Infection among 1,659 Silicosis Patients in Zhejiang Province, China.

Silicosis is a well-established risk factor for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. This study aimed to estimate the burden and risk factors of M. tuberculosis infection.

Efficacy and safety of weekly rifapentine and isoniazid for tuberculosis prevention in Chinese silicosis patients: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: The aim was to evaluate the efficacy, safety and completion rate of 3-month, once-weekly rifapentine and isoniazid for tuberculosis (TB) prevention among Chinese silicosis patients.

Methods: Male silicosis patients without human immunodeficiency virus infection, aged 18 years to 65 years, with or without latent TB infection, were randomized 1:1 to receive rifapentine/isoniazid under direct observation (3RPT/INH group) or were untreated (observation group). Active TB incidence was compared between the two groups with 37 months of follow-up.

Preventive tuberculosis treatment effect on QuantiFERON TB-Gold in-tube testing in a high tuberculosis-endemic country: A clinical trial.

Background: Whether T-cell interferon-γ responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antigens can be influenced by tuberculosis preventive treatment in a high-endemic country is uncertain.

Methods: In this prospective, open-label, controlled study, 513 individuals with silicosis were randomly selected for TB preventive treatment with rifapentine and isoniazid or for observation. QuantiFERON-TB Gold in-tube (QFT-GIT) assay was used to measure IFN-γ response to M.

LncRNA CDKN2BAS predicts poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and promotes metastasis via the miR-153-5p/ARHGAP18 signaling axis.

Background: Growing evidence shows that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a crucial role in cancer progression. However, whether lncRNA CDKN2BAS is involved in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis remains unclear.

Methods: Human lncRNA microarray analysis was performed to detect differential expression levels of lncRNAs in metastatic HCC tissues.

Characterization of a novel qepA3 variant in Enterobacter aerogenes.

Five isolates harboring qepA were studied by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and relevant methods. One was determined to be a novel qepA3 from Enterobacter aerogenes, and four involved three qepA1 and one qepA2 determinants from Escherichia coli; the qepA3 changed five amino acids. These results characterized genetic structures A, B, C, D, and E.

Characterization of genetic structures of the QepA3 gene in clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae.

QepA is one of the genes that confer quinolone resistance in bacteria. The aim of this study was to analyze the genetic structures of plasmids that carry a qepA3, a recently discovered allele of qepA in Enterobacteriaceae clinical isolates. 656 non-redundant Enterobacteriaceae clinical isolates were screened for the qepA3 gene and five isolates were identified to carry the gene.

[Clinical application of microarray technique to quantify the lamivudine-resistant gene mutant of hepatitis B virus].

Objective: To evaluate clinical applicability of a novel technique that can quantify the lamivudine-resistant mutants of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in the serum of patients utilizing gene microarray technology.

Methods: The oligonucleotide microarray was designed to detect 3 important mutational positions. Fifty-one patients who were receiving lamivudine therapy were selected as subjects.