Toward a Public Domain UMLS Patient Database

Conference PaperBiomedical Informatic

Estimating Frequency of Disease Findings from Combined Hospital Databases: A UMLS Project

Conference PaperBiomedical Informatic

Evaluation of Lentiviral-Mediated Expression of Sodium Iodide Symporter in Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer and the Efficacy of In Vivo Imaging and Therapy

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is one of the most deadly cancers. With intensive multimodalities of treatment, the survival remains low. ATC is not sensitive to 131I therapy due to loss of sodium iodide symporter (NIS) gene expression. We have previously generated a stable human NIS-expressing ATC cell line, ARO, and the ability of iodide accumulation was restored. To make NIS-mediated gene therapy more applicable, this study aimed to establish a lentiviral system for transferring hNIS gene to cells and to evaluate the efficacy of in vitro and in vivo radioiodide accumulation for imaging and therapy. Lentivirus containing hNIS cDNA were produced to transduce ARO cells which do not concentrate iodide. Gene expression, cell function, radioiodide imaging and treatment were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Results showed that the transduced cells were restored to express hNIS and accumulated higher amount of radioiodide than parental cells. Therapeutic dose of 131I effectively inhibited the tumor growth derived from transduced cells as compared to saline-treated mice. Our results suggest that the lentiviral system efficiently transferred and expressed hNIS gene in ATC cells. The transduced cells showed a promising result of tumor imaging and therapy

Non-invasive and transdermal measurement of blood uric acid level in human by electroporation and reverse iontophoresis

The aim of this study was to find out the optimum combination of electroporation (EP) and reverse iontophoresis (RI) on noninvasive and transdermal determination of blood uric acid level in humans. EP is the use of high-voltage electric pulse to create nano-channels on the stratum corneum, temporarily and reversibly. RI is the use of small current to facilitate both charged and uncharged molecule transportation across the skin. It is believed that the combination of these two techniques has additional benefits on the molecules’ extraction across the human skin. In vitro studies using porcine skin and diffusion cell have indicated that the optimum mode for transdermal uric acid extraction is the combination of RI with symmetrical biphasic direct current (current density = 0.3 mA/cm2; phase duration = 180 s) and EP with 10 pulses per second (voltage = 100 V/cm2; pulse width = 1 ms). This optimum mode was applied to six human subjects. Uric acid was successfully extracted through the subjects’ skin into the collection solution. A good correlation (r2 = 0.88) between the subject’s blood uric acid level and uric acid concentrations in collection solutions was observed. The results suggest that it may be possible to noninvasively and transdermally determine blood uric acid levels

A review of the pharmacological effects of Arctium lappa (burdock)

Abstract Arctium lappa, commonly known as burdock, is being promoted/recommended as a healthy and nutritive food in Chinese societies. Burdock has been used therapeutically in Europe, North America and Asia for hundreds of years. The roots, seeds and leaves of burdock have been investigated in view of its popular uses in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In this review, the reported therapeutic effects of the active compounds present in the different botanical parts of burdock are summarized. In the root, the active ingredients have been found to "detoxify" blood in terms of TCM and promote blood circulation to the skin surface, improving the skin quality/texture and curing skin diseases like eczema. Antioxidants and antidiabetic compounds have also been found in the root. In the seeds, some active compounds possess anti-inflammatory effects and potent inhibitory effects on the growth of tumors such as pancreatic carcinoma. In the leaf extract, the active compounds isolated can inhibit the growth of micro-organisms in the oral cavity. The medicinal uses of burdock in treating chronic diseases such as cancers, diabetes and AIDS have been reported. However, it is also essential to be aware of the side effects of burdock including contact dermatitis and other allergic/inflammatory responses that might be evoked by burdock

Use and effectiveness of dapagliflozin in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a multicenter retrospective study in Taiwan

Aims/Introduction To investigate the clinical outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who initiated dapagliflozin in real-world practice in Taiwan. Materials and Methods In this multicenter retrospective study, adult patients with T2DM who initiated dapagliflozin after May 1st 2016 either as add-on or switch therapy were included. Changes in clinical and laboratory parameters were evaluated at 3 and 6 months. Baseline factors associated with dapagliflozin response in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) were analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results A total of 1,960 patients were eligible. At 6 months, significant changes were observed: HbA1c by −0.73% (95% confidence interval [CI] −0.80, −0.67), body weight was -1.61 kg (95% CI −1.79, −1.42), and systolic/diastolic blood pressure by −3.6/−1.4 mmHg. Add-on dapagliflozin showed significantly greater HbA1c reduction (−0.82%) than switched therapy (−0.66%) (p = 0.002). The proportion of patients achieving HbA1c <7% target increased from 6% at baseline to 19% at Month 6. Almost 80% of patients experienced at least 1% reduction in HbA1c, and 65% of patients showed both weight loss and reduction in HbA1c. Around 37% of patients had at least 3% weight loss. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated patients with higher baseline HbA1c and those who initiated dapagliflozin as add-on therapy were associated with a greater reduction in HbA1c. Conclusions In this real-world study with the highest patient number of Chinese population to date, the use of dapagliflozin was associated with significant improvement in glycemic control, body weight, and blood pressure in patients with T2DM. Initiating dapagliflozin as add-on therapy showed better glycemic control than as switch therapy

Honokiol Induces Calpain-Mediated Glucose-Regulated Protein-94 Cleavage and Apoptosis in Human Gastric Cancer Cells and Reduces Tumor Growth

Background. Honokiol, a small molecular weight natural product, has been shown to possess potent anti-neoplastic and anti-angiogenic properties. Its molecular mechanisms and the ability of anti-gastric cancer remain unknown. It has been shown that the anti-apoptotic function of the glucose-regulated proteins (GRPs) predicts that their induction in neoplastic cells can lead to cancer progression and drug resistance. We explored the effects of honokiol on the regulation of GRPs and apoptosis in human gastric cancer cells and tumor growth. Methodology and Principal Findings. Treatment of various human gastric cancer cells with honokiol led to the induction of GRP94 cleavage, but did not affect GRP78. Silencing of GRP94 by small interfering RNA (siRNA) could induce cell apoptosis. Treatment of cells with honokiol or chemotherapeutics agent etoposide enhanced the increase in apoptosis and GRP94 degradation. The calpain activity and calpain-II (m-calpain) protein (but not calpain-I (mu-calpain)) level could also be increased by honokiol. Honokiol-induced GRP94 down-regulation and apoptosis in gastric cancer cells could be reversed by siRNA targeting calpain-II and calpain inhibitors. Furthermore, the results of immunofluorescence staining and immunoprecipitation revealed a specific interaction of GRP94 with calpain-II in cells following honokiol treatment. We next observed that tumor GRP94 over-expression and tumor growth in BALB/c nude mice, which were inoculated with human gastric cancer cells MKN45, are markedly decreased by honokiol treatment. Conclusions and Significance. These results provide the first evidence that honokiol-induced calpain-II-mediated GRP94 cleavage causes human gastric cancer cell apoptosis. We further suggest that honokiol may be a possible therapeutic agent to improve clinical outcome of gastric cancer

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data