[Prevalence of HIV infection and syphilis, sexual behaviors and awareness of HIV/AIDS related knowledge among men who have sex with men in China: a Meta-analysis of data collected from 2010 to 2013]

OBJECTIVE

To understand the time and area specific prevalence of HIV infection and syphilis, sexual behaviors and awareness of HIV/AIDS related knowledge among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the mainland of China during 2010-2013.

METHODS

All the published academic papers on the prevalence of HIV infection and syphilis among MSM in the mainland of China from 2010 to 2013 were collected from CNKI, Wanfang and PubMed databases. Meta-analysis was performed by using software Stata 12.0.

RESULTS

Sixty six papers were selected. From 2010 to 2013 the pooled prevalence of HIV infection were 7.7% among the MSM (95% CI: 7.2%-8.3% ) and increased year by year, but the pooled prevalence of HIV infection was highest in southwestern China (12.0%). The pooled prevalence of syphilis were 10.9% among the MSM (95% CI: 9.8%-12.1%), and the pooled prevalence of syphilis was highest in southern China (14.4%). The incidence of anal sex was high (84.2%) in the past 6 months, but the consistent condom use rate was low (44.8%). The AIDS related knowledge awareness was high in the MSM (88.4%).

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of HIV infection and syphilis were high among the MSM in the mainland of China during 2010-2013. It is necessary to explore the comprehensive intervention measures to promote condom use among MSM although they have high awareness of AIDS related knowledge.

Commercially available immunoglobulins contain virus neutralizing antibodies against all major genotypes of polyomavirus BK

Neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) form the basis of immunotherapeutic strategies against many important human viral infections. Accordingly, we studied the prevalence, titer, genotype-specificity, and mechanism of action of anti-polyomavirus BK (BKV) NAbs in commercially available human immune globulin (IG) preparations designed for intravenous (IV) use. Pseudovirions (PsV) of genotypes Ia, Ib2, Ic, II, III, and IV were generated by co-transfecting a reporter plasmid encoding luciferase and expression plasmids containing synthetic codon-modified VP1, VP2, and VP3 capsid protein genes into 293TT cells. NAbs were measured using luminometry. All IG preparations neutralized all BKV genotypes, with mean EC50 titers as high as 254 899 for genotype Ia and 6,666 for genotype IV. Neutralizing titers against genotypes II and III were higher than expected, adding to growing evidence that infections with these genotypes are more common than currently appreciated. Batch to batch variation in different lots of IG was within the limits of experimental error. Antibody mediated virus neutralizing was dose dependent, modestly enhanced by complement, genotype-specific, and achieved without effect on viral aggregation, capsid morphology, elution, or host cell release. IG contains potent NAbs capable of neutralizing all major BKV genotypes. Clinical trials based on sound pharmacokinetic principles are needed to explore prophylactic and therapeutic applications of these anti-viral effects, until effective small molecule inhibitors of BKV replication can be developed.

[Characteristics and sources apportionment of OC and EC in PM1.1 from Nanjing]

The concentrations of OC and EC in PM1.1 collected from Nanshi (NS) and Nanhua (NH) in 2011 were analyzed using DRI Model 2001A Thermal Optical Carbon Analyzer. In addition, source apportionment was simultaneously evaluated. The results showed that the annual average concentrations of OC and EC in PM1.1 were 10. 10 μg x m(-3) and 2.52 μg x m(-3) in NS area, and 11.22 μg x m(-3) and 3.12 μg x m(-3) in NH area, respectively. This result indicated that OC and EC pollution in NH was more serious than that in NS area. Meanwhile, the concentrations of OC and EC in winter and spring were obviously higher compared to those in summer in these two sampling sites, which was mainly ascribed to the increased coal combustion and the unfavorable emission condition of air pollutants in summer and spring. We noted that the SOC/TOC value was the highest in summer and the lowest in winter. In addition, the SOC concentration was observed to show a positive correlation with ozone concentrations, which indicated that the photochemical reaction was a main way of SOC formation in autumn.

Component-Resolved Diagnostic Study of Dermatophagoides Pteronyssinus Major Allergen Molecules in a Southern Chinese Cohort

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Little is known about component-resolved diagnosis (CRD) for Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Der p) sensitization in the Chinese population. We aimed to evaluate sensitization to Der p components in southern China.

METHODS

Two-hundred immunotherapy-naïve patients with asthma and/or rhinitis positive to specific IgE (sIgE) against Der p extract, along with 20 Der p-negative nonallergic healthy controls, were tested for sIgE against Der p 1, Der p 2, and Der p 10 using ImmunoCAP 100. Seventy-five were further examined with the ImmunoCAP Immuno Solid-phase Allergen Chip (ISAC). Der p 10-positive patients were also tested for sIgE against crude extracts of cockroach, moth, and shrimp.

RESULTS

In total, 183 (91.5%) of the 200 patients were sensitized to Der p 1 and/or Der p 2. The proportion of positive results and the median level of s1gE against Der p 1 were higher in children than in adults. Der p 1 and Der p 2 correlated with Der p in sIgE levels. ImmunoCAP ISAC demonstrated 100% specificity and 84% sensitivity in detecting Der p 1, Der p 2, and Der p 10 compared with ImmunoCAP 100. Sensitization to Der p 10 correlated well with sIgE to shrimp, moths, cockroaches, Pen m 1, Bla g 7, and Ani s 3.

CONCLUSIONS

The detection of Der p 1 and Der p 2 provided a good reflection of atopy to Der p in a Chinese cohort. Sensitization to Der p 10 may result from cross-reactivity with seafood and cockroaches in coastal southern China. ImmunoCAP ISAC may be a useful tool for CRD, with comparable performance to ImmunoCAP 100.

Hypoxia-induced cell stemness leads to drug resistance and poor prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND

Since cancer stem cells exhibit embryonic-like self-renewal characteristics and malignant behavior, including drug resistance and metastasis, they may be the origin of tumorigenesis and cancer recurrence. Cancer cell stemness is also highly relevant to cancer in hypoxic environments.

METHODS

In our study, we used cobalt dichloride (CoCl2) to create a hypoxic environment for lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells and the cisplatine-resistant cell line A549/DDP. The cancer stem-like CD166 positive population and the cells' stemness were detected by flowcytometry and quantitative real-time PCR after separation using magnetic antibodies. Drug resistance to cisplatine, docetaxel and pemetrexed was also measured. Finally, a tissue array was used to analyze the relationship between hypoxia-induced stemness and overall survival after radical surgery.

RESULTS

Data showed that chemical-induced hypoxia changed cell stemness by enhancing stem cell transcription factors and markers of chemotherapeutic drug resistance. The CD166-positive cancer stem cell-like population showed greater drug resistance than the CD166-negative cells. Tissue array studies also suggested a poorer prognosis for patients whose tissue expressed higher CD166 levels.

CONCLUSION

Our findings indicate that chemical hypoxia may augment cancer cell stemness and drug resistance in CD166-positive stem cells. Therefore, targeting the stem-like cell population, especially CD166-positive cells, may represent a novel therapeutic strategy to treat lung cancer.

Abstract 2819: Efficacy and safety of the Ad-GM·CAIX dendritic cell-based vaccine in treating in vivo metastatic renal cell carcinoma compared to sunitinib monotherapy and simultaneous vaccine-sunitinib combination therapy

Metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) disease is responsible for significant morbidity and represents the main cause of death in patients with advanced ccRCC. We have developed a novel dendritic cell based vaccine targeting human carbonic anhydrase IX (hCAIX; DC-Ad-GM·CAIX) and compared it with the ccRCC standard-of-care drug, sunitinib as a monotherapy and in simultaneous vaccine-sunitinib combination therapy.

Immunocompetent mice (Balb/c) were orthotopically-transplanted with syngeneic RCC-hCAIXpositive (NPR-IX) tumor cells, immunized, and/or treated with sunitinib at low-dose (5mg/kg/d), high-dose (40mg/kg/d) or untreated. At termination, primary tumor size (weight), lung metastatic burden, hCAIX and immune-markers expression levels were compared.

Mono-immunotherapy with DC-Ad-GM·CAIX vaccine suppressed metastatic tumor growth: the total number of metastatic heterotypic foci (i.e., hCAIX positive and negative foci) following vaccination decreased 2.5 fold compared with untreated mice (P<0.05). When counting only the hCAIX positive metastatic tumor cells, the decrease in the metastatic tumor burden compared to untreated mice was even more pronounced (>10 fold). Vaccination alone resulted in reduced primary tumor burden of RCC-hCAIXpositive cells to <25% of the tumor cell population, with the remaining cells lacking hCAIX expression (hCAIXnegative); there was no significant overall primary tumor reduction compared to untreated mice. In contrast, sunitinib, whether given as high-dose monotherapy or in combination with the vaccine, inhibited the primary orthotopic tumors, achieving 35% (P=0.0001) and 51% (P=1.7e-7) tumor reduction, respectively. However, sunitinib monotherapy was less effective in reducing the metastatic tumor burden compared with the vaccine.

In fact, simultaneous administration of vaccine and sunitinib increased the metastatic tumor burden in heterotypic tumors composed also of hCAIXnegative cells.

In conclusion, this preclinical study demonstrates that (i) the DC-Ad-GM·CAIX vaccine effectively controls both primary and metastatic hCAIXpositive tumors and forms the basis for a phase I trial in metastatic ccRCC patients, which has been initiated at UCLA (http://clinicaltrials.gov number NCT01826877), (ii) Antigen editing with loss of hCAIX is an important immune escape mechanism, (iii) This in vivo study raises caution regarding the use of DC-Ad-GM·CAIX vaccine in simultaneous combination therapies with sunitinib.

Co-corresponding Authors: ASB and JR

Citation Format: Edward N. Rampersaud, Jonathan W. Said, Adrian Bot, Frédéric D. Birkhäuser, Nils Kroeger, Gang Zeng, Fairooz F. Kabbinavar, Antoni Ribas, Allan J. Pantuck, Arie S. Belldegrun, Joseph Riss. Efficacy and safety of the Ad-GM·CAIX dendritic cell-based vaccine in treating in vivo metastatic renal cell carcinoma compared to sunitinib monotherapy and simultaneous vaccine-sunitinib combination therapy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 2819. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2819

Banff Initiative for Quality Assurance in Transplantation (BIFQUIT): reproducibility of polyomavirus immunohistochemistry in kidney allografts

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is the gold standard for diagnosing (positive vs. negative) polyomavirus BK (BKV) nephropathy and has the potential for disease staging based on staining intensity and quantification of infected cells. This multicenter trial evaluated the reproducibility of BKV IHC among 81 pathologists at 60 institutions. Participants stained tissue microarray slides and scored them for staining intensity and percentage of positive nuclei. Staining protocol details and evaluation scores were collected online. Slides were returned for centralized panel re-evaluation and kappa statistics were calculated. Individual assessment of staining intensity and percentage was more reproducible than combined scoring. Inter-institutional reproducibility was moderate for staining intensity (κ = 0.49) and percentage (κ = 0.42), fair for combined (κ = 0.25) and best for simple positive/negative scoring (κ = 0.78). Inter-observer reproducibility was substantial for intensity (κ = 0.74), percentage (κ = 0.66), positive/negative (κ = 0.78) and moderate for combined scoring (κ = 0.43). Inter-laboratory reproducibility was fair for intensity (κ = 0.37), percentage (κ = 0.40) and combined (κ = 0.24), but substantial for positive/negative scoring (κ = 0.67). BKV RNA copies/cell correlated with staining intensity (r = 0.56) and percentage (r = 0.62). These results indicate that BKV IHC is reproducible between observers but scoring should be simplified to a single-feature schema. Standardization of tissue processing and staining protocols would further improve inter-laboratory reproducibility.

Dominant B-cell epitopes from cancer/stem cell antigen SOX2 recognized by serum samples from cancer patients

Human sex determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) is an important transcriptional factor involved in the pluripotency and stemness of human embryonic stem cells. SOX2 plays important roles in maintaining cancer stem cell activities of melanoma and cancers of the brain, prostate, breast, and lung. SOX2 is also a lineage survival oncogene for squamous cell carcinoma of the lung and esophagus. Spontaneous cellular and humoral immune responses against SOX2 present in cancer patients classify it as a tumor-associated antigen (TAA) shared by lung cancer, glioblastoma, and prostate cancer among others. In this study, B-cell epitopes were predicted using computer-assisted algorithms. Synthetic peptides based on the prediction were screened for recognition by serum samples from cancer patients using ELISA. Two dominant B-cell epitopes, SOX2:52-87 and SOX2:98-124 were identified. Prostate cancer, glioblastoma and lung cancer serum samples that recognized the above SOX2 epitopes also recognized the full-length protein based on Western blot. These B-cell epitopes may be used in assessing humoral immune responses against SOX2 in cancer immunotherapy and stem cell-related transplantation.

Effect of Tianshengyuan-1 (TSY-1) on telomerase activity and hematopoietic recovery - in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo studies

Aplastic anemia is a heterogeneous disorder of bone marrow failure syndrome. Accumulating evidence indicates that both acquired and congenital aplastic anemia is linked to telomerase activity and telomere length. Chinese herbal medicine Tianshengyuan-1 (TSY-1), a liquid extraction of multiple Chinese herbs, appears to stimulate hematopoiesis in patients with bone marrow deficiencies; however, the exact mechanism of action remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the effect of TSY-1 on telomere length and telomerase activity. We first investigated the effects of TSY on in vitro cultured cell lines including CD34+ hepatic stem cells and CD4+/CD8- Jurkat cells. An immune-mediated murine aplastic anemia model and human samples, including peripheral blood samples of 4 healthy donors and bone marrow hematopoietic cells from 4 patients with hypocellular myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), were also used to test the efficacy of TSY on hematopoiesis, telomerase activity and telomere length. Our results indicated that TSY-1 increased the telomerase activity and telomere length in a dose-response manner in vitro, in vivo, and in human samples including 3 of 4 healthy individuals and 3 of 4 bone marrow samples from MDS patients. In immune-mediated murine aplastic anemia model, TSY-1 activity on Telomere length was parallel to the significant increasing of the RBC, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and platelet count in peripheral blood, increasing of CD34+ cell count and hematopoiesis, and decreasing of fatty infiltration in bone marrow samples. Our study demonstrated that TSY-1 may exert its effects by modulating telomerase activity of hematopoietic cells. Further studies are warranted to explore the precise molecular mechanisms of how TSY-1 regulates telomerase activity and telomere length, and also to test the TSY-1 in randomized control trials.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome/human immunodeficiency virus knowledge, attitudes, and practices, and use of healthcare services among rural migrants: a cross-sectional study in China

Background

Today’s rapid growth of migrant populations has been a major contributor to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic. However, relatively few studies have focused on HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related knowledge, attitudes, and practice among rural-to-urban migrants in China. This cross-sectional study was to assess HIV/AIDS-related knowledge and perceptions, including knowledge about reducing high-risk sex.

Methods

Two-phase stratified cluster sampling was applied and 2,753 rural migrants participated in this study. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was conducted in Guangdong and Sichuan provinces in 2007. Descriptive analysis was used to present the essential characteristics of the respondents. Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression models were performed to examine the associations between identified demographic factors and high-risk sex, sexually transmitted disease (STD) symptoms, and access to HIV screening services among the seven types of workers.

Results

58.6% of participants were knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS transmission, but approximately 90% had a negative attitude towards the AIDS patients, and that 6.2% had engaged in high-risk sex in the past 12 months. Logistic regression analysis revealed sex, marital status, income, migration and work experience to be associated with high-risk sex. Among the 13.9% of workers who reported having STD symptoms, risk factors that were identified included female gender, high monthly income, being married, daily laborer or entertainment worker, frequent migration, and length of work experience. Only 3% of migrant workers received voluntary free HIV screening, which was positively associated with monthly income and workplace.

Conclusions

HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes, and practices among rural migrants in China remain a thorny health issue, and use of healthcare services needs to be improved. Low levels of education and knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS among housekeepers and migrant day laborers result in this population likely being engaged in high-risk sex. Government programs should pay more attention to public education, health promotion and intervention for the control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in China.

Trinary-projection trees for approximate nearest neighbor search

We address the problem of approximate nearest neighbor (ANN) search for visual descriptor indexing. Most spatial partition trees, such as KD trees, VP trees, and so on, follow the hierarchical binary space partitioning framework. The key effort is to design different partition functions (hyperplane or hypersphere) to divide the points so that 1) the data points can be well grouped to support effective NN candidate location and 2) the partition functions can be quickly evaluated to support efficient NN candidate location. We design a trinary-projection direction-based partition function. The trinary-projection direction is defined as a combination of a few coordinate axes with the weights being 1 or -1. We pursue the projection direction using the widely adopted maximum variance criterion to guarantee good space partitioning and find fewer coordinate axes to guarantee efficient partition function evaluation. We present a coordinate-wise enumeration algorithm to find the principal trinary-projection direction. In addition, we provide an extension using multiple randomized trees for improved performance. We justify our approach on large-scale local patch indexing and similar image search.

PKM2 and ACVR 1C are prognostic markers for poor prognosis of gallbladder cancer

PURPOSE

To identify biological markers related to the progression and prognosis of GBC.

METHODS

The expressions of pyruvate kinase isoenzyme type M2 (PKM2) and activin A receptor type IC (ACVR 1C) in 46 squamous cell/adenosquamous carcinomas (SC/ASC) and 80 adenocarcinomas (AC) were examined using immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

Positive PKM2 and negative ACVR 1C expressions were significantly associated with lymph node metastasis, invasion and TNM stage of SC/ASCs and ACs. Univariate Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that either elevated PKM2 or loss of ACVR 1C expression significantly correlated with shorter average survival times in both SC/ASC and AC patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that positive PKM2 expression and loss of ACVR 1C expression were poor prognosis biomarkers in both SC/ASC and AC patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study suggested that PKM2 overexpression is a marker of metastasis, invasion and poor prognosis of GBC. ACVR 1C is a tumor suppressor, and lowered ACVR 1C expression is an important marker for the metastasis, invasion, and prognosis of GBC.

[Comparison of effectiveness between two HIV screening strategies in outpatient setting]

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether non-targeted testing strategy (screening all patients with blood sample withdrawn) could identify more patients with newly diagnosed HIV infection than symptom and risk behavior based targeted testing strategy or not.

METHODS

Controlled trial design was applied in this study.From July to November 2011, outpatient department of L and J county hospital in Guangxi province were selected to conduct the targeted strategy and non-targeted strategy respectively. The two counties had similar population, outpatient volume, previous testing rate and number of newly identified HIV cases.Outpatients older than 15 years were recruited as study subjects, with 62 106 person time in L hospital and 58 257 in J hospital. Data about visit number, persons receiving HIV testing and HIV positive cases were collected by outpatient department. Chi-square test was used to compare the percentage of newly identified HIV cases, HIV positive detection rate and proportion of cases in early AIDS phase between two strategies.

RESULTS

During the study period, 9.69% (5627/58 057) of all outpatients in J hospital with non-targeted strategy and 1.38% (859/62 106) of all outpatients in L hospital with targeted strategy received HIV test. The average age of patients receiving HIV testing was 46.23 ± 16.81 and 40.75 ± 15.48 respectively, which was statistically different (t = 8.81, P < 0.05). The percentage of newly identified HIV cases was significantly greater in J hospital (0.03% (19/58 057)) than that in L hospital (0.02% (10/62106)) (P < 0.05) while the HIV positive detection rate was lower in J hospital (0.34% (19/5627)) than that in L hospital (1.16% (10/859)) (χ(2) = 9.66, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

In a concentrated epidemic, a hospital based non-targeted strategy could detect more unidentified HIV cases than targeted strategy.

Enrichment of putative prostate cancer stem cells after androgen deprivation: upregulation of pluripotency transactivators concurs with resistance to androgen deprivation in LNCaP cell lines

BACKGROUND

Prostate cancer stem cells (PCSC) offer theoretical explanations to many clinical and biological behaviors of the disease in human. In contrast to approaches of using side populations and cell-surface markers to isolate and characterize the putative PCSC, we hypothesize that androgen deprivation leads to functional enrichment of putative PCSC.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Human prostate cancer lines LNCaP, LAPC4 and LAPC9 were depleted of androgen in cell cultures and in castrated SCID mice. The resultant androgen deprivation-resistant or castration-resistant populations, in particular in LNCaP and its derivative cell lines, displayed increased expression of pluripotency transactivators and significantly higher tumorigenicity. Individual tumor cell clones were isolated from castration-resistant bulk cultures of LNCaP (CR-LNCaP) and tested for tumorigenicity in male SCID mice under limiting dilution conditions. As few as 200 cells were able to form spheres in vitro, and generate tumors with similar growth kinetics as 10(6) LNCaP or 10(4) CR-LNCaP cells in vivo. These putative PCSC were CD44(+) /CD24(-) and lack the expression of prostate lineage proteins. When transplanted into the prostate of an intact male SCID mouse, these putative PCSC seemed to show limited differentiation into Ck5(+) , Ck8(+) , Ck5(+) /Ck8(+) , and AR(+) cells. On the other hand, stable transduction of LNCaP with retrovirus encoding Sox2 led to androgen-deprivation resistant growth and down-regulation of major prostate lineage gene products in vitro.

CONCLUSION

Concurrence of overexpression of pluripotency transactivators and resistance to androgen deprivation supported the role of putative PCSC in the emergence of prostate cancer resistant to androgen deprivation.

[Acceptability status of early antiretroviral therapy among HIV-positive men who have sex with men]

OBJECTIVE

To assess the acceptability and influence factors of early antiretroviral therapy (ART) among HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) .

METHODS

From June to August 2012, through convenience sampling, HIV-positive MSM who were willing to cooperate with the survey were selected from the Hangzhou and Ningbo AIDS prevention and control database. A total of 280 HIV-positive MSM who did not receive ART participated in the study.Using self-designed questionnaire, general demographic information, awareness of AIDS knowledge, sexual behavior, use of condom, current physical condition, awareness and attitude towards early ART were investigated.Excluding 60 HIV-infected MSM whose CD4(+)T count didn't meet the inclusion criteria, a total of 220 subjects were included in the analysis. Chi-square was used to compare the difference of early ART acceptance among subjects with different characteristics.Non-conditional logistic regression was used to analyze the influence factors of the acceptability of early ART.

RESULTS

The acceptance rate of early ART among HIV-infected MSM was 62.7% (138/220). Delaying the disease development, preventing partners from infection, not worrying others to suspect them of having HIV, and partners unknowing the HIV-infected status were the factors which had a relatively higher acceptance rate of early ART. Correspondingly, the acceptance rate was 68.8% (130/189), 68.7% (103/150), 78.4% (69/88) and 72.5% (74/102) respectively and the acceptance rate among subjects with opposite opinions or characteristics was 24.1% (7/29) , 50.0% (30/60), 52.7% (68/129) and 45.8% (58/107) respectively (chi-square values were 21.46, 6.43, 14.84 7.55, all P values <0.05).Logistic regression analysis showed that delaying the disease development (OR = 11.50, 95%CI:3.29-40.22) and preventing partners from infection (OR = 3.72, 95%CI:1.53-9.03) were inclined to the acceptance of early ATR.While concerning others' suspection of them having HIV (OR = 0.19, 95%CI:0.08-0.48) and partners knowing the HIV-infected status were inclined to unacceptance of ART(OR = 0.31, 95%CI:0.13-0.70).

CONCLUSION

The acceptability of early ART among HIV-positive MSM is high. The recognition of early ART and concern of privacy leak are the major influence factors which can stimulate the acceptance of early ART.

Beilschmiedia turbinata: a newly recognized but dying species of Lauraceae from tropical Asia based on morphological and molecular data

China took great efforts to reforestation, even turned the long-term forest loss into a net gain, but this cannot hide the loss of species diversity due to destruction of primary forests, habitat loss, invasion of alien species, and over exploitation. Here we provide such a case by recording a dying tree species of Lauraceae from the evergreen forests of SE Yunnan of China and adjoining Vietnam. We made field collections and observations for four consecutive years from 2009 to 2012. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted based on a combined dataset from nrITS and plastid trnL-trnF region, rpl16 intron, and psbA-trnH spacer. The results indicate that the Asiatic Beilschmiedia and Syndiclis are reciprocally monophyletic with Endiandra as a sister group, and both morphology and molecular phylogeny clearly suggest that the new species belongs to Beilschmiedia. Thus Beilschmiedia turbinata Bing Liu et Y. Yang is illustrated and described as new to science, color plates, line drawings, distribution map and comparison with related species are provided. This new species is similar to B. yunnanensis in the small and ferruginous-brown tomentose terminal buds, elliptic to oblong-lanceolate and alternate or subopposite leaves bearing the fine veinlet reticulation, but differs from the latter by the smaller flowers, the eglandular stamens of the third whorl, and the large turbinate furfuraceous fruits.