Publications by authors named "Christopher C H Mak"
Risk factors for osteoarthritis (OA) often exert effects over protracted time-courses. Mendelian randomization (MR) studies therefore have an advantage over conventional observational studies when studying the causal effect of long-term lifestyle-related risk factors on OA. However, given the heterogeneous design of existing MR studies on OA, the reported causal estimates of these effects remain inconsistent, thus obscuring the true extent of the biological effects of OA lifestyle-risk factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: The variable results in clinical trials of adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) for chondral defects may be due to the different ex vivo culture conditions of the ASCs which are implanted to treat the lesions. We sought to determine the optimal in vitro chondrocyte co-culture condition that promotes infrapatellar fat pad-derived (IFPD) ASC chondrogenic gene expression in a novel co-culture combination.
Methods: In our study, we utilized an in vitro autologous co-culture of IFPD ASCs and articular chondrocytes derived from Kellgren-Lawrence Grade III/IV osteoarthritic human knee joints at ASC-to-chondrocyte seeding log ratios of 1:1, 10:1, and 100:1.
Purpose: Probiotics, as live microorganisms that improve intestinal microbial balance, have been implicated in the modulation of neurodegenerative diseases via the microbiome-gut-brain axis by improving gut dysbiosis. This review examines the association between probiotics and neurocognitive function in age-related dementia.
Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science and Cochrane library for in vivo studies using equivalent combinations of "probiotics" and "dementia" as per PRISMA.