Determining Fungi rRNA Copy Number by PCR

The goal of this project is to improve the quantification of indoor fungal pollutants via the specific application of quantitative PCR (qPCR). Improvement will be made in the controls used in current qPCR applications. This work focuses on the use of two separate controls within a standard qPCR reaction. The first control developed was the internal standard control gene, benA. This gene encodes for β-tubulin and was selected based on its single-copy nature. The second control developed was the standard control plasmid, which contained a fragment of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene and produced a specific PCR product. The results confirm the multicopy nature of the rRNA region in several filamentous fungi and show that we can quantify fungi of unknown genome size over a range of spore extractions by inclusion of these two standard controls. Advances in qPCR have led to extremely sensitive and quantitative methods for single-copy genes; however, it has not been well established that the rRNA can be used to quantitate fungal contamination. We report on the use of qPCR, combined with two controls, to identify and quantify indoor fungal contaminants with a greater degree of confidence than has been achieved previously. Advances in indoor environmental health have demonstrated that contamination of the built environment by the filamentous fungi has adverse impacts on the health of building occupants. This study meets the need for more accurate and reliable methods for fungal identification and quantitation in the indoor environment.     

Low proportions of folic acid deficiency after introduction of mandatory folic acid fortification in remote areas of northern Queensland,Australia: a secondary health data analysis

Abstract

Background: Australia implemented mandatory folic acid fortification of bread-making flour in 2009.

Objective: To assess the impact of folic acid fortification in remote vs. regional urban areas and Indigenous vs. non-Indigenous populations in northern Queensland.

Methods: Routinely collected data on folic acid measurements in remote areas and two regional urban centres in northern Queensland between 2004 and 2015 were analysed (n?=?13,929) dichotomously (folic deficient vs. non-deficient).

Results: Overall prevalence of folic acid deficiency was 3.2% (235/7282) in urban centres compared with 7.2% (480/6647) in remote areas (p?<?0.001), and 9.3% (393/4240) in the Indigenous population compared with 3.2% (273/8451) in the non-Indigenous population (p?<?0.001). Prevalence of folic acid deficiency dropped from 12.2% (n?=?481) in 2004–2008 to 1.5% (n?=?126) in 2010–2015 (p?<?0.001). This translates into a relative risk reduction (RRR) of 88%. RRR was 79% (7.2% vs. 1.5%) in urban centres, 91% (17.3% vs. 1.5%) in remote areas, 92% (20.5% vs. 1.6%) in the Indigenous population and 80% (7.4% vs. 1.5%) in the non-Indigenous population (p?<?0.001 for all).

Conclusions: Substantial declines of folic acid deficiency to low and comparable proportions in former high-risk populations indicate that mandatory folic acid fortification of flour has had a population-wide benefit in northern Queensland.     

Saharan Dust Impacts on Air Quality: What Are the Potential Health Risks in West Africa?

Despite the proximity of the Sahara, very few studies about dust impact on air quality and human health have been conducted in West Africa. The lack of data is a major constraint on our understanding of the impacts on human health in this area. We analyzed PM₁₀ concentrations and horizontal visibility recorded in four West African stations. The pollution levels often exceed the standards defined by many countries/regulatory authorities and have been associated with serious health risks outside Africa. Over the Sahelian stations, 45.6% of the days between November 2006 and March 2007 were likely to impact human health and the studied Sudanian population was exposed to potential health effects every 5 days.     

COPD and disease-specific health status in a working population

Background

It has been debated whether treatment should be started early in subjects with mild to moderate COPD. An impaired health status score was associated with a higher probability of being diagnosed with COPD as compared with undiagnosed COPD.

Purpose

To investigate the health status in a healthy working population, to determine reference scores for healthy non-smoking subjects, and to investigate the relationship between their health status and airflow limitation.

Methods

A total of 1333 healthy industrial workers aged ≥40 years performed spirometry and completed the St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and the COPD Assessment Test (CAT).

Results

The prevalence of COPD defined by the fixed ratio of the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁)/forced vital capacity (FVC) was 10.9%, and the prevalence defined by the Lower Limit of Normal was 5.0%. All SGRQ and CAT scores were skewed to the milder end. In 512 non-smoking subjects with normal spirometry, the mean SGRQ score was 5.7, and the mean CAT score was 5.8. In 145 people with COPD defined by the fixed ratio, the mean SGRQ score was 7.9, with a zero score in 6.9% of the subjects. Using the CAT, the mean score was 7.3, with 7.6% of the scores being zero. The scores in patients identified using the Lower Limit of Normal approach were: SGRQ 8.4 (13.4% had a score of zero) and CAT 7.4 (13.4% had a score of zero). Although the 95th percentiles of the Total, Symptoms, Activity, and Impact scores of the SGRQ and CAT sores were 13.8, 34.0, 23.4, 7.2 and 13.6 in the 512 healthy non-smoking subjects, respectively, they were also distributed under their upper limits in over 80% of the COPD subjects.

Conclusion

The COPD-specific health status scores in a working population were good, even in those with spirometrically diagnosed COPD. All scores were widely distributed in both healthy non-smoking subjects and in subjects with COPD, and the score distribution overlapped remarkably between these two groups. This suggests that symptom-based methods are not suitable screening tools in a healthy general population.     

A new chapter for a better Bioscience Reports

As Bioscience Reports enters its fifth decade of continuous multidisciplinary life science publishing, here we present a timely overview of the journal. In addition to introducing ourselves and new Associate Editors for 2021, we reflect on the challenges the new Editorial Board has faced and overcome since we took over the editorial leadership in June of 2020, and detail some key strategies on how we plan to encourage more submissions and broader readership for a better and stronger journal in the coming years.     

Improving the dialogue between public health and ecosystem science on antimicrobial resistance

The concept of health has evolved markedly from a bio-medical, mechanistic model to include an interdisciplinary perspective where human, animal and ecosystem health are integrated. One Health, EcoHealth and Planetary Health are examples of approaches to health advocating collaboration and interdisciplinarity at multiple levels. In practice, successful integration has been challenging and in particular, understanding of the ecosystem component of health lags behind the human and animal components. Antimicrobial resistance is an important threat to human health, which develops, is maintained and transmitted at the human–animal–environment interface. While the human and livestock components of resistance are well understood, this is not the case for the ecosystem component. This gap in knowledge leads to a poor representation of the environmental dimension of antimicrobial resistance in key policy documents and in interdisciplinary work around this issue. We interviewed a group of leading researchers in public health and ecology to explore their perceptions on the integration of ecosystem and public health research in the context of antimicrobial resistance. Experts from both fields considered that research on antimicrobial resistance is only beginning to consider ecosystems. They highlighted various barriers that have contributed to limited integration, such as conceptual barriers, and a lack of knowledge translators as facilitators. Better interdisciplinary integration is needed to address the challenge of antimicrobial resistance. Improving the dialogues between the disciplines is a necessary first step in this process. Greater engagement of ecologists is needed to build a more complete understanding of the role of ecosystems in human health, and identify how human interactions with ecosystems can both contribute to, and restrict, the development of antimicrobial resistance.     

肠道菌群在蜜蜂健康与疾病中的作用研究进展

蜜蜂是重要的经济昆虫,在农作物授粉和维持生态平衡等方面扮演了重要角色。随着生态环境的逐步恶化,蜜蜂极易受到寄生虫、农药、抗生素和病原微生物等的危害。肠道作为蜜蜂的重要免疫器官,在抵抗外源刺激等方面具有不可替代的作用。而肠道菌群作为肠道的重要组成部分,对蜜蜂的健康有着至关重要的影响。其拥有高度保守和专门的核心微生物群,主要由九大类细菌组成。近年来,有关肠道菌群的研究主要集中在新陈代谢、免疫防御、生长发育等方面。肠道菌群不仅可以帮助宿主消化和制造营养素,还可维持宿主体内能量稳态,其对蛋白质的代谢也使菌群丰度增加。越来越多的证据表明,肠道菌群紊乱会导致蜜蜂健康受损,其多样性对宿主健康和疾病影响甚广。因此,肠道菌群成为近年来微生物学领域研究的焦点。主要综述了蜜蜂属、熊蜂属等主要传粉蜂类肠道菌群的组成及其在健康与疾病中的作用,为深入了解传粉昆虫肠道菌群功能提供参考。     

耐药大环内酯类肺炎支原体肺炎患儿外周血HMGB1表达与预后转归的关系

摘要 目的：探讨耐药大环内酯类肺炎支原体(Mycoplasma pneumoniae,MP)肺炎患儿外周血高迁移率族蛋白 B1(high mobility group protein B1,HMGB1)表达与预后转归的关系。方法：2017年1月-2019年12月选择在新疆维吾尔自治区人民医院诊治的耐药大环内酯类肺炎支原体肺炎患儿78例、非耐药大环内酯类肺炎支原体肺炎患儿78例与健康儿童78例分别作为耐药组、非耐药组与对照组,检测三组外周血HMGB1表达水平,调查耐药组患儿的急性生理与慢性健康(Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation,APACHEⅡ)评分与随访预后并进行相关性分析。结果：耐药组、非耐药组的血清HMGB1水平高于对照组(P<0.05),耐药组高于非耐药组(P<0.05)。随着入院时间的增加,耐药组患儿的APACHEⅡ评分逐渐降低,对比差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。随访到2020年5月1日,耐药组患儿死亡2例,死亡率为2.6 %。在耐药组中,Pearson相关分析显示外周血HMGB1与APACHEⅡ评分、发热持续时间、住院时间、肺部病变个数存在相关性(P<0.05)。受试者工作特征(receiver operating characteristic,ROC)曲线分析显示外周血HMGB1、APACHEⅡ评分预测患儿死亡的最大截面积为0.872(95 %CI：0.729-0.878)和0.889(95 %CI：0.813-0.941)。结论：耐药大环内酯类肺炎支原体肺炎患儿外周血HMGB1呈现高表达状况,与患儿的APACHEⅡ评分呈现正相关性,以上结果有助于预测患儿的随访预后,并为进一步明确该病的发生机制提供一定的借鉴。