178 research outputs found
Coprescription of Chinese Herbal Medicine and Western Medications among Prostate Cancer Patients: A Population-Based Study in Taiwan
Use of herbal medicine is popular among cancer patients. This study aimed to explore the coprescription of CHM and WM among prostate cancer patients in Taiwan. This cross-sectional retrospective study used a population-based database containing one million beneficiaries of National Health Insurance. Claims and prescriptions were analyzed. In 2007, 218 (22.4%) prostate cancer patients were CHM users. Among CHM users, 200 (91.7%) patients with 5618 (79.5%) CHM prescriptions were on coprescription of CHM and WM. A total of 484 types of CHM and 930 types of WM were used. The most commonly used CHMs on coprescription were Shu Jing Huo Xue Tang, Ma Zi Ren Wan, and Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang. The most commonly used WMs on coprescription were magnesium oxide, amlodipine, and aspirin. The average number of prescriptions per user per year was 261.2 versus 151.7 in all (P < 0.001), 123.6 versus 76.9 in WM (P = 0.033), and 34.8 versus 5.1 in CHM (P < 0.001) for patients with and without coprescription, respectively. In conclusion, use of CHM among prostate cancer patients was popular in Taiwan. Most CHMs were used with WM concurrently. The potential drug-herb interactions should be investigated, especially for patients with more prescriptions
Serum Bone Resorption Markers after Parathyroidectomy for Renal Hyperparathyroidism: Correlation Analyses for the Cross-Linked N-telopeptide of Collagen I and Tartrate-Resistant Acid Phosphatase
Patients on long-term dialysis may develop secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) with increased serum concentrations of bone resorption markers such as the cross-linked N-telopeptide of type I collagen (NTX) and type-5b tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP). When SHPT proves refractory to treatment, parathyroidectomy (PTX) may be needed. Renal patients on maintenance HD who received PTX for refractory SHPT (n=23) or who did not develop refractory SHPT (control subjects; n=25) were followed prospectively for 4 weeks. Serum intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), NTX, TRAP, and bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP) concentrations were measured serially and correlation analyses were performed. iPTH values decreased rapidly and dramatically. BAP values increased progressively with peak increases observed at 2 weeks after surgery. NTX and TRAP values decreased concurrently and progressively through 4 weeks following PTX. A significant correlation between TRAP and NTX values was observed before PTX but not at 4 weeks after PTX. Additionally, the fractional changes in serum TRAP were larger than those in serum NTX at all times examined after PTX. Serum iPTH, TRAP, and NTX values declined rapidly following PTX for SHPT. Serum TRAP values declined to greater degrees than serum NTX values throughout the 4-week period following PTX
Persistent Tissue Kinetics and Redistribution of Nanoparticles, Quantum Dot 705, in Mice: ICP-MS Quantitative Assessment
Background: Quantum dots (QDs) are autofluorescent semiconductor nanocrystals that can be used for in vivo biomedical imaging. However, we know little about their in vivo disposition and health consequences.
Objectives: We assessed the tissue disposition and pharmacokinetics of QD705 in mice.
Methods: We determined quantitatively the blood and tissue kinetics of QD705 in mice after single intravenous (iv) injection at the dose of 40 pmol for up to 28 days. Inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) measurement of cadmium was the primary method of quantification of QD705. Fluorescence light microscopy revealed the localization of QD705 in tissues.
Results: Plasma half-life of QD705 in mice was short (18.5 hr), but ICP-MS analyses revealed QD705 persisted and even continued to increase in the spleen, liver, and kidney 28 days after an iv dose. Considerable time-dependent redistribution from body mass to liver and kidney was apparent between 1 and 28 days postdosing. The recoveries at both time points were near 100%; all QD705s reside in the body. Neither fecal nor urinary excretion of QD705 was detected appreciably in 28 days postdosing. Fluorescence microscopy demonstrated deposition of QD705 in the liver, spleen, and kidneys.
Conclusion: Judging from the continued increase in the liver (29–42% of the administered dose), kidney (1.5–9.2%), and spleen (4.8–5.2%) between 1 and 28 days without any appreciable excretion, QD705 has a very long half-life, potentially weeks or even months, in the body and its health consequences deserve serious consideration
Clinical analysis of 48 hours emergency department visit post outpatient extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for urolithiasis
Magnesium-enriched deep-sea water inhibits NLRP3 inflammasome activation and dampens inflammation.
The NLRP3 inflammasome is an essential component of the innate immune system, but excessive activation can lead to inflammatory diseases. Ion fluxes across the plasma membrane or from intracellular stores are known to regulate NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Deep-sea water (DSW) contains high concentrations of many mineral ions, which could potentially influence NLRP3 inflammasome activation. However, the impact of DSW on NLRP3 inflammasome activation has not been investigated. Here, we demonstrated that DSW with water hardness levels up to 500 mg/L did not affect cell viability or the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome components in macrophages derived from THP-1 cells. However, the DSW significantly inhibited IL-1β secretion and caspase-1 activation in response to NLRP3 activators such as nigericin, ATP, or monosodium urate (MSU) crystals. Mechanically, it was discovered that the presence of 5 mM magnesium ions (Mg2+), equivalent to the Mg2+ concentration found in the DSW with a water hardness of 500 mg/L, inhibits NLRP3 inflammasome activation. This indicates that Mg2+ contributes to the mechanism by which DSW mitigates NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Moreover, DSW administration effectively lessens MSU-triggered peritonitis in mice, a commonly used model for examining the impacts of NLRP3 inflammasome activation. These results show that DSW enriched with Mg2+ could potentially be beneficial in modulating NLRP3 inflammasome-associated diseases
Instantaneous 3D EEG Signal Analysis Based on Empirical Mode Decomposition and the Hilbert–Huang Transform Applied to Depth of Anaesthesia
Depth of anaesthesia (DoA) is an important measure for assessing the degree to which the central nervous system of a patient is depressed by a general anaesthetic agent, depending on the potency and concentration with which anaesthesia is administered during surgery. We can monitor the DoA by observing the patient’s electroencephalography (EEG) signals during the surgical procedure. Typically high frequency EEG signals indicates the patient is conscious, while low frequency signals mean the patient is in a general anaesthetic state. If the anaesthetist is able to observe the instantaneous frequency changes of the patient’s EEG signals during surgery this can help to better regulate and monitor DoA, reducing surgical and post-operative risks. This paper describes an approach towards the development of a 3D real-time visualization application which can show the instantaneous frequency and instantaneous amplitude of EEG simultaneously by using empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and the Hilbert–Huang transform (HHT). HHT uses the EMD method to decompose a signal into so-called intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). The Hilbert spectral analysis method is then used to obtain instantaneous frequency data. The HHT provides a new method of analyzing non-stationary and nonlinear time series data. We investigate this approach by analyzing EEG data collected from patients undergoing surgical procedures. The results show that the EEG differences between three distinct surgical stages computed by using sample entropy (SampEn) are consistent with the expected differences between these stages based on the bispectral index (BIS), which has been shown to be quantifiable measure of the effect of anaesthetics on the central nervous system. Also, the proposed filtering approach is more effective compared to the standard filtering method in filtering out signal noise resulting in more consistent results than those provided by the BIS. The proposed approach is therefore able to distinguish between key operational stages related to DoA, which is consistent with the clinical observations. SampEn can also be viewed as a useful index for evaluating and monitoring the DoA of a patient when used in combination with this approach
AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Directly Phosphorylates and Destabilizes Hedgehog Pathway Transcription Factor GLI1 in Medulloblastoma
The Hedgehog (Hh) pathway regulates cell differen- tiation and proliferation during development by controlling the Gli transcription factors. Cell fate de- cisions and progression toward organ and tissue maturity must be coordinated, and how an energy sensor regulates the Hh pathway is not clear. AMP- activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an important sensor of energy stores and controls protein synthe- sis and other energy-intensive processes. AMPK is directly responsive to intracellular AMP levels, inhib- iting a wide range of cell activities if ATP is low and AMP is high. Thus, AMPK can affect development by influencing protein synthesis and other processes needed for growth and differentiation. Activation of AMPK reduces GLI1 protein levels and stability, thus blocking Sonic-hedgehog-induced transcrip- tional activity. AMPK phosphorylates GLI1 at serines 102 and 408 and threonine 1074. Mutation of these three sites into alanine prevents phosphorylation by AMPK. This leads to increased GLI1 protein stability, transcriptional activity, and oncogenic potency
Effects of Growth Hormone Treatment on Height, Weight, and Obesity in Taiwanese Patients with Prader-Willi Syndrome
BackgroundInformation regarding the efficacy of growth hormone (GH) therapy in Asian Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) patients is lacking. We report our experience with GH treatment in children with PWS in Taiwan.MethodsForty-six PWS patients (27 males, 19 females; age range, 1 year 4 months to 13 years 7 months) who received and/or who are currently receiving GH treatment (0.1 IU/kg/day subcutaneously) for a period from 1 year to 3 years were retro-spectively analyzed. We evaluated height, weight, body mass index (BMI) and Rohrer index, before and after GH treatment.ResultsAfter patients had received GH for 1, 2 and 3 years, a significant improvement in mean height standard deviation score (SDS) was noted from −1.24 to −0.31 (p <0.01), 0.00 (p <0.001) and −0.26 (p <0.001), respectively. Mean BMI SDS decreased significantly from 1.93 to 1.13 (p <0.05) after 1 year of treatment; however, no significant changes were observed afterward. Mean Rohrer index decreased significantly, from 224.2 to 186.6 (p <0.001), 178.9 (p <0.001) and 169.3 (p <0.001). No significant gender or genotype pattern differences were noted among the 4 parameters examined.ConclusionThis 3-year, retrospective study indicates that PWS patients benefit from GH therapy in height increase and improved body composition
Development of a Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensor for Real-Time Detection of Osteogenic Differentiation in Live Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors have been recognized as a useful tool and widely used for real-time dynamic analysis of molecular binding affinity because of its high sensitivity to the change of the refractive index of tested objects. The conventional methods in molecular biology to evaluate cell differentiation require cell lysis or fixation, which make investigation in live cells difficult. In addition, a certain amount of cells are needed in order to obtain adequate protein or messenger ribonucleic acid for various assays. To overcome this limitation, we developed a unique SPR-based biosensing apparatus for real-time detection of cell differentiation in live cells according to the differences of optical properties of the cell surface caused by specific antigen-antibody binding. In this study, we reported the application of this SPR-based system to evaluate the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). OB-cadherin expression, which is up-regulated during osteogenic differentiation, was targeted under our SPR system by conjugating antibodies against OB-cadherin on the surface of the object. A linear relationship between the duration of osteogenic induction and the difference in refractive angle shift with very high correlation coefficient was observed. To sum up, the SPR system and the protocol reported in this study can rapidly and accurately define osteogenic maturation of MSCs in a live cell and label-free manner with no need of cell breakage. This SPR biosensor will facilitate future advances in a vast array of fields in biomedical research and medical diagnosis
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