Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection causes Hepatitis B, which is one of the most common causes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the host immune genes could impact HBV infection, viral clearance, and treatment effect. However, the contradictory roles of several studies suggest further analysis of various populations. The whole blood and biochemical indexes of 448 HBV patients and matched controls were collected from the Yunnan population to investigate the genetic roles of IFNL4 and the downstream genes (MxA and MxB). The genotypes, alleles, and haplotypes frequencies of the seven SNPs (rs11322783, rs117648444, rs2071430, rs17000900, rs9982944, rs408825, and rs2838029) from the HBV patients and controls were analyzed. However, no association was identified between the SNPs and HBV infection. Then, biochemical index levels were evaluated among the HBV patients with different genotypes of the seven SNPs. The results indicated that the liver function index levels (including alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), total bilirubin (TBIL), direct bilirubin (DBIL), indirect bilirubin (IBIL), and albumin (ALB)) were influenced by the genotypes of the SNPs in HBV patients. Moreover, when the HBV patients were divided into HBsAg-positive and -negative groups, the association between the SNP genotypes and the biochemical indexes still existed. In addition, although the genetic polymorphisms in the IFNL4, MxA, and MxB genes were not significantly associated with HBV infection in the Yunnan population, these genes could indirectly influence disease progression by associating with the biochemical index levels of Yunnan HBV patients.

A rapid and accurate diagnosis increases the treatment effect and decreases the mortality of tuberculosis (TB) patients. The purpose of this study was to establish an accurate, unique, and rapid molecular diagnostic technique to screen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) from clinical sputum. A unique gene in MTB strains called conserved protein TB18.5 (TB18.5) was selected by bioinformatics analysis. Two pairs of primers were designed to amplify TB18.5 using the nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or quantitative real‐time PCR. Nine pathogens and the MTB strain were used to determine the specificity of the TB18.5 gene. The sensitivity assay was performed after optimizing the PCR conditions. The correct fragment was amplified when a 10 copy number template was used. A total of 232 sputum samples were collected from TB patients (from 2019 to 2020) to evaluate the accuracy of the molecular method in this study. MTB was first detected using the BACTEC MGIT‐960 culture test and the Gene Xpert MTB/RIF assay. Totals of 195 (84.05%), 182 (78.45%), and 162 (69.83%) sputum samples were determined to be infected with MTB using nested PCR, the Gene Xpert MTB/RIF assay, and the BACTEC MGIT‐960 culture test, respectively. In summary, a rapid, unique, and sensitive molecular method was established to diagnose TB infection in clinical sputum samples.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection was one of the main causes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although direct antiviral drugs (DAA) were widely used to cure HCV patients and the recovery rate could reach 90%, avoiding HCV infection was still a challenge due to insufficiency of vaccine and animal model, anti-HCV drug resistance and incomplete diagnosis. Approximately 170 million persons were infected with HCV, 1 and 75% of them progressed to chronic HCV infection. 2 However, infectious progress of HCV patients and the production of HCC caused by HCV infection were not unclear. Thus, HCV infection and its pathogenesis needed to further study. Lipid metabolism participated in HCV infection and proliferation, and the hepatitis lipid pathway was suggested as a potential treatment target for HCV patients. 3 Moreover, HCV could remodel host lipid metabolism and increase itself replication. 4 The main function of microRNAs was to regulate the posttranscriptional level of its target message RNA (mRNA) by banding to mRNA 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR). 5 MicroRNAs played critical roles in many signalling pathways, including lipid synthesis, immune system and neoplasia. microRNA-206 (miR-206) was firstly considered as muscle-specific microRNA, but researchers suggested that further comprehensive resource for miR-206 could be studied. 6 Then, Williams et al. identified that deficiency of miR-206 in