The origin of nontreponemal antibodies during syphilis infection is hotly debated. Here, we analyzed the immune response in rabbits immunized with various antigens. Inactivated treponemes elicited the production of low-titer nontreponemal antibodies in some rabbits. Cardiolipin combined with bovine serum albumin also induced anticardiolipin antibody production. These findings indicate that Treponema pallidum contained a cardiolipin antigen with weak immunogenicity. However, active T. pallidum induced higher nontreponemal antibody production with strong immunogenicity at an earlier time point, and the antibody titer was consecutive, suggesting the high nontreponemal antibody titer resulted from the combined effects of both the T. pallidum cardiolipin antigen and the damaged host-cell cardiolipin antigen during syphilis infection, the latter of which plays a major role in the induction of nontreponemal antibody production. Our study provides direct animal evidence of the origin of nontreponemal antibodies during T. pallidum infection.
Staphylococcus aureus is a global epidemic pathogen that causes heavy disease burden. The aim of this study was to determine which globally known S. aureus lineages are currently present in a hospital of Xiamen. Therefore, the 426 S. aureus strains were detected by Melting Curve Analysis (MCA) and genotyped by Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) as well as Multicolor Melting Curve Analysis-Based Multilocus Melt Typing (MLMT). In addition, Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) was used to identify 108 representative strains. In light of eighteen antibiotics except for Vancomycin (by Broth Dilution Method), we used the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method to assess antibiotic susceptibility of 426 S. aureus strains. Finally, PFGE analysis revealed 14 different patterns with three major patterns (C10, C8, and C11) that accounted for 69.42% of all S. aureus strains, and MT-1~MT-5 occupied most part of the strains by MLMT. MLST revealed 25 different STs with the predominant types being ST239, ST59, and ST188. There have been 8 antibiotics that showed more than 50% resistance of all S. aureus strains. In summary, we found several of the lineages are predominant in our hospital. And antibiotic resistance is still a severe problem that needs to be controlled in clinic.
BackgroundBecause of the high prevalence and absence of cure for infection, chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has been acknowledged as a pressing public health issue. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) activate the human innate immune system and the polymorphisms in TLRs may alter their function. The present study aimed to investigate the association between TLR polymorphisms and disease progression of chronic HBV infection.MethodsDuring the study period, 211 treatment-naïve patients with chronic HBV infection were recruited, and blood samples were collected from each individual. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry was employed to genotype the selected TLR polymorphisms after human genome extraction. In addition, HbsAg, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels were quantified using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Statistical analyses were conducted to investigate the association between TLR polymorphisms and hepatitis activity, liver function parameters, HbsAg level, and cytokine level.ResultsWe did not observe any mutations in rs4986790, rs4986791, and rs5743708 among all study subjects. A logistic regression revealed that mutations in rs3804099 and rs4696480 were associated with milder hepatitis activity. Consistent with the logistic regression, improved liver function parameters and reduced level of both HbsAg and cytokines were also correlated with the mutant carriers of rs3804099 and rs4696480.ConclusionsTLR mutations were significantly associated with milder hepatitis activity among patients with chronic HBV infection. Therefore, we conclude that the activation of TLR pathways may further intensify the inflammation of hepatocytes, and leads to progression of disease.
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