Development of a random forest model to classify sarcoidosis and tuberculosis.

Objective: To identify significant diagnostic factors and establish a predictive model for diagnosis of sarcoidosis and tuberculosis.

Methods: This study included 252 patients (123 cases of lung sarcoidosis and 129 cases of lung tuberculosis) who underwent laboratory evaluation, including routine hematologic testing, serum immunology, blood coagulation, angiotensin-converting enzyme, and T lymphocyte subset. The factors that statistically different between the two groups were identified by an independent sample t test first, and then processed by the random forest model to distinguish two diseases with the classification function.

Treatment Outcome of a Shorter Regimen Containing Clofazimine for Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis: A Randomized Control Trial in China.

Background: The emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) poses a serious obstacle to global TB control programs.

Methods: We carried out a prospective, randomized, multicenter study in China that was focused on the potential of a shorter regimen containing clofazimine (CFZ) for the treatment of MDR-TB. There were 135 MDR-TB cases that met eligibility requirements and were randomly stratified into either the control group or experimental group.

Sex Disparity in Severity of Lung Lesions in Newly Identified Tuberculosis Is Age-Associated.

The age-associated characteristic of computed tomography (CT) images of tuberculosis (TB) and the reason for male bias in TB are still not clear. We compared the CT images, clinical inflammatory indices and sputum bacterial counts between 594 non-smoking men and women with newly diagnosed TB with matched large span of ages from 15 to 92 years old. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify the cavity-associated factors of men and women, separately and in combination.

Critical role of molecular test in early diagnosis of gastric tuberculosis: a rare case report and review of literature.

Backgroud: Early diagnosis of gastric tuberculosis is often challenging because the disease is very rare and its clinical manifestation is nonspecific and misleading. To raise the awareness and emphasize early diagnosis of gastric tuberculosis, we present a case of gastric tuberculosis secondary to pleural and pulmonary tuberculosis.

Case Presentation: A 26-year-old woman complained gastric pain for 1 month but showed no other symptoms, who had no previous exposure to tuberculosis.

Clofazimine for Treatment of Extensively Drug-Resistant Pulmonary Tuberculosis in China.

We performed a multicenter, prospective, randomized study to investigate the efficacy and safety of clofazimine (CLO) for treatment of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in China. Forty-nine patients infected with XDR-TB were randomly assigned to either the control group or the CLO group, both of which received 36 months of individually customized treatment. The primary endpoint was the time to sputum culture conversion on solid medium.

Hemostasis and Lipoprotein Indices Signify Exacerbated Lung Injury in TB With Diabetes Comorbidity.

Background: Exacerbated immunopathology is a frequent consequence of TB that is complicated by diabetes mellitus (DM); however, the underlying mechanisms are still poorly defined.

Methods: In the two groups of age- and sex-matched patients with TB and DM (DM-TB) and with TB and without DM, we microscopically evaluated the areas of caseous necrosis and graded the extent of perinecrotic fibrosis in lung biopsies from the sputum smear-negative (SN) patients. We scored acid-fast bacilli in sputum smear-positive (SP) patients and compiled CT scan data from both the SN and SP patients.

A Large Cohort Study on the Clinical Value of Simultaneous Amplification and Testing for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

The AmpSure simultaneous amplification and testing method for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (SAT-TB assay) was designed to diagnose rapidly pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Unfortunately, the diagnostic advantage is unclear from previous small sample studies. In the current inquiry, a large sample size was used to reevaluate the clinical accuracy of the SAT-TB assay using sputum specimens.

Platelets direct monocyte differentiation into epithelioid-like multinucleated giant foam cells with suppressive capacity upon mycobacterial stimulation.

Background: Epithelioid, foam, and multinucleated giant cells (MNGCs) are characteristics of tuberculosis granulomas, yet the precise genesis and functions of these transformed macrophages are unclear. We evaluated the role of platelets as drivers of macrophage transformation in mycobacterial infection.

Methods: We employed flow cytometry and microscopy to assess cellular phenotype and phagocytosis.

Hybrid quantum mechanical and molecular mechanics study of the S(N)2 Reaction of CCl4 + OH- in aqueous solution: the potential of mean force, reaction energetics, and rate constants.

The bimolecular nucleophilic substitution reaction of CCl(4) and OH(-) in aqueous solution was investigated on the basis of a combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanics method. A multilayered representation approach is employed to achieve high accuracy results at the CCSD(T) level of theory. The potential of mean force calculations at the DFT level and CCSD(T) level of theory yield reaction barrier heights of 22.

Hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanics study of the S(N)2 reaction of CH3Cl+OH- in water.

The S(N)2 mechanism for the reaction of CH(3)Cl + OH(-) in aqueous solution was investigated using combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanics methodology. We analyzed structures of reactant, transition, and product states along the reaction pathway. The free energy profile was calculated using the multilayered representation with the DFT and CCSD(T) level of theory for the quantum-mechanical description of the reactive region.

[The effect of the regimen containing cefoxitin on highly drug-resistant rapidly growing nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease].

Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic effect and safety of the regimen containing cefoxitin on highly drug-resistant rapidly growing nontuberculous mycobacterial (RGM) pulmonary disease.

Methods: From January to December 2007, 16 patients with RGM pulmonary disease, who had been treated for 6-48 months, average (15 ± 11) months but still sputum positive, were included in the study and treated with a new regimen containing cefoxitin, fluoroquinolone, macrolide, and SMZco. Cefoxitin was used in the first 3 months and the total duration of therapy was 18 months.

Elevated serum levels of CCL17 correlate with increased peripheral blood platelet count in patients with active tuberculosis in China.

The serum levels of Th2 markers, including CCL17 (thymus and activation-regulated chemokine [TARC]), CCL22 (macrophage-derived chemokine [MDC]), and soluble CD30, were measured in 101 HIV-negative tuberculosis patients, 103 healthy community controls, and 18 tuberculosis patients in recovery. The levels of CCL17/TARC (249.8 ± 19.