To identify the associations between different genotypes of TLR9 -1486T/C (rs187084) with gastric cancer patients and reveal their relation to Helicobacter pylori virulence genes (cagA, sodB, hsp60 and vacA). Patients with gastric cancer were recruited to our study, diagnosed both endoscopically and histopathologically. H. pylori were isolated from gastric samples by culture and PCR amplification of the glmM gene. Virulence genes cagA, sodB, hsp60, and vacA were detected by multiplex PCR. Blood samples were used for genotyping of TLR9 -1486T/C (rs187084) by PCR-RFLP. Out of 132 patients with gastric cancer, 106 (80.3%) were positive for H. pylori. A similar number of healthy participants was recruited as controls. The prevalence of cagA, sodB, hsp60, and vacA genes among H. pylori was 90.6%, 70.8%, 83.0%, and 95.3%, respectively. The vacA gene alleles had a prevalence of 95.3% for vacAs1/s2, 52.8% for vacAm1, and 42.5% for vacAm2. The CC genotype of TLR9 -1486T/C had a significantly higher frequency in gastric cancer patients when compared to healthy participants (p = 0.045). Furthermore, the CC genotype demonstrated a significant association with H. pylori strains carrying sodB, hsp60, and vacAm1 virulence genes (p = 0.021, p = 0.049, and p = 0.048 respectively). Patients with CC genotype of TLR9 -1486T/C (rs187084) might be at higher risk for the development of gastric cancer, and its co-existence with H. pylori strains carrying sodB, hsp60, or vacAm1 virulence genes might have a synergistic effect in the development of gastric cancer. Further studies on a wider scale are recommended.

Background Disordered Treg counts and function have been observed in patients with SARS-Cov-2 and are thought to contribute to disease severity. In hemodialysis patients, scarce data are available on the Treg response to SARS-CoV-2 or its relation to the clinical presentation. Methods A cross-sectional study included one hundred patients divided into three groups, thirty SARS-CoV-2-infected hemodialysis patients (COV-HD), and thirty confirmed SARSCoV-2 infected patients (COV), and forty non-infected hemodialysis patients (HD). Flow cytometric analysis of CD4, CD25, FoxP3, and CD39+ Tregs was done for all patients and tested for correlation to in-hospital mortality, clinical, radiological severity indices. Results COV-HD and COV patients had significantly lower Treg cell count than HD patients (Median value of 0.016 cell/ μl vs 0.28 cell/ μl, respectively- P: 0.001). COV-HD patients had higher CD39+ Tregs (median value of 0.006 cell/ μl vs 0.002 cell/ μl, respectively- P: 0.04). COV-HD patients had significantly lower hospital stay (median value of 3 vs 13 days, P:0.001), ICU admission rates (26.5% vs 46.7%, P:0.005) and in-hospital mortality (20.7% versus 43.3%, P:0.003) than COV patients. Treg and CD39 expressing Treg counts were not correlated to severity indices in both groups. A high neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio is strongly correlated to disease severity in COV-HD patients. Conclusions This study provides evidence of T-cell, particularly T-regulatory cell decline in SARS-CoV-2 and suggests that hemodialysis per se does not distinctively impact the T-cell response. COV-HD patients exhibited a higher CD39+ Treg count and a better clinical profile, however, larger studies are needed to extrapolate on these findings.

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INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE:The malX gene was identified in uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strain CFT073 as part of a pathogenicity-associated island about 20 years ago. Homology analysis indicated that it is a component of the phosphotransferase system (PTS) of carbohydrate transport. We compiled the evidence that correlates malX to UTIs. To determine its function, which is unknown, we constructed and characterized mutants lacking malX.METHODS: We compiled all published information about the presence of malX in UPEC strains. We constructed a mutant with a deletion of malX in the model UPEC strain UTI89 and characterized its growth and carbohydrate depletion.RESULTS: A PubMed search identified 8 papers that surveyed a correlation between malX and urinary tract infections. A compilation of these results showed that malX generally correlates with UTIs and phylogenetic group B2 which is the most common UPEC group. The malX gene associated with UPEC strains is only 40% identical to the previously described malX which means that the malX designation for the UPEC gene is incorrect. We provisionally designated the virulence factor gene as malX2. A malX2 mutant grew poorly in medium in which glucose, xylose, and glycerol were the sole carbon sources. The mutant depleted carbohydrates slowly.CONCLUSIONS: The MalX2 protein appears to be the major transporter for several carbohydrates. A previous study of nonpathogenic E. coli proposed that the original MalX (not MalX2) transported carbohydrates by facilitated diffusion. If this is also true for MalX2, then such transport, which is potentially rapid, may in part account for rapid growth of UPEC strains. This novel transport system distinguishes uropathogenic from nonpathogenic E. coli.

Purpose: To identify different genotypes of TLR9 -1486T/C (rs187084) in patients with gastric cancer and reveal their relation to H. pylori virulence genes (cagA, sodB, hsp60 and vacA). Methods: Patients with gastric cancer were recruited to our study, diagnosed both endoscopically and histo-pathologically. H. pylori strains were isolated from gastric samples by culture and PCR amplification of glmM gene. Virulence genes of H. pylori; cagA, sodB, Hsp60 and vacA, were detected by multiplex PCR. Blood samples were used for genotyping of TLR9 -1486T/C (rs187084) by PCR-RFLP. Results: Out of 132 patients with gastric cancer, 106 (80.3%) were positive for H. pylori by both culture and PCR. Similar number of healthy participants were recruited as controls. The prevalence of virulence genes among the isolated H. pylori were 90.6%, 70.8%, 83.0% and 95.3% for cagA, sodB, hsp60 and vacA respectively. The vacA gene alleles had a prevalence of 95.3% for vacAs1/s2, 52.8% for vacAm1 and 42.5% for vacAm2. The CC genotype of TLR9 -1486T/C had a significantly higher frequency in gastric cancer patients when compared to healthy participants (P = 0.045). Furthermore, the CC genotype demonstrated a significantly higher association with H. pylori strains carrying sodB, hsp60 and vacAm1 virulence genes (P = 0.021, P = 0.049 and P = 0.048 respectively). Conclusions: Patients with CC genotype of TLR9 -1486T/C (rs187084) are at higher risk for development of gastric cancer and its co-existence with H. pylori strains carrying sodB, hsp60 or vacAm1 virulence genes might have a synergistic effect in development of gastric cancer.