A qualitative exploration of active ingredients and mechanisms of action of an online singing programme with mothers experiencing postnatal depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: SHAPER-PNDO study.

Background: Social distancing restrictions and the suspension of in-person treatment and support contributed to an increase in postnatal depression during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Creative health interventions can help to alleviate anxiety and depression, with studies showing that singing is particularly effective for supporting the mental health of new mothers. We adapted an in-person group singing programme (Breathe Melodies for Mums (M4M)) to online delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic to support the mental health of new mothers, and, in a feasibility study, found improvements in postnatal depression (PND) symptoms at 6-month follow up.

Review on the screening of urine glucose for early diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus in school children and adolescents with obesity in Hong Kong.

Objectives: Obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are growing health concerns. Since 2005, Student Health Service (SHS) and Hong Kong Paediatric Society formulated a protocol on urine glucose screening (UGS) for early diagnosis of T2DM in students with obesity in Hong Kong. This study reviews students with T2DM captured by this screening program and compare the data with the Hong Kong Children Diabetes Registry (HKCDR) database, to see if the UGS program facilitates early diagnosis of T2DM.

Incidence and clinical characteristics of pediatric-onset type 2 diabetes in Hong Kong: The Hong Kong childhood diabetes registry 2008 to 2017.

Objective: With increasing prevalence of childhood obesity worldwide, the incidence of pediatric-onset type 2 diabetes (T2D) is also increasing in many countries. We aim to analyze the time trend and incidence of T2D in children in Hong Kong from 2008 to 2017, and to characterize clinical characteristics at diagnosis.

Methods: Data were retrieved from the Hong Kong Childhood Diabetes Registry.

Increasing incidence of type 1 diabetes among Hong Kong children and adolescents: The Hong Kong Childhood Diabetes Registry 2008 to 2017.

Objective: The incidence of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) has been reported to be rising but there is also evidence that it has been attenuated in recent years. We described the time trends and the incidence of T1D in children in Hong Kong from 2008 to 2017 and compared with the previous local registry in 1997 to 2007.

Methods: Data were extracted from the Hong Kong Childhood Diabetes Registry, which was established in 2016.

Diagnosis of 5α-reductase 2 deficiency: is measurement of dihydrotestosterone essential?

Background: 5α-Reductase 2 deficiency (5ARD) is a known cause of 46,XY disorders of sex development (DSD). Traditionally, the diagnosis relies on dihydrotestosterone (DHT) measurement, but the results are often equivocal, potentially leading to misdiagnosis. We reviewed alternative approaches for diagnosis of 5ARD.

Cholesterol trapping in Niemann-Pick disease type B fibroblasts can be relieved by expressing the phosphotyrosine binding domain of GULP.

Background: Impairment of acid sphingomyelinase (SMase) results in accumulation of sphingomyelin (SM) and cholesterol in late endosomes, the hallmarks of a lysosomal storage disease.

Objective: We describe cellular lipid metabolism in fibroblasts from two patients with novel compound heterozygote mutations in the sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase 1 (SMPD1) gene manifesting as Niemann-Pick disease type B (NPB) and demonstrate mechanisms to overcome the storage defect.

Methods: Using biochemical assays and confocal microscopy, we provide evidence that accumulated lysosomal SM and cholesterol can be released by different treatments.

A case of early-onset obesity, hypocortisolism, and skin pigmentation problem due to a novel homozygous mutation in the proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene in an Indian boy.

Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) is the polypeptide precursor of several biologically active melanocortin peptides that have important roles in the regulation of food intake and energy homeostasis, adrenal steroidogenesis, melanocyte stimulation, and immune modulation. Mutation of the POMC gene has been associated with adrenal insufficiency, early-onset obesity, and red hair pigmentation. We describe an Indian boy with secondary hypocortisolism, hyperphagia, early-onset obesity, and skin pigmentation problem.

Personalized medicine switching from insulin to sulfonylurea in permanent neonatal diabetes mellitus dictated by a novel activating ABCC8 mutation.

Background: Neonatal diabetes mellitus (NDM) is a rare but important condition affecting approximately 1 in 100,000 newborns. Permanent form requires life-long treatment with difficulties in long-term compliance and metabolic complications. Exact genetic diagnosis can enable improved outcome and patient satisfaction by switching insulin injection to oral sulfonylureas.

Isatin-β-thiosemicarbazones as potent herpes simplex virus inhibitors.

A series of isatin-β-thiosemicarbazones have been designed and evaluated for antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) in a plaque reduction assay. Their cytotoxicity was examined using human rhabdomyosarcoma cells (RD cells). Several derivatives of isatin-β-thiosemicarbazone exhibited significant and selective antiviral activity with low cytotoxicity.

A comparative study of cutaneous manifestations of hyperandrogenism in obese and non-obese Taiwanese women.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of obesity on cutaneous manifestations of clinical hyperandrogenism.

Methods: A total of 627 Taiwanese women of reproductive age were included.

Results: Women with acne had a greater incidence of PCOS, hyperandrogenemia and hirsutism, and had higher serum total testosterone than women without acne.

Nitric oxide and carbon monoxide, collaborative and competitive regulators of hypertension.

Blood pressure is one of the vital parameters of the body that is normally maintained in homeostasis by a complex multifactorial mechanism mediating constriction or dilation of vessels. Hypertension ensues when the responses to vasorelaxant signals become inefficient or vascular tissues are injured by inflammatory insults, leading to a decrease in arterial compliance and patency. This pathologic condition is best exemplified in atherosclerosis, one of the most common diseases afflicting humans worldwide.

Clinical and biochemical presentations of polycystic ovary syndrome among obese and nonobese women.

Objective: To study the differences in clinical and biochemical characteristics between obese and nonobese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: University teaching hospital.

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of 3C protease inhibitors as anti-enterovirus 71 agents.

Human enterovirus (EV) belongs to the picornavirus family, which consists of over 200 medically relevant viruses. A peptidomimetic inhibitor AG7088 was developed to inhibit the 3C protease of rhinovirus (a member of the family), a chymotrypsin-like protease required for viral replication, by forming a covalent bond with the active site Cys residue. In this study, we have prepared the recombinant 3C protease from EV71 (TW/2231/98), a particular strain which causes severe outbreaks in Asia, and developed inhibitors against the protease and the viral replication.

Carboxyl-terminal disulfide bond of acid sphingomyelinase is critical for its secretion and enzymatic function.

The human acid sphingomyelinase (ASM, EC 3.1.4.

Effect of endothelin-1 on lipolysis in rat adipocytes.

Objective: To explore the role of endothelin-1 (ET-1) on lipid metabolism, we examined the effect of ET-1 on lipolysis in rat adipocytes.

Research Methods And Procedure: Adipocytes isolated from male Sprague-Dawley rats, weighing 400 to 450 grams, were incubated in Krebs-Ringer buffer with or without 10(-7) M ET-1 for various times or with various concentrations of ET-1 for 4 hours; then glycerol release into the incubation medium was measured. In addition, selective ET(A)R and ET(B)R blockers were used to identify the ET receptor subtype involved.

Increased sphingomyelin content impairs HDL biogenesis and maturation in human Niemann-Pick disease type B.

We previously reported that human Niemann-Pick Disease type B (NPD-B) is associated with low HDL. In this study, we investigated the pathophysiology of this HDL deficiency by examining both HDL samples from NPD-B patients and nascent high density lipoprotein (LpA-I) generated by incubation of lipid-free apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) with NPD-B fibroblasts. Interestingly, both LpA-I and HDL isolated from patient plasma had a significant increase in sphingomyelin (SM) mass ( approximately 50-100%).

A patient with novel ABCB11 gene mutations with phenotypic transition between BRIC2 and PFIC2.

We describe a PFIC2 patient with a good response to ursodeoxycholic acid for 9 years. We found two novel ABCB11 gene mutations in the patient, i.e.

Synthesis and antipicornavirus activity of (R)- and (S)-1-[5-(4'-chlorobiphenyl-4-yloxy)-3-methylpentyl]-3-pyridin-4-yl-imidazolidin-2-one.

The new pyridyl imidazolidinone derivative, 1-[5-(4'-chlorobiphenyl-4-yloxy)-3-methylpentyl]-3-pyridin-4-yl-imidazolidin-2-one (+/-)-1a, was synthesized and found to have an excellent antiviral activity against EV71 (IC50 = 0.009 microM). Therefore, both the enantiomers, (S)-(+)-1a and (R)-(-)-1a, have been prepared starting from readily available monomethyl (R)-3-methylglutarate (7) as a useful chiral building block and their antiviral activity was evaluated in a plaque reduction assay.

Avulsion fracture of the extensor carpi ulnaris due to roller injury.

Avulsion fractures of the radial wrist extensor from the metacarpal base are rare injuries, and have previously been reported in only a few papers. Although 2 cases of closed rupture of the extensor carpi ulnaris (ECU) were mentioned in 1 report, no case of avulsion fracture of the ECU from its insertion was found in the literature. We recently encountered such a case.

ESI-MS quantitation of increased sphingomyelin in Niemann-Pick disease type B HDL.

HDLs have been proposed to have antiatherogenic properties because of their role in reverse cholesterol transport as lipid acceptors. To elucidate the phospholipid profile of these particles, we used electrospray ionization mass spectrometry to examine the phosphatidylcholine (PC) and sphingomyelin (SM) composition of HDLs purified from plasma and nascently generated in vitro from fibroblasts. We also quantitatively compared the phospholipids present in these lipoproteins between normal and Niemann-Pick disease type B (NPD-B) subjects characterized by sphingomyelinase (SMase) deficiency.

Synthesis and antienteroviral activity of a series of novel, oxime ether-containing pyridyl imidazolidinones.

A series of novel, oxime ether-containing pyridyl imidazolidinones were synthesized and their antiviral activity was evaluated in a plaque reduction assay. It is very interesting that this class of compounds is specific for human enteroviruses, in particular, enterovirus 71 (EV71). Some derivatives strongly inhibited enterovirus replication with activities higher or comparable to those of the reference compounds such as A1 and A2.

Steroid 5alpha-reductase 2 deficiency in two generations of a non-consanguineous Chinese family.

We report a Chinese family in which two family members were diagnosed to have steroid 5alpha-reductase 2 deficiency. The proband was an 8 year-old boy presenting with isolated micropenis. Mutational analysis revealed a homozygous mutation in exon 4 of the SRD5A2 gene, changing codon 227 from CGA to CAA, i.

Compound heterozygosity at the sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase-1 (SMPD1) gene is associated with low HDL cholesterol.

Type A and B forms of Niemann-Pick disease (NPD) are lipid storage disorders caused by deficient activity of the enzyme acid sphingomyelinase (aSMase) and the resulting accumulation of sphingomyelin in tissues. In the present study, we investigated two family members who had been diagnosed with Type B NPD and who had a severe decrease in plasma high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). The proband (a 48-year-old male) had an HDL-C of 0.