Sepsis represents a major cause of death in intensive care units. Here we show that administration of lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), an endogenous lysophospholipid, protected mice against lethality after cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) or intraperitoneal injection of Escherichia coli. In vivo treatment with LPC markedly enhanced clearance of intraperitoneal bacteria and blocked CLP-induced deactivation of neutrophils. In vitro, LPC increased bactericidal activity of neutrophils, but not macrophages, by enhancing H(2)O(2) production in neutrophils that ingested E. coli. Incubation with an antibody to the LPC receptor, G2A, inhibited LPC-induced protection from CLP lethality and inhibited the effects of LPC in neutrophils. G2A-specific antibody also blocked the inhibitory effects of LPC on certain actions of lipopolysaccharides (LPS), including lethality and the release of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) from neutrophils. These results suggest that LPC can effectively prevent and treat sepsis and microbial infections.

Objectives The aim was to determine whether various clinical specimens obtained from COVID-19 patients contain the infectious virus. Methods To demonstrate whether various clinical specimens contain the viable virus, we collected naso/oropharyngeal swabs and saliva, urine and stool samples from five COVID-19 patients and performed a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to assess viral load. Specimens positive with qPCR were subjected to virus isolation in Vero cells. We also used urine and stool samples to intranasally inoculate ferrets and evaluated the virus titres in nasal washes on 2, 4, 6 and 8 days post infection. Results SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in all naso/oropharyngeal swabs and saliva, urine and stool samples collected between days 8 and 30 of the clinical course. Notably, viral loads in urine, saliva and stool samples were almost equal to or higher than those in naso/oropharyngeal swabs (urine 1.08 ± 0.16–2.09 ± 0.85 log 10 copies/mL, saliva 1.07 ± 0.34–1.65 ± 0.46 log 10 copies/mL, stool 1.17 ± 0.32 log 10 copies/mL, naso/oropharyngeal swabs 1.18 ± 0.12–1.34 ± 0.30 log 10 copies/mL). Further, viable SARS-CoV-2 was isolated from naso/oropharyngeal swabs and saliva of COVID-19 patients, as well as nasal washes of ferrets inoculated with patient urine or stool. Discussion Viable SARS-CoV-2 was demonstrated in saliva, urine and stool samples from COVID-19 patients up to days 11–15 of the clinical course. This result suggests that viable SARS-CoV-2 can be secreted in various clinical samples and respiratory specimens.

Elements and quantification: A nucleic acid assay has been developed, based on an elemental labeling strategy using magnetic microparticles (MMPs), which provides quantification of multiple DNA targets. Rare‐earth elements, indium, and stable isotopes could be labeled with oligonucleotides serving as DNA probes. Quantitative analysis was then carried out using the designed systems (see picture) and elemental mass spectrometry.

The loss of tumour suppressor genes (TSGs) is a key event in many human cancers, including gastric carcinoma. Many TSG candidates have been studied, but their roles in gastric carcinogenesis remain unclear. To clarify the clinical significance of TSG expression in gastric carcinoma, the expression of various TSG candidates (p53, E-cadherin, FHIT, smad4, rb, VHL, PTEN, MGMT, p16, and KAI1), as well as other proteins (bcl-2, MUC1, MUC2, MUC5AC, MUC6, CEA, CD44, beta-catenin, C-erbB2, and cyclin B2), was evaluated immunohistochemically in 329 consecutive gastric carcinomas using the tissue array method. The overexpression of p53 and MUC1 (p < 0.01) and the loss of expression of smad4 (p = 0.04), FHIT (p = 0.03), MGMT (p = 0.01), E-cadherin, KAI1, and PTEN (p < 0.01) were found to be significantly associated with poor gastric carcinoma prognosis. Seven out of eight survival-associated proteins were found to be protein products of TSGs. The gastric carcinomas were divided into five groups according to the grade of alteration in TSG expression. No TSG expression loss was found in 32 cases (TSG1). One TSG loss was found in 47 cases (TSG2), two in 67 cases (TSG3), three or four in 64 cases (TSG4), and five, six, or seven in 38 cases (TSG5). The grade of TSG expression was confirmed to be significantly associated with WHO classification (p = 0.04), pTNM stage, lymphatic invasion, and patient survival (p < 0.01 for the latter three). By multivariate analysis, the grade of TSG expression was found to be significantly and independently associated with patient survival (p < 0.01). In conclusion, the findings of this study suggest that the cumulative loss of TSG expression in gastric carcinoma is important in determining patient survival.

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