IntroductionProcalcitonin (PCT) is a biomarker for the clinical diagnosis of bacterial infection that is more specific and earlier than fever, changes in white blood cell count, and blood cultures. Congestive heart failure is an important cause of endotoxin resorption from the intestine, which significantly increases PCT expression in noninfected patients with heart failure. The diagnostic performance and cut-off value of PCT in patients with bacterial infection complicated by congestive heart failure needs to be confirmed.MethodsA total of 4,698 cases from different cities in China, including those with different classes of congestive heart failure, bacterial infection, bacterial infection complicated by heart failure and healthy individuals, were chosen for the diagnostic value analysis of PCT and screening candidate predictors of mortality in subjects with bacterial infection complicated by congestive heart failure.ResultsPatients with simple heart failure had significantly higher PCT levels than normal controls (P < 0.01), whereas patients with bacterial infection complicated by congestive heart failure had significantly higher PCT levels than those with simple infection (P < 0.01). Although it was useful for the diagnosis of infection (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve >80%), the positive predictive value of PCT decreased significantly with increasing severity of heart failure (P < 0.05), and the cut-off value of PCT concentrations for infection complicated by classes II, III and IV heart failure were 0.086, 0.192 and 0.657 μg/L, respectively. Heart failure degree, PCT level, and age were the candidate predictors of mortality in patients with bacterial infection complicated by congestive heart failure.ConclusionsThese data suggest that complicated heart failure elevates the PCT level in patients with bacterial infection. Thus, the results of the PCT test must be analyzed correctly in consideration of the severity of heart failure. Close attention should be paid to cardiac function and PCT expression in aged patients with infection complicated by congestive heart failure.

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Efficient analysis of large amounts of raw data for detection and identification of chemical adulterants is always a difficult challenge in the field of food safety. The present study proposed a combined strategy for qualitative screening and identification of 317 pesticides in vegetables and fruits using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q-TOF/MS) based on a homemade accurate mass database (MS 1 ) and a novel MS/MS spectral library (MS 2 ). An accurate mass database and a collision-induced-dissociation (CID) accurate mass spectral library were developed prior to actual application. The screening strategy involved two injections of each sample extract. Firstly, HPLC-Q-TOF/MS in full MS scan mode was conducted and all potential compounds in the MS 1 database were matched against the raw data of samples for target screening.Secondly, targeted MS/MS analysis was carried out by using hybrid Q-TOF/MS and the fragment ions were identified by the MS 2 spectral library. To validate the performances of the in-house MS 1 database and the MS 2 spectral library, cucumber and orange matrices were prepared by traditional solid phase extraction, spiked with 317 pesticides at three concentration levels, 1, 10 and 50 mg kg À1 for most of the pesticides, and analyzed by HPLC-Q-TOF/MS. The results showed that over 83.9% of pesticides at 10 mg kg À1 or lower could be detected by TOF/MS combined with the MS 1 database, and 76.7% of them could be identified by targeted MS/MS coupled with the MS 2 library in each matrix. The total false negative rate of the proposed qualitative screening method was as low as 4.7% at 50 mg kg À1 . Consequently, the proposed method was applied to 328 real fresh vegetables and fruits. Finally, 57 pesticides and 799 positive results were found. The approach to detect and to identify pesticides based on the accurate mass database integrated CID accurate mass spectral library was proved to be a cost-effective and powerful strategy for routine qualitative screening of pesticides.

Glioma is one of the most common malignancies in the world. However, an effective regiment is lacking. Increasing evidence indicated that PI3K/AKT signaling is critical for the survival of glioma. In this study, we aimed to study the effect of aplysin on the survival and proliferation of GL26 glioma cells and the involved mechanisms. The data showed that aplysin suppressed the viability of glioma cells in both dose- and time-dependent manners. It also induced G0/G1 arrest and apoptosis in glioma cells. Western blot assays revealed that aplysin treatment changed p-AKT expression by impairing the formation of Heat shock protein 90/AKT complex. Aplysin significantly increased the survival time of mice-bearing glioma and reduced the weights of the established gliomas. Collectively, aplysin can inhibit the proliferation of GL26 glioma cells and induce apoptosis in vitro, perhaps through suppressing PI3K/AKT pathway. It can also inhibit glioma growth in vivo and prolong the survival of mice. Thus, aplysin may be a novel therapeutic drug for glioma.

We found that aplysin can enhance the effect of TMZ on glioma cells by increasing miR-181 expression.

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