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Background: Diagnosis of congenital syphilis (CS) is not straightforward and can be challenging. This study aimed to evaluate the validity of an algorithm using timing of maternal antisyphilis treatment and titres of non-treponemal antibody as predictors of CS.Methods: Confirmed CS cases and those where CS was excluded were obtained from the Guangzhou Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of syphilis programme between 2011 and 2019. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) in two situations: (1) receiving antisyphilis treatment or no-treatment during pregnancy and (2) initiating treatment before 28 gestational weeks (GWs), initiating after 28 GWs or receiving no treatment for syphilis seropositive women.Results: Among 1558 syphilis-exposed children, 39 had confirmed CS. Area under the curve, sensitivity and specificity of maternal non-treponemal titres before treatment and treatment during pregnancy were 0.80, 76.9%, 78.7% and 0.79, 69.2%, 88.7%, respectively, for children with CS. For the algorithm, ROC results showed that PPV and NPV for predicting CS were 37.3% and 96.4% (non-treponemal titres cut-off value 1:8 and no antisyphilis treatment), 9.4% and 100% (non-treponemal titres cut-off value 1:16 and treatment after 28 GWs), 4.2% and 99.5% (non-treponemal titres cut-off value 1:32 and treatment before 28 GWs), respectively.Conclusions: An algorithm using maternal non-treponemal titres and timing of treatment during pregnancy could be an effective strategy to diagnose or rule out CS, especially when the rate of loss to follow-up is high or there are no straightforward diagnostic tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of in-utero exposure to HIV and ART on pregnancy outcome and early growth of children. This cohort study enrolled 802 HIV-infected pregnant women between October 2009 and May 2018 in Guangzhou, China. The women were assigned to receive combination ART (cART) or mono/dual ART or no treatment. The primary outcomes were the combined endpoints of any adverse pregnancy outcome [including ectopic pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, preterm birth, small for gestational age (SGA)] and adverse early growth outcome (including infant death, HIV infection of mother-to-child transmission, and underweight, wasting and stunting of infants at 4 weeks of age). Adverse pregnancy outcomes occurred in 202 (35.1%) of all enrolled HIV-infected women, and 121 (31.3%) of all infants exhibited adverse effects on early growth at 4 weeks of age. The rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes, spontaneous abortion, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, infant death and perinatal HIV infection were higher among women not receiving ART, compared to those treated with cART or mono/dual ART (P < 0.05). However, women treated with cART had a higher rate of SGA, compared to untreated women (P < 0.05). No differences in early infant growth were observed among the different treatment regimens. Our findings underscore the essentiality of prioritizing HIV-positive pregnant women for ART, as even mono/dual ART available in resource-limited countries could improve pregnancy outcomes and infant survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermodynamic and structural parameters of the W/O microemulsion systems 12-4-12(a), C12mimBr (b) þ butan-1-ol þ octane þ 5% NaCl solution were studied and compared at different temperatures. The thermodynamic properties of the mixed surfactants W/O microemulsions 12-4-12/SDS(a), C12mimBr/SDS (b) þ butan-1-ol þ octane þ 5% NaCl solution were also studied at different temperatures. They were compared with each other and compared with the above W/O microemulsions containing the single surfactant. In the mixed-surfactants W/O microemulsions, both Xo a (the mole fraction of the alcohol in the oil phase) and Xi a (the mole fraction of the alcohol in the interfacial layer) are significantly lower, while - ΔGo o→i is significantly higher, compared with the W/O microemulsions containing the single surfactant. As temperature increases, Xo a decreases while both Xi a and - ΔGo o→i increases. The standard enthalpy change (ΔHo o→i ) and entropy change (ΔSo o→i ) of transferring alcohol from the continuous oil phase to the interfacial layer are all negative in value. The order of magnitude for both ΔDo o→i and ΔSo o→i values is as follows: 12-4-12/SDS < C12mimBr/SDS < 12-4-12 < C12mimBr. As temperature increases, ΔHo 8-i values slightly decrease, while ΔSo o→i values slightly increase. This leads to the decrease of the - ΔGo o→i values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays important roles in neural stem cell (NSC) growth. In this study, we investigated whether BDNF exerts its neurotrophic effects through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in human embryonic spinal cord NSCs (hESC-NSCs)in vitro. We found an increase in hESC-NSC growth by BDNF overexpression. Furthermore, expression of Wnt1, Frizzled1 and Dsh was upregulated, whereas GSK-3β expression was downregulated. In contrast, hESC-NSC growth was decreased by BDNF RNA interference. BDNF, Wnt1 and β-catenin components were all downregulated, whereas GSK-3β was upregulated. Next, we treated hESC-NSCs with 6-bromoindirubin-3′-oxime (BIO), a small molecule inhibitor of GSK-3β. BIO reduced the effects of BDNF upregulation/downregulation on the cell number, soma size and differentiation, and suppressed the effect of BDNF modulation on the Wnt signaling pathway. Our findings suggest that BDNF promotes hESC-NSC growthin vitrothrough crosstalk with the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, and that this interaction may be mediated by GSK-3β. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present study evaluates the effects of embryonic age and proteolytic enzymes on the isolation and primary culture of chicken enterocyte and to establish an effective technique for chicken intestinal epithelial cell ( IEC) cultivation. Fourteen-day-old, 16-day-old and 18-day-old embryos (average weight: 52.23 ± 0.76 g, 50.86 ± 0.99 g, 48.98 ± 1.03 g) were the source for preparation of enterocyte culture, and trypsin-ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid, collagenase, thermolysin and combination of collagenase and thermolysin were used for digestion medium. Optimal culture protocols were determined by qualitative assays of proliferation. Cells isolated by using 14-day-old embryo and collagenase obtain the best attachment and growth in culture, and the production of continuously growing IEC cultures. Thus, we conclude that the use of collagenase as a dissociating enzyme and 14-day-old embryo as a source can be advantageously applied to the isolation of chicken IEC and this method may be useful for various applications and basic studies of the intestinal tract concerning such objects as physiology, immunology and toxicology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]