An Improved liquid Culture System for Efficient Shoot Multiplication in Aerva lanata (L.) Juss. Ex Schult.

An improved in vitro mass propagation protocol was developed for Aerva lanata using MS liquid medium. The influence of MS medium (solid and liquid) with cytokinin (TDZ and BAP, respectively) were studied for shoot proliferation and growth. The liquid medium perfomed better than solid medium in shoot multiplication. The maximum shoot multiplication rate was (29.37 ± 0.64 shoots per explant), obtained in MS liquid medium which is containing 0.6 mg/l TDZ, 0.3 mg/l NAA and 0.2 mg/l IBA. Different volumes of liquid medium have been used, 30 ml of medium flask showed the maximum number of shoots. Liquid medium is better suited for in vitro propagation of A. lanata since the enhanced multiplication rate was observed with shorter subculture intervals. Plant Tissue Cult. & Biotech. 31(1): 35-42, 2021 (June)

Performance of Xpert® MTB/RIF in diagnosing tuberculous pleuritis using thoracoscopic pleural biopsy

Background Etiological diagnosis of tuberculous pleuritis is challenging, owing to a paucity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in the affected region. Moreover, currently available methods, such as the detection of acid-fast bacilli and microbiological culture, are not always conducive to timely diagnosis and treatment. In this study, we evaluated the performance of Xpert® MTB/RIF assay (hereinafter referred to as “Xpert”) in detecting MTB in difficult-to-diagnose patients using suspensions of pleural biopsy tissue specimens obtained under direct thoracoscopic guidance. Methods One hundred and sixty patients with an unexplained pleural effusion were included from the Shenyang Tenth People’s Hospital and Shenyang Chest Hospital, China, between 2017 and 2018. The included patients underwent thoracoscopy under local anesthesia, with an intercostal incision of approximately 1.0 cm for biopsy. The biopsy specimens were used for pathological and etiological examinations. The Xpert test was evaluated for its sensitivity and specificity, as well as positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV, respectively), against data obtained using standards: the BACTEC™ MGIT™ 960 liquid culture system and a composite reference standard (CRS). Results The sensitivity and specificity of Xpert were 68.8 and 64.6%, respectively, against the MGIT 960 culture data. The PPV and NPV of Xpert were 56.4 and 75.6%, respectively. The sensitivity of Xpert was 69.0% against the CRS data, which was significantly higher than that of MGIT 960 culture (56.6%). The PPV and NPV of Xpert against the CRS data were 100.0 and 57.3%, respectively. Conclusions Xpert is a good rule-in test but has limited value as a rule-out test for the diagnosis of tuberculosis pleuritis.

Performance of Xpert® MTB/RIF in diagnosing tuberculous pleuritis using thoracoscopic pleural biopsy

Background: Etiological diagnosis of tuberculous pleuritis is challenging, owing to a paucity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in the affected region. Moreover, currently available methods, such as the detection of acid-fast bacilli and microbiological culture, are not always conducive to timely diagnosis and treatment. In this study, we evaluated the performance of Xpert® MTB/RIF assay (hereinafter referred to as “Xpert”) in detecting MTB in difficult-to-diagnose patients using suspensions of pleural biopsy tissue specimens obtained under direct thoracoscopic guidance.Methods: One hundred and sixty patients with an unexplained pleural effusion were included from the Shenyang Tenth People’s Hospital and Shenyang Chest Hospital, China, between 2017 and 2018. The included patients underwent thoracoscopy under local anesthesia, with an intercostal incision of approximately 1.0 cm for biopsy. The biopsy specimens were used for pathological and etiological examinations. The Xpert test was evaluated for its sensitivity and specificity, as well as positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV, respectively), against data obtained using standards: the BACTEC™ MGIT™ 960 liquid culture system and a composite reference standard (CRS).Results: The sensitivity and specificity of Xpert were 68.8% and 64.6%, respectively, against the MGIT 960 culture data. The PPV and NPV of Xpert were 56.4% and 75.6%, respectively. The sensitivity of Xpert was 69.0% against the CRS data, which was significantly higher than that of MGIT 960 culture (56.6%). The PPV and NPV of Xpert against the CRS data were 100.0% and 57.3%, respectively.Conclusions: Xpert is a good rule-in test but has limited value as a rule-out test for the diagnosis of tuberculosis pleuritis.

Novel culture method to diagnose fungal infections with biopsy tissues

Biopsy tissue is a difficult sample to gain for the identification of potential pathogen in the clinical laboratory. At present, there are no effective culture methods for small-sized biopsy tissue. In this study, we propose a novel tissue biopsy culture method based on Myco/F lytic liquid culture system, namely, tissue was grinded before injected into culture bottles. More types and numbers of fungi are cultivated using this culture system than sputum or BALF culture. A few of mycobacteria were also detected with ground tissues. The method may be a promising alternative to or supplement for the traditional plate culture in clinical practice.