Using four-point subcutaneous injection of lymphatic contrast-enhanced ultrasound to diagnose lymphedema of lower extremity.

Background: The diagnosis of lymphedema primarily relies on the clinical symptoms, signs, medical history and imaging. Objective lymphatic imaging helps improving the diagnosis of lymphedema. This study aimed to develop an effective imaging tool to diagnose lymphedema.

Development of a predictive machine learning model for pathogen profiles in patients with secondary immunodeficiency.

Background: Secondary immunodeficiency can arise from various clinical conditions that include HIV infection, chronic diseases, malignancy and long-term use of immunosuppressives, which makes the suffering patients susceptible to all types of pathogenic infections. Other than HIV infection, the possible pathogen profiles in other aetiology-induced secondary immunodeficiency are largely unknown.

Methods: Medical records of the patients with secondary immunodeficiency caused by various aetiologies were collected from the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, China.

Research progress on HIV-1 immune escape mechanisms.

Although highly active antiretroviral therapy has transformed HIV-1 infection into a manageable chronic disease, the development of an effective vaccine is still an important and challengeable research field of HIV-1 treatment. The challenge arises from an enormous diversity of HIV-1 strains and their rapid evolution ahead of effective immune responses. HIV-1 evasion from host immunity contributes to viral spread and pathogenesis, thus understanding the mechanisms of HIV-1 immune evasion is important.

Research Progress of HIV-1 Nef Inhibitors.

HIV-1 infection poses a major threat to the public health worldwide. The antiretroviral agents that are currently used to treat HIV-1 infection target viral reverse transcriptase, integrase and protease, or block the fusion of viral envelop and cell membrane. Studies have shown that the HIV-1 encoded protein Nef plays an important role in the pathogenesis of viral infection.