BackgroundThere is a lack of information on the clinical characteristics of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB in the Jiangxi Province of China; furthermore, data have not been reported on the utility of mycobacterial interspersed repetitive-unit-variable-number tandem-repeat (MIRU-VNTR) analyses in genotyping Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated from this region. The aim of this study was to analyse the clinical features of patients with MDR and XDR TB from Jiangxi Province and to evaluate the discriminatory power of the 15-loci MIRU-VNTR method.MethodsA retrospective study was conducted on patients diagnosed with MDR and XDR TB at the Jiangxi Chest Hospital from July 2010 to June 2011. The RD105 deletion-targeted multiplex PCR (DTM-PCR) and the 15-loci MIRU-VNTR method were used to determine the genetic background of the identified MDR and XDR M. tuberculosis clinical isolates.ResultsOf 804 M. tuberculosis clinical isolates, 159 (159/804, 19.8%) of the isolates were identified as MDR with first-line drug susceptibility testing. Of the 123 available MDR isolates, 13 (13/123, 10.6%) were XDR. The RD105 deletion-targeted multiplex PCR method identified 85 (85/110, 77.3%) MDR and 12 (12/13, 92.3%) XDR isolates as the Beijing genotype. MIRU-VNTR cluster analysis demonstrated that 101 MDR and 13 XDR strains had unique genotype patterns; the remaining 9 MDR strains were in 4 clusters, namely 1 cluster with 3 strains and 3 clusters with 2 strains, resulting in a low clustering rate (4.06%). The Hunter-Gaston discriminatory index (HGDI) of the 15-loci MIRU-VNTR method was as high as 0.992. In addition, clinical surveys showed that 87 (87/110, 79.1%) MDR TB patients and 10 (10/13, 76.9%) XDR TB patients had been previously treated. Diabetes mellitus was the most common comorbidity in both MDR TB (16/110, 14.5%) and XDR TB (2/13, 15.4%) patients.ConclusionsBased on our preliminary data, the MDR and XDR M. tuberculosis clinical isolates identified at the Jiangxi Chest Hospital were genetically diverse and clustered at a low frequency. The 15-loci MIRU-VNTR method showed high discriminatory power and may be used as a first-line genotyping tool in investigating the molecular epidemiology of M. tuberculosis in Jiangxi, China. Decisive measures are urgently needed to effectively prevent and manage MDR and XDR tuberculosis in this province.

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Articular cartilage is a physiologically non-self-renewing avascular tissue with a unique cell type, the chondrocyte, which functions as producing and maintaining the extracellular matrix of cartilage. Cartilage differentiation and maintenance of homeostasis are finely tuned by a complex network of signaling molecules. The network sheds light on these mechanisms that appear to be highly relevant to both the identification of pathogenic key factors, and the development of biological approaches for cartilage regeneration. Wnt/β-catenin signaling has been recognized as a key regulator of development and homeostasis in bone, cartilage, and joint. It plays important roles in many biological processes, including the condensation and differentiation of mesenchymal cells, the maintenance of mature articular cartilage phenotype, the hypertrophic maturation in the process of endochondral ossification, and tissue degeneration and regeneration. With regard to the importance of Wnt signaling pathways in regulating chondrocytes physiological and pathological activities, this article reviews the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in chondrogenesis, chondrocytes development, degeneration, and the inhibitors of Wnt/β-catenin signaling.

BackgroundMultiple myeloma (MM) is the plasma cell tumor, which is characterized by clonal proliferation of tumor cells, with high risk of progression to renal impairment, bone damage and amyloidosis. Although the survival rate of patients with MM has improved in the past decade, most people inevitably relapse. The treatment and prognosis of MM are still urgent problems. Breast Cancer Antiestrogen Resistance 3 (BCAR3) is a protein-coding gene that is associated with many tumors. However, there have been few studies on the relationship of BCAR3 and MM.MethodsWe analyzed 1878 MM patients (1930 samples) from 7 independent datasets. First, we compared the BCAR3 expression level of MM patients in different stages and MM patients with different amplification of 1q21. Second, we analyzed BCAR3 expression levels in MM patients with different molecular subtypes. Finally, we explored the event-free survival rate (EFS) and overall survival rate (OS) of MM patients with high or low BCAR3 expression, including patients before and after relapse, and their therapeutic responses to bortezomib and dexamethasone.ResultsThe expression of BCAR3 showed a decreasing trend in stages I, II and III (P = 0.00068). With the increase of 1q21 amplification level, the expression of BCAR3 decreased (P = 0.022). Patients with high BCAR3 expression had higher EFS and OS (EFS: P < 0.0001, OS: P < 0.0001). The expression of BCAR3 gene before relapse was higher than that after relapse (P = 0.0045). BCAR3 is an independent factor affecting prognosis (EFS: P = 5.17E−03; OS: P = 3.33E−04).ConclusionWe found that high expression level of BCAR3 predicted better prognosis of MM patients. Low expression of BCAR3 at diagnosis can predict early relapse. BCAR3 is an independent prognostic factor for MM. BCAR3 can be used as a potential biomarker.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12967-018-1728-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous disease in terms of genetic basis, clinical, biological and prognostic, and is a malignant clonal disease of leukemia stem cells (LSCs). Nearly half of adult AML patients exhibit a cytogenetic normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML). The expression level of NCALD gene was associated with the prognosis of ovarian cancer and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The expression level of NCALD gene is still unclear in the prognosis of patients with AML. Method We integrated 5 independent datasets totally 665 AML patients (497 CN-AML patients) to analyzed relation between NCALD gene expression and the clinical FAB classification, gene mutation, therapy, prognosis of CN-AML. We analyzed the NCALD gene expression with the prognosis and LSC of 165 AML patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset and 78 AML patients from GEO dataset. Results High NCALD-expressing CN-AML patients were associated with poor event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) compared to low NCALD expression (EFS, P < 0.0001, OS, P < 0.0001). In AML patients of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), high NCALD expression was associated with poor survival prognosis in EFS and OS (EFS, P < 0.0051, OS, P = 0.028). Post-chemotherapy in AML patients, high NCALD expression led a worse prognosis in EFS and OS (EFS, P = 0.011; OS, P = 0.0056). In multivariate analysis, high NCALD expression was an independent prognostic factor that predicts shorter EFS and OS (EFS, P = 3.84E−05, OS, P = 8.53E−05) of CN-AML. Conclusion Our results indicate that high expression of NCALD gene is a poor prognostic factor for CN-AML. NCALD can be considered as independent predictors of CN-AML patients and can be used as a biomarker for the prognosis of CN-AML. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12967-019-1904-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.