统发生树(ME树和NJ树)以探讨臂尾轮属的系统发生和该属中几个种类的分类地位.结果表明本研究所涉及的轮虫mtDNA COⅠ平均序列差异百分比为24%;在两个系统树中,淡水臂尾轮虫和海水臂尾轮虫均独立成枝;用两种方法得到的系统发生树均支持将十指臂尾轮虫作为一个独立的支系分离出来.壶状臂尾轮虫和红臂尾轮虫应属于不同的种;来自芜湖、墨西哥和美国的十指臂尾轮虫以及来自芜湖和澳大利亚的萼花臂尾轮虫应分别互为姐妹种.本研究还首次揭示了角突臂尾轮虫、尾突臂尾轮虫和镰状臂尾轮虫与其它臂尾轮虫间的系统关系.     

异翅负蝗配子发生过程中c-kit蛋白表达动态

应用免疫组织化学和生物统计分析相结合的方法,对异翅负蝗Atractomorp haheteroptera Bei Bienko配子发生过程中c-kit特异表达特点和动态进行研究。结果表明,(1)精子发生过程中,精原细胞、初级精母细胞、次级精母细胞和成熟精子中均有不同程度的c-kit蛋白表达,精巢末端还有较粗大的阳性颗粒分布;(2)卵子发生过程中,第1~6阶段卵母细胞中有不同程度的c-kit蛋白特异性表达,但随着卵黄发生的开始逐渐消失;(3)此外,滤泡细胞、输卵管和受精囊的腺细胞中有c-kit蛋白颗粒的存在;(4)从c-kit蛋白季节动态变化看,精子发生和卵子发生中的阳性表达都随着时间的延续出现下降的态势。因此,c-kit蛋白的特异性表达提示该蛋白参与配子发生过程的阶段性调控,具有重要的生理作用。     

G蛋白与整合素αⅡbβ3的双向信号转导

整合素是一类细胞表面受体家族分子,通过双向信号转导参与细胞与细胞外基质、细胞与细胞的粘附以及细胞的迁移.整合素αⅡbβ3(GPⅡb-Ⅲa)特异表达于巨核/血小板系,并且是其含量最多的膜糖蛋白,介导血小板的粘附、伸展、聚集等.G蛋白在整合素αⅡbβ3双向信号转导中发挥重要作用,其中较受关注的是:异源三聚体G蛋白和小G蛋白Rap1参与整合素αⅡbβ3的内向外信号转导;小G蛋白(Rho A、Rac等)和Gα13参与整合素αⅡbβ3的外向内信号转导.在蛋白质结构与功能关系的层面,本文总结了G蛋白的结构、分类、功能以及近年来G蛋白在整合素αⅡbβ3双向信号转导中作用的研究进展.