In this study, the sterilizing effect of atmospheric pressure nonequilibrium plasmas （APNPs） on Neisseria gonorrhoeae （N. gonorrhoeae） was preliminarily examined and the possible mechanisms were explored. N. gonorrhoeae FA1090, FA19 and MSll were treated by APNPs and their survival rate was analyzed by using CFUs counting and structurally studied by laser scanning confocal microscopy. The morphological changes of bacterial cell membrane and wall were studied under TEM. Our results showed that APNPs had strong sterilizing effect on N. gonorrhoeae. The survival rate of MS11 in N. gonorrhoeae liquid medium was 60.65% after disinfection with the APNPs for 5 rain, whereas, the survival rate of FA19 was 92.60% and the rate of FA1090 was 96.40%. The survival rate of MS 11 was 21.13% after exposure to APNPs for 6 rain, whereas the survival rate of FA19 was 31.60% and the rate of FA1090 was 91.00%. N. gonorrhoeae was structurally damaged after treatment with APNPs. It is concluded that APNPs is able to effectively and quickly kill the N. gonorrhoeae, and the killing effect is related to the architectural damage of cell membrane.
To identify the genomic species of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, evaluate the difference between two molecular epidemiological methods and examine the relationship between sex partners and genotypes of bacteria, 24 strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated from the outpatients with gonorrhea were identified by using the Opa genotyping and NG-MAST genotyping and the relationship between genotypes and phenotypes was studied. Twenty-four strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae fell into 10 ST genotypes by NG-MAST genotyping, whereas these strains were classified into 12 OT Opa genotypes by Opa genotyping. A new epidemic strain of ST genotype （217-86% homologisation 178） in China was identified. It is concluded that genotypes of each pair of strains from a pair of patient/sex partner besides 45/46 are the same, indicating that contagious infection take place between patient and the sex partner. Opa genotyping was more effective than NG-MAST genotyping in identifying the genomic species of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. ST genotype could be further classified into different Opa-types.
The present study evaluated the effect of non-thermal plasma on skin wound healing in BalB/c mice.Two 6-mm wounds along the both sides of the spine were created on the back of each mouse（n=80） by using a punch biopsy.The mice were assigned randomly into two groups,with 40 animals in each group：a non-thermal plasma group in which the mice were treated with the non-thermal plasma;a control group in which the mice were left to heal naturally.Wound healing was evaluated on postoperative days（POD） 4,7,10 and 14（n=5 per group in each POD） by percentage of wound closure.The mice was euthanized on POD 1,4,7,10,14,21,28 and 35（n=1 in each POD）.The wounds were removed,routinely fixed,paraffin-embedded,sectioned and HE-stained.A modified scoring system was used to evaluate the wounds.The results showed that acute inflammation peaked on POD 4 in non-thermal plasma group,earlier than in control group in which acute inflammation reached a peak on POD 7,and the acute inflammation scores were much lower in non-thermal group than in control group on POD 7（P0.05）.The amount of granular tissue was greater on POD 4 and 7 in non-thermal group than in control group（P0.05）.The re-epithelialization score and the neovasularization score were increased significantly in non-thermal group when compared with control group on POD 7 and 10（P0.05 for all）.The count of bacterial colonies was 103 CFU/mL on POD 4 and 20 CFU/mL on POD 7,significantly lower than that in control group（109 CFU/mL on POD 4 and 1012 CFU/mL on the POD 7）（P0.05）.It was suggested that the non-thermal plasma facilitates the wound healing by suppressing bacterial colo-nization.
