China’s population accounts for about 1/5th of the world’s total population. Owing to differences in environment, race, living habits, and other factors, the structure of the intestinal flora of Chinese individuals is expected to have unique features; however, this has not been thoroughly examined. Here, we collected faecal samples from healthy adults living in three cities of China and investigated their gut microbiome using metagenomics and bioinformatics technology. We found that 11 core bacterial genera were present in all of the Chinese faecal samples; moreover, several patient characteristics (age, region, body mass index, physical exercise, smoking habits, and alcoholic drink, and yogurt consumption) were found to have different effects on the gut microbiome of healthy Chinese people. We also examined the distribution patterns of disease-related microorganisms (DRMs), revealing which DRMs can potentially be used as markers for assessment of health risk. We also developed a program called “Guthealthy” for evaluating the health status associated with the microbiome and DRM pattern in the faecal samples. The microbiota data obtained in this study will provide a basis for a healthy gut microbiome composition in the Chinese population.

BackgroundPrimary intraosseous cavernous hemangioma is a rare bony tumor. To date, only 9 cases of multiple lesions and 2 cases with a dural tail sign have been reported.Case presentationHere, we present a case of multiple cavernous hemangiomas of the skull with dural tail sign in a 24-year-old man. No abnormalities were observed in the right orbit by craniography, but frontal bone destruction was unintentionally discovered. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated multiple intraosseous lesions that destroyed the surrounding bone and intracranial extension. Total resection of the two lesions and cranioplasty were performed. Histological examination confirmed the lesions as a cavernous hemangioma.ConclusionCavernous hemangioma is a rare bony tumor that should be considered in the differential diagnosis of skull tumors. Resection of all lesions should be performed on patients with multiple cavernous hemangiomas, and these patients should have regular follow-up examinations. Based on this case, and our literature review, we found that outcomes are usually very good.

The present study aimed to evaluate the utility of high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the characterization of atherosclerotic plaques in patients with acute and non-acute cerebral infarction. High-resolution MRI of unilateral stenotic middle cerebral arteries was performed to evaluate the degree of stenosis, the wall and plaque areas, plaque enhancement patterns and lumen remodeling features in 15 and 17 patients with acute and non-acute cerebral infarction, respectively. No significant difference was identified in the vascular stenosis rate between acute and non-acute patients. Overall, plaque eccentricity was observed in 29 patients, including 13 acute and 16 non-acute cases, with no significant difference identified between these groups. The wall area of stenotic arteries and the number of cases with plaque enhancement were significantly greater in the acute patients, but no significant difference in plaque or lumen area was identified between the 2 patient groups. Lumen remodeling patterns of stenotic arteries significantly differed between the acute and non-acute patients; the former predominantly demonstrated positive remodeling, and the latter group demonstrated evidence of negative remodeling. In conclusion, patients with acute and non-acute cerebral infarction exhibit specific characteristics in stenotic arteries and plaques, which can be effectively evaluated by high-resolution MRI.

A gastric juice-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was established to identify Helicobacter pylori infection, clarithromycin susceptibility and human CYP2C19 genotypes and to guide the choice of proton pump inhibitor (PPI), clarithromycin and amoxicillin treatment for tailored H. pylori eradication therapy. From January 2013 to November 2014, 178 consecutive dyspeptic patients were enrolled for collection of gastric biopsy samples and gastric juice by endoscopy at the Peking University Third Hospital; 105 and 73 H. pylori-positive and -negative patients, respectively, were included in this study. H. pylori infection was defined as samples with both a strongly positive rapid urease test (RUT) and positive H. pylori histology. A series of primers and probes were distributed into four reactions for identifying the H. pylori cagH gene coupled with an internal control (Rnase P gene), A2142G and A2143G mutants of the H. pylori 23S rRNA gene, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) G681A of CYP2C19*2 and G636A of CYP2C19*3. The E-test and DNA sequencing were used to evaluate the H. pylori clarithromycin susceptibility phenotype and genotype. The SNPs CYP2C19*2 and CYP2C19*3 were also evaluated by nucleotide sequencing. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of this gastric juice-based real-time PCR assay were evaluated by comparing with the same measures obtained through gastric biopsy-based PCR and culture. The H. pylori diagnostic sensitivities of the culture, PCR, and gastric biopsy- and gastric juice-based real-time PCR assays were 90.48% (95/105), 92.38% (97/105), 97.14% (102/105) and 100% (105/105), respectively; the specificities of the above methods were all 100%. Higher false-negative rates were found among the gastric biopsy samples assessed by culture (10.48%, 11/105), PCR (7.62%, 8/105) and real-time PCR (2.86%, 3/105) than in gastric juice by real-time PCR. Regarding clarithromycin susceptibility, a concordance of 82.98% (78/94) and discordance of 17.02% (16/94) were observed among the different methods, discrepancies that mainly represent differences between the H. pylori clarithromycin susceptibility phenotype and genotype. Three coinfections of susceptible and resistant strains were detected, with resistant-to-susceptible ratios of 1.16, 3.44, and 8.26. The CYP2C19 genotyping results from gastric juice by real-time PCR were completely in accordance with those obtained from biopsy samples by conventional PCR. This gastric juice-based real-time PCR assay is a more accurate method for detecting H. pylori infection, clarithromycin susceptibility and CYP2C19 polymorphisms. The method may be employed to inform the choice of proton pump inhibitor (PPI), clarithromycin and amoxicillin treatment for tailored H. pylori eradication therapy.

To explore the effects of gastric non-H. pylori Helicobacter species(NHPH) on the structure and potential function of gastric microbiota, we employed 16S rRNA gene sequencing on 164 gastric biopsy specimens from NHPH (H. suis, H. felis, H. salomonis) /H. pylori coinfection individuals, H. pylori monoinfection individuals and healthy controls. The results demonstrated that marked structural and functional variations between H. pylori mono- and coinfection samples (HPHS, HPHF, HPHM). The changes in bacterial structure induced by NHPH are mainly attributed to their ability of gastric acid secretion inhibition as well as bacterial chemotaxis. Both the HPHS and HPHF groups showed significant increases in phylotype richness and significant decreases in β diversity, but this trend was not found in HPHM group. Regarding the top five phyla and top thirty-five genera, the HPHS and HPHF groups had similar variation trends in relative abundance. The increased relative abundance levels of the genera Vibrio, Pseudoalteromonas, Photobacterium, and Clostridium were associated with increases in predicted signal transduction/metabolic pathways among the three coinfection groups. The relative abundance levels of bacteria involved in the formation of N-nitroso compounds were significantly decreased in the HPHS and HPHF groups (e.g., Streptococcus, Neisseria, Haemophilus, Veillonella, Clostridium, etc.). The significantly decreased relative abundance levels of the phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes in the HPHS and HPHF groups were associated with the observed increases in predicted lipid metabolism pathways. The results in this study implied that NHPH can arouse the variation of structure and function of gastric microbiota, which may pave the way to further research on the pathogenesis of gastric diseases.