Prognostic Benefits of Carvedilol, Bisoprolol, and Metoprolol Controlled Release/Extended Release in Hemodialysis Patients with Heart Failure: A 10-Year Cohort.

Background: Heart failure is a highly prevalent cardiovascular complication among patients receiving long-term hemodialysis, but the benefits of carvedilol, bisoprolol, and metoprolol controlled release/extended release on the outcomes of these patients remain unclear. In this study, we address the use of these 3 β-blockers and their associations with mortality.

Methods And Results: Long-term hemodialysis patients, aged ≥35 years, with new-onset heart failure and receiving various medications were identified through the use of 1999-2010 data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database.

Chinese translation of English textbooks on internal medicine from the 1850s to the 1940s.

During the 100 years from 1850 to 1949, six English textbooks on internal medicine were translated into Chinese and published. Publication of these books was a response to the increased demand for Chinese textbooks after the opening of several Western-style hospitals and medical schools in China where the instruction was in Chinese. Throughout this period, textbooks translated from English were regarded as symbols of mainstream and authority within medical communities in China.

Connective tissue growth factor induces collagen I expression in human lung fibroblasts through the Rac1/MLK3/JNK/AP-1 pathway.

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) plays an important role in lung fibrosis. In this study, we investigated the role of Rac1, mixed-lineage kinase 3 (MLK3), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and activator protein-1 (AP-1) in CTGF-induced collagen I expression in human lung fibroblasts. CTGF caused concentration- and time-dependent increases in collagen I expression.

Renin-angiotensin system blockade in heart failure patients on long-term haemodialysis in Taiwan.

Aims: Heart failure is among the most frequent complications of patients on long-term haemodialysis. The benefits of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockade on the outcomes of these patients have yet to be determined.

Methods And Results: We conducted a nationwide observational study using data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance claims database, between 1999 and 2010.

Nicotinuric acid: a potential marker of metabolic syndrome through a metabolomics-based approach.

Objective: Metabolic syndrome is a multiplex disorder and puts patients on the road to type 2 diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. However, a surrogate biomarker in plasma or urine in fully reflecting features of metabolic syndrome has not been explored.

Research Design And Methods: Urine metabolomics has potential utility in metabolic profiling because urine metabolites analysis reflects global outflux of metabolic change.

Students' view upon graduation: a survey of medical education in Taiwan.

Background: Improving the quality of medical education is a key goal of government policy in Taiwan. The aim of this study was to reflect the responses of medical education from the perspective of graduating medical students in Taiwan. This is the first survey study of medical education in Taiwan.

Denbinobin induces human glioblastoma multiforme cell apoptosis through the IKKα-Akt-FKHR signaling cascade.

Denbinobin, a phenanthraquinone derivative, was shown to exert antitumor activities in several types of cancer cell lines. However, the precise mechanism underlying denbinobin-induced cell death remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the apoptotic signaling cascade elicited by denbinobin in human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells.

Thrombin-induced CCN2 expression in human lung fibroblasts requires the c-Src/JAK2/STAT3 pathway.

Thrombin is a multifunctional serine protease and an important fibrotic mediator that induces CCN2 expression. We previously showed that thrombin induces CCN2 expression via an ASK1-dependent JNK/AP-1 pathway in human lung fibroblasts. In this study, we further investigated the roles of c-Src, JAK2, and STAT3 in thrombin-induced CCN2 expression.

Zerumbone suppresses IKKα, Akt, and FOXO1 activation, resulting in apoptosis of GBM 8401 cells.

Background: Zerumbone, a sesquiterpene compound isolated from subtropical ginger, Zingiber zerumbet Smith, has been documented to exert antitumoral and anti- inflammatory activities. In this study, we demonstrate that zerumbone induces apoptosis in human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM8401) cells and investigate the apoptotic mechanism.

Methods: We added a caspase inhibitor and transfected wild-type (WT) IKK and Akt into GBM 8401 cells, and measured cell viability and apoptosis by MTT assay and flow cytometry.

Cardiovascular protection of magnolol: cell-type specificity and dose-related effects.

Magnolia officinalis has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. Magnolol, an active component isolated from Magnolia officinalis, is known to be a cardiovascular protector since 1994. The multiplex mechanisms of magnolol on cardiovascular protection depends on cell types and dosages, and will be reviewed and discussed in this article.

Thrombin induced connective tissue growth factor expression in rat vascular smooth muscle cells via the PAR-1/JNK/AP-1 pathway.

Aim: To investigate the signaling pathways involved in thrombin-induced connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) expression in rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs).

Methods: Experiments were preformed on primary rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RASMCs) and a rat VSMC line (A10). CTGF protein levels were measured using Western blotting.

Multiple intravenous transplantations of mesenchymal stem cells effectively restore long-term blood glucose homeostasis by hepatic engraftment and β-cell differentiation in streptozocin-induced diabetic mice.

Depletion of pancreatic β-cells results in insulin insufficiency and diabetes mellitus (DM). Single transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells exhibits short-term effects in some preclinical studies. Here, we further investigated the long-term therapeutic effects of multiple intravenous MSC transplantations.

Elevated expression of connective tissue growth factor in human atrial fibrillation and angiotensin II-treated cardiomyocytes.

Background: Atrial fibrosis is a feature of structural remodeling in atrial fibrillation (AF). Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is a potent profibrotic factor, but its role of CTGF in AF is not yet fully understood.

Methods And Results: Right atrial appendages were obtained from 20 patients who underwent cardiac surgery (10 with sinus rhythm, 10 with AF).

Salvianolic acids: small compounds with multiple mechanisms for cardiovascular protection.

Salvianolic acids are the most abundant water-soluble compounds extracted from Radix Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen). In China, Danshen has been wildly used to treat cardiovascular diseases for hundreds of years. Salvianolic acids, especially salvianolic acid A (Sal A) and salvianolic acid B (Sal B), have been found to have potent anti-oxidative capabilities due to their polyphenolic structure.

Thrombin induces NF-kappaB activation and IL-8/CXCL8 expression in lung epithelial cells by a Rac1-dependent PI3K/Akt pathway.

We previously showed that thrombin induces interleukin (IL)-8/CXCL8 expression via the protein kinase C (PKC)α/c-Src-dependent IκB kinase α/β (IKKα/β)/NF-κB signaling pathway in human lung epithelial cells. In this study, we further investigated the roles of Rac1, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), and Akt in thrombin-induced NF-κB activation and IL-8/CXCL8 expression. Thrombin-induced IL-8/CXCL8 release and IL-8/CXCL8-luciferase activity were attenuated by a PI3K inhibitor (LY294002), an Akt inhibitor (1-L-6-hydroxymethyl-chiro-inositol-2-((R)-2-O-methyl-3-O-octadecylcarbonate)), and the dominant negative mutants of Rac1 (RacN17) and Akt (AktDN).

Apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 in peptidoglycan-induced COX-2 expression in macrophages.

In this study, we investigated the role of ASK1 in PGN-induced C/EBPbeta activation and COX-2 expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages. The PGN-induced COX-2 expression was attenuated by the DNs of ASK1, JNK1, JNK2, a JNK inhibitor (SP600125), and an AP-1 inhibitor (curcumin).

Involvement of phosphatidylcholine-phospholipase C and protein kinase C in peptidoglycan-induced nuclear factor-kappaB activation and cyclooxygenase-2 expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages.

In this study, we examined the role of phosphatidylcholine-phospholipase C (PC-PLC) and protein kinase C (PKC) in peptidoglycan (PGN)-induced nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages. PGN-induced COX-2 expression was attenuated by a PC-PLC inhibitor (D609) and by PKC inhibitors (Go 6976 and Ro 31-8220), but not by a phosphatidylinositol-PLC (PI-PLC) inhibitor (U-73122).

Antioxidative and hepatoprotective effects of magnolol on acetaminophen-induced liver damage in rats.

Acute liver failure (ALF), an often fatal condition characterized by massive hepatocyte necrosis, is frequently caused by drug poisoning, particularly with acetaminophen (N-acetyl-p-aminophenol/APAP). Hepatocyte necrosis is consecutive to glutathione (GSH) depletion and mitochondrial damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction. Magnolol, one major phenolic constituent of Magnolia officinalis, have been known to exhibit potent antioxidative activity.

Magnolol depresses urotensin-II-induced cell proliferation in rat cardiac fibroblasts.

1. Accumulating evidence suggests that oxidative stress plays a key role in the development of cardiac fibrosis. Urotensin-II (U-II) has been reported to play an important role in cardiac remodelling and fibrosis.

Innovative "Case-Based Integrated Teaching" in an undergraduate medical curriculum: development and teachers' and students' responses.

Introduction: We developed "Case-Based Integrated Teaching (C-BIT)" in our medical school to integrate the content of various disciplines through a core patient design that introduces major diseases to students. This article presents the concepts, development and initial evaluation of the teachers' and students' responses to C-BIT.

Materials And Methods: Teachers' manuals for 18 major diseases were completed.

Involvement of reactive oxygen species in urotensin II-induced proliferation of cardiac fibroblasts.

Urotensin II, a cyclic dodecapeptide, has recently been demonstrated to play an important role in cardiac remodeling and fibrosis. Cardiac fibroblast is the cell type known to proliferate during cardiac fibrosis and to produce the excess matrix proteins characteristic of cardiac remodeling. However, the effect of urotensin II on cardiac fibroblast proliferation and the intracellular mechanisms remain to be clarified.

The stimulatory effects of nasal discharge from patients with perennial allergic rhinitis on normal human neutrophils are normalized after treatment with a new mixed formula of Chinese herbs.

In our previous study, we found a new mixed formula of Chinese herbs containing Shin-yi-san + Xiao-qing-long-tang + Xiang-sha-liu-jun-zi-tang (9 + 3 + 3 g divided in three doses/day) was beneficial to the patients with perennial allergic rhinitis (AR) via complicated immunomodulatory effects on both mononuclear cells (MNC) and polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN). In the present study, we further determined the effects of nasal fluid from AR patients on the functions of human PMN before and after treatment with the mixed formula. We found the nasal discharge, but not serum, from AR group with high serum IgE (H-IgE, serum IgE >200 KIU/l) before treatment exerted many stimulating effects on normal PMN including delayed apoptosis, enhanced production of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM-1), interleukin 8 (IL-8) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), increased phagocytosis, and augmented cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) mRNA expression of PMN.