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Purpose: This study aims to assess the testing methods used to detect fungal pathogens as well as the pathogenic profiles and drug susceptibility among fungal isolates from ocular sources collected in a tertiary eye hospital. Methods: The laboratory test records of patients with suspected ocular fungal infection from January 2010 to December 2019 at a tertiary eye care center in southern China were retrospectively evaluated. The isolated pathogens identified by smear examination and culture combined with microscopy were analyzed. For 2017-2019 fungal isolates, their antifungal susceptibilities to four antifungal agents were evaluated. Results: A total of 22,233 specimens (16,315 for culture and 5918 for direct smear examination) from 16,209 individuals were assessed, and 3317 specimens (2169 for culture and 1148 for smear examination) from 2395 patients had confirmed fungal infection. The mean age of patients was 50.6±14.2 years and 63.4% were male. The positive rate of smear examination was 19.4% and significantly higher than 13.3% of fungal culture (p< 0.001). Of 5812 patients who were simultaneously examined for culture and smear staining, 897 (15.43%) had positive findings for fungi. Among the 2420 positive findings, 2138 (88.3%) were from the cornea, and 133 (5.5%) were from intraocular samples. Fusarium spp. (40.5%) and Aspergillus spp. (22.0%) were the major fungal genera among the molds, whereas Candida spp. (4.6%) constituted the major yeast. Fusarium spp. had a lower antifungal susceptibility than Aspergillus spp. against voriconazole and amphotericin. And yeast spp. had the highest susceptibility to caspofungin. Conclusion: This study provided a 10-year assessment of fungi in ocular infections in southern China, giving support to epidemiological understanding and guiding empiric antimicrobial therapy.
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AIM: To investigate the effect of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aures) lysates (SALs) on herpes simplex virus type-I (HSV1) infection in human corneal epithelial (HCE) cells and in a mouse model of HSV1 keratitis. METHODS: HCE, Vero, HeLa, and BV2 cells were infected with HSV1 [HSV1 f strain, HSV1f; HSV-1-H129 with green fluorescent protein (GFP) knock-in, HSV1g]. Pre- or post-infection, SAL at various concentrations was added to the culture medium for 24h. GFP fluorescence in HSV1g or plaque formation by HSV1f were examined. The effects of heat-treated SAL, precooled acetone-precipitated SAL, and SAL subjected to ultrafiltration (100 kDa) were evaluated. The effects of other bacterial components and lysates on HSV1 infection were also tested, including lipoteichoic acid (LTA), peptidoglycan (PGN), staphylococcal protein A (SPA), and α-hemolysin from S. aureus (α-toxin) as well as lysates from a wild-type S. aureus strain, S. epidermidis, and Escherichia coli (W-SAL, SEL, and ECL, respectively). In addition, SAL eye drops were applied topically to BALB/c mice with HSV1 keratitis, followed by in vivo observations. RESULTS: The cytopathic effect, plaque formation (HSV1f), and GFP expression (HSV1g) in infected cells were inhibited by SAL in a dose-dependent manner. The active component of SAL (≥100 kDa) was heat-sensitive and retained activity after acetone precipitation. In HSV1g-infected cells, treatment with LTA-sa, α-toxin, PGN-sa, or SPA did not inhibit GFP expression. SAL, W-SAL, and SEL (but not ECL) decreased GFP expression. In mice with HSV1 keratitis, SAL reduced corneal lesions by 71%. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrate that SAL can be used to inhibit HSV1 infection, particularly keratitis. Further studies are needed to determine the active components and mechanism underlying the effects of SAL.
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OBJECTIVE: To study the feasibility of monoamine neurotransmitters, serum glucose, serum glycerinate and cholesterol as objective indices for evaluating occupational stress. METHODS: Job stressors, modifiers, job strains in 844 people with four kinds of occupation were investigated, and the concentration of monoamine neurotransmitters, glucose, glycerinate and cholesterol in blood were detected at the same time. The methods of multiple stepwise regression and covariance analysis were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: There was close relationship between monoamine neurotransmitters and job stressors, the forecast of the equation of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) was 0.7238, 0.5703, 0.4438 respectively, the critical values of them were 804.00, 226.00 and 275.00 ng/ml respectively. There was a little contribution of job stressors to the equation of glucose, glycerinate and cholesterol, the critical values were 6.40, 2.51 and 5.92 mmol/L respectively. CONCLUSION: Monoamine neurotransmitters may be a direct objective evaluating indices. Sugar, glycerinate and cholesterol may be an indirect objective indices.