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Background The immune recovery process in Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is complex and influenced by numerous factors. Gut microbiota and their metabolites play a critical role in maintaining immune homeostasis. Additionally, the presence of Helicobacter pylori in the stomach can affect immune reconstitution in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS patients, either directly or through interactions with the gut microbiota. Methods This review adopts a comprehensive literature review approach. It systematically examines a wide range of relevant studies focusing on the interplay between HIV/AIDS immune reconstitution, gut microbiota, and H. pylori . Results The review reveals intricate relationships among these components. Gut microbiota and their metabolites are essential for sustaining immune balance. H. pylori influences immune reconstitution in HIV/AIDS patients through various mechanisms, including inducing gut microbiota dysbiosis, altering gastric pH, promoting systemic inflammation, and acting synergistically with HIV. These effects can exacerbate CD4⁺ T cell depletion and may contribute to incomplete immune recovery by disrupting gut microbiota composition. Conclusion Understanding these interactions provides a foundation for future research directions. Such insights may offer new perspectives and strategies to address the clinical challenge of immunological non-response in HIV/AIDS patients.

This study aims to explore the relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, particularly CagA-positive strains, and Clonorchiasis. A total of 309 civil servants who underwent health check-ups and 73 hospitalized patients with Clonorchiasis from May 2019 to April 2023 were included. A control group of 100 healthy individuals matched by age, gender, and residence was included. H. pylori and Clonorchiasis antibodies in civil servants were detected using ELISA. Western blotting was used to identify H. pylori strains in hospitalized patients. Among civil servants, H. pylori and Clonorchiasis antibody positivity rates were 43.7% and 23.9%, respectively. H. pylori antibody positivity was comparable between those with (45.9%) and without Clonorchiasis (43.0%) infection. H. pylori infection among Clonorchiasis patients (61.6%) was slightly higher than in healthy controls (44.0%). Multifactorial analysis identified consuming raw fish (61.145; 22.263–167.93; 0.000) and CagA +  H. pylori infection (3.7; 1.233–11.103; 0.020) as independent risk factors for Clonorchiasis. The rate of CagA +  H. pylori infection is significantly higher in patients with Clonorchiasis than in healthy individuals. CagA +  H. pylori infection and a history of consuming raw fish are independent risk factors for current Clonorchiasis.

Background There is a high prevalence of anemia among people living with HIV in Guangxi, China. Therefore, we investigated anemia and opportunistic infections in hospitalized people living with HIV and explored the risk factors related to anemia in people living with HIV to actively prevent anemia in people living with HIV. Methods We retrospectively studied people living with HIV admitted to Guangxi Chest Hospital from June 2016 to October 2021. Detailed information on the sociodemographic and clinical features of the participants was collected. The X 2 test was used to compare the prevalence between the anemic and non-anemic groups. The logistic regression analysis was applied to exclude confounding factors and identify factors related to anemia. Results Among 5645 patients with HIV, 1525 (27.02%) had anemia. The overall prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe anemia was 4.66%, 14.08%, and 8.27%, respectively. The factors significantly related to increased risk of anemia were CD4 count < 50 cells/µl (aOR = 2.221, 95% CI = [1.775, 2.779]), CD4 count 50–199 cells/µl (aOR = 1.659, 95% CI = [1.327, 2. 073]), female (aOR = 1.644, 95% CI = [1.436, 1.881]) co-infected with HCV (aOR = 1.465, 95% CI = [1.071, 2.002]), PM (aOR = 2.356, 95% CI = [1.950, 2.849]), or TB (aOR = 1.198, 95% CI = [1.053, 1.365]). Conclusions Within Guangxi of China, 27.02% of hospitalized people living with HIV presented with anemia. Most patients with anemia were in the mild to moderate stage. The low CD4 count, female gender, and concomitant infection with Penicillium marneffei, Hepatitis C virus, or Tuberculosis were independent correlates of anemia. Thus, these findings would be helpful to clinicians in preventing and intervening in anemia in people living with HIV.

Objective This study aimed to construct a coronary heart disease (CHD) risk-prediction model in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) with the help of machine learning (ML) per electronic medical records (EMRs). Methods Sixty-one medical characteristics (including demography information, laboratory measurements, and complicating disease) readily available from EMRs were retained for clinical analysis. These characteristics further aided the development of prediction models by using seven ML algorithms [light gradient-boosting machine (LightGBM), support vector machine (SVM), eXtreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), adaptive boosting (AdaBoost), decision tree, multilayer perceptron (MLP), and logistic regression]. The performance of this model was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Shapley additive explanation (SHAP) was further applied to interpret the findings of the best-performing model. Results The LightGBM model exhibited the highest AUC (0.849; 95% CI, 0.814–0.883). Additionally, the SHAP plot per the LightGBM depicted that age, heart failure, hypertension, glucose, serum creatinine, indirect bilirubin, serum uric acid, and amylase can help identify PLHIV who were at a high or low risk of developing CHD. Conclusion This study developed a CHD risk prediction model for PLHIV utilizing ML techniques and EMR data. The LightGBM model exhibited improved comprehensive performance and thus had higher reliability in assessing the risk predictors of CHD. Hence, it can potentially facilitate the development of clinical management techniques for PLHIV care in the era of EMRs.

Background The incidence of an infection with Helicobacter pylori, or H. pylori rises with age, mostly affecting children.The infection rate of Helicobacter pylori increases with age, primarily affecting children. The rate of cases of disease of the hands, feet, and mouth (HFMD), an infectious illness that mostly affects newborns and young children and is ubiquitous throughout the Asia-Pacific area, declines with age. Asthma, shigellosis, TB, anaphylactic disease, and other diarrheal illnesses are all prevented by H. pylori. It also has a strong correlation with infectious disorders brought on by infection with pathogens including Orientia tsutsugamushi, HIV, HCV, and Brucella abortus. Nonetheless, the status of infection with H. pylori in individuals already infected with HFMD and the clinical implications of CagA + H. pylori strains remain unreported. Methods From October 2020 to October 2023, 130 children clinically diagnosed with HFMD enrolled in the observation group at the Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical College of Nationalities and the People’s Hospital of Beihai. With respect to gender, age, and location of residence, 150 chronologically matched healthy children made up the control group. Serum H. pylori antibodies in patients were measured, and the strain was identified through the Western blot technique. Results 1. The frequency of infections with H. pylori with the prevalence of CagA + strains were found to be 16.2% and 8.5%, respectively, in patients with HFMD. These figures are lower than the 29.3% and 18.0% that are seen in healthy children, respectively ( P -value < 0.05 for both). 2. The infection rate of the bacteria H. pylori and CagA + strains was found to be 18.5% and 9.3% in HFMD patients over 5 years of age, which is lower than the 41.5% and 26.2% observed in healthy children over 5 years, respectively ( P -value < 0.05). In contrast, the rate of H. pylori and CagA + strains in HFMD patients aged 5 years and below was comparable to that of healthy children in the same age group, with both results showing no statistically significant differences. 3. H. pylori and CagA + strain prevalence were similar in primary and subsequent HFMV infections, although neither was statistically significant. 4.The findings of the univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that vaccination against HFMD and infection with H. pylori CagA + were protective factors against HFMD (0.203; 0.069–0.593; 0.004). Conclusion When compared to children in good health, individuals with HFMD had much lower levels of Helicobacter pylori infection. Additionally, H. pylori that carries the CagA gene could be able to prevent the development of HFMD.

The infection of the central nervous system (CNS) in HIV-positive individuals is difficult to diagnose and treat, often requiring a combination of at least two drugs during the maintenance phase. In this article, we report a case of CNS infection in an AIDS patient diagnosed by cerebrospinal fluid targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS), which was ultimately treated successfully with sulfamethoxazole monotherapy due to adverse drug reactions. Additionally, we reviewed the relevant literature to explore individualized treatment options for CNS infections in patients with AIDS and to provide clinicians with evidence-based treatment recommendations.

The burden of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) has gradually increased in recent years, but not enough epidemiological data is available from central Guangxi. To better understand the epidemiology of EPTB in central Guangxi and identify risk factors associated with them, we retrospectively investigated the epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB), especially EPTB, among patients admitted to the Chest Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region between 2016 and 2021. We excluded those infected with both pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and EPTB, reported the proportion and incidence of PTB or EPTB, and compared the demographic characteristics and risk factors of EPTB and PTB cases using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. Among 30,893 TB patients, 67.25% (20,774) had PTB and 32.75% (10,119) had EPTB. Among EPTB, pleural, skeletal, lymphatic, pericardial, meningeal, genitourinary, intestinal, and peritoneal TB accounted for 49.44%, 27.20%, 8.55%, 4.39%, 3.36%, 1.48%, 0.87%, and 0.79%, respectively. Patients who were younger (age < 25), from rural areas, Zhuang and other ethnic groups, and diagnosed with anemia and HIV infection were more likely to develop EPTB. However, patients with diabetes and COPD were less likely to have EPTB. From 2016 to 2021, the proportion of PTB cases decreased from 69.73 to 64.07%. The percentage of EPTB cases increased from 30.27 to 35.93%, with the largest increase in skeletal TB from 21.48 to 34.13%. The epidemiology and risk factors of EPTB in central Guangxi are different from those of PTB. The incidence of EPTB is increasing and further studies are needed to determine the reasons for it.

Oxymatrine has potent anti-cancer activity, but its exact mechanism in liver cancer remains elusive. The present study was designated to explore oxymatrine's effect and the potential mechanism on Programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and ferroptosis in liver cancer. Oxymatrine's influence on PD-L1 expression and ferroptosis-related proteins in liver cancer cells was explored in vitro and in vivo utilizing Western blotting, qRT-PCR, immunofluorescence, ELISA, H&E staining, immunohistochemistry, as well as detection of Fe , ROS, and MDA. The in-vivo results showed that xenotransplanted tumor mice with drug interventions (oxymatrine, anti-PD-L1, and combination groups) exhibited inhibited tumor growth compared to control mice. Relative to anti-PD-L1 administration alone, the combined treatment inhibited tumor growth more significantly, along with reduced interferon-γ (IFN-γ) expression in peripheral blood and remarkably increased tumor immune lymphocyte (CD4 T and CD8 T) infiltration in cancer tissues. Meanwhile, PD-L1, xCT, and GPX4 protein levels in the combination group were significantly downregulated. According to the in vitro results, IFN-γ promoted PD-L1, xCT, and GPX4 protein levels in liver cancer cell lines. Oxymatrine reversed IFN-γ-induced upregulation of PD-L1 expression; moreover, it downregulated xCT and GPX4 protein levels in liver cancer cells and promoted intracellular Fe , ROS, and MDA levels. Oxymatrine promotes tumor immune response and ferroptosis in liver cancer by downregulating IFN-γ and synergistically enhances the inhibitory effect of anti-PD-L1 on liver cancer.

Angiogenesis is crucial for tumor development, growth and metastasis. Vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） has been implicated in promoting solid tumor growth and metastasis via stimulating tumor-associated angiogenesis, and blocking the activity of VEGF can starve tumors. Avastin, which is a humanized anti-VEGF antibody, has been successfully applied in clinics since 2004. However, the price of Avastin is extremely high for Chinese people. Here, we report a novel human anti-VEGF neutralizing antibody, MIL60, which shows an affinity comparable to that of Avastin （the KD value of MIL60 was 44.5 pM, while that of Avastin was 42.7 pM）. MIL60 displays favorable actions in inhibiting VEGF-triggered endothelial cell proliferation （the IC5o value of M IL60 was 31-6.4 ng/ml and that of Avastin was 47--.8.1 ng/ml）, migration （8 pg/ml or 0.8 pg/ml MIL60 versusthe control： P〈O.05） and tube formation （2 I~g/ml or 0.2 lzg/ml MIL60 versusthe control： P〈O.05） viathe VEGFR2 signaling pathway. Moreover, MIL60 was shown to inhibit tumor growth and angiogenesis in vivo in xenograft models of human colon carcinoma and ovarian cancer using immunotherapy and immunohistochemistry analysis （MIL60 versus N.S.： P=0.0007; Avastin versus N.S.： P=0.00046）. These data suggest that MIL60 is a potential therapeutic, anti-angiogenic agent. Our work provides a novel anti-VEGF antibody, which can be considered an anti-tumor antibody candidate and a new option for patients with various cancers.

TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand （TRAIL） is a TNF family member capable of inducing apoptosis. Death receptor 5 （DR 5） is a key receptor of TRAIL and plays an important role in TRAIL-induced apoptosis. To prepare monoclonal antibodies （mAbs） against DR5, cDNA encoding soluble DR5 （sDR5） was firstly amplified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） with specific primers, and then inserted into a prokaryotic expression vector pET-30a. The recombinant plasmid was expressed in Escherichia coli strain BL21 （DE3）, and sDR5 was purified by nickel affinity chromatography. As an antigen, sDR5 was used to immunize mice. Hybridomas secreting antibodies against sDR5 were identified. One positive done was selected to produce antibody, WD1. ELISA and immunofluorescence demonstrated that WD1 could bind recombinant sDR5 and membranebound DR5 （mDR5） on Jurkat and Molt-4 cells. ATPLite assays showed that Jurkat and Molt-4 cells were sensitive to the antibody in a dose dependent manner. The Annexin V/PI assays and Giemsa＇s staining both showed that WD1 could induce Jurkat cell apoptosis efficiently. Transient transfection of 293T cells and indirect immunofluorescence assay demonstrated that mAb （WD1） couldn＇t cross-react with DR4. Our findings indicated that the novel antibody, WD1 could act as a direct agonist, bind DR5 characteristically, and initiate efficient apoptotic signaling and tumor regression. Thus, WD1 would be a leading candidate for potential cancer therapeutics. Cellular ＆ Molecular Immunology.