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Background: Ischemic stroke, including transient ischemic attack (TIA) and acute-phase cerebral infarction (aCI), is a serious health problem in the aging society. Thus, this study aimed to identify TIA and aCI biomarkers.Methods: In 19 patients with TIA, candidate antigens recognized by serum IgG autoantibodies were screened using a human aortic endothelial cell cDNA library. Through amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay-linked immunosorbent assay (AlphaLISA), serum antibody levels against the candidate antigens were examined in healthy donor (HD), TIA, and aCI cohorts (n = 285, 92, and 529). The plasma antibody levels in the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Cohort Study (1991-1993) were also examined.Results: The candidate antigens were aldolase A (ALDOA) and fumarate hydratase (FH). In AlphaLISA, patients with TIA or aCI had higher anti-ALDOA antibody (ALDOA-Ab) and anti-FH antibody (FH-Ab) levels than the HDs (P < 0.05). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, the ALDOA-Ab (odds ratio [OR]: 2.46, P = 0.0050) and FH-Ab (OR: 2.49, P = 0.0037) levels were independent predictors of TIA. According to the case-control study, the ALDOA-Ab (OR: 2.50, P < 0.01) and FH-Ab (OR: 2.60, P < 0.01) levels were associated with aCI risk. In a correlation analysis, both ALDOA-Abs and FH-Abs were well associated with hypertension, coronary heart disease, and habitual smoking. These antibody levels also correlated well with maximum intima-media thickness, which reflects atherosclerotic stenosis.Conclusions: ALDOA-Abs and FH-Abs can be novel potential biomarkers for predicting atherosclerotic TIA and aCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore and establish fast and sensitive typing diagnostic methods on intestinal pathogen., Methods: All 29 isolates of Shigella. sonnei and 12 strains of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EHEC O157:H7) isolated in 1999 were carried out for typing by using pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and phage typing., Results: PFGE results of 4 outbreak incidents caused by Shigella. sonnei showed that the PFGE patterns of the strains isolated from the same incident were almost the same. It was also the same during analysing the 2 outbreak incidents caused by EHEC O157:H7, however, the PFGE patterns of the 3 individual strains of EHEC O157:H7 were different. Moreover, the phage typing method showed its fine typing ability while its being used in the analysing 12 strains of EHEC O157:H7., Conclusion: The fine typing ability and reliability of PFGE was helpful for finding out the heredity background of intestinal pathogen and the infectious resource of the outbreak. And the epidemic situation might thus be effectively prevented from spreading.