Association between statin use and dry eye disease in patients with hyperlipidemia: A population-based retrospective cohort study.

Higher serum cholesterol levels have been associated with an increased risk of dry eye disease (DED). The relationship between statin (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor) use and DED in patients with hyperlipidemia remains unclear. To investigate the association between statin use and the risk of DED in patients with hyperlipidemia, we conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study utilizing data from Taiwan's Longitudinal Generation Tracking Database.

Novel therapeutic activities of dragon blood from palm tree Daemonorops draco for the treatment of chronic diabetic wounds.

Background: The clinical efficacy of Jinchuang Ointment, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), in treating chronic non-healing diabetic wounds has been demonstrated over the past decades. Both in vitro and in vivo angiogenic activities have been reported for its herbal ingredients, including dragon blood from the palm tree Daemonorops draco and catechu from Uncaria gambir Roxb. Additionally, crude extracts of dragon blood have exhibited hypoglycemic effects not only in animal studies but also in cell-based in vitro assays.

Association Between Statin Use and the Incidence of Clinically Diagnosed Osteoarthritis: A Nationwide Retrospective Cohort Study in Taiwan.

Objective: To investigate the effect of higher cumulative defined daily dose per year (cDDD/y) compared with lower cDDD/y of statin use in the incidence of any joint osteoarthritis (OA).

Design: In this population-based retrospective cohort study, patients who were aged ≥40 years were newly initiated on statin therapy between 2002 and 2011, and had a statin prescription for ≥90 days in the first year of treatment were identified from the 2000 Longitudinal Generation Tracking Database. All patients were separated into groups with higher cDDD/y (>120 cDDD/y) and lower cDDD/y (≤120 cDDD/y; as an active comparator) values.

Dachshund Homolog 1: Unveiling Its Potential Role in Megakaryopoiesis and Lethal Toxin-Induced Thrombocytopenia.

Lethal toxin (LT) is the critical virulence factor of , the causative agent of anthrax. One common symptom observed in patients with anthrax is thrombocytopenia, which has also been observed in mice injected with LT. Our previous study demonstrated that LT induces thrombocytopenia by suppressing megakaryopoiesis, but the precise molecular mechanisms behind this phenomenon remain unknown.

Hypermethylation Loci of ZNF671, IRF8, and OTX1 as Potential Urine-Based Predictive Biomarkers for Bladder Cancer.

Bladder cancer (BCa) is a significant health issue and poses a healthcare burden on patients, highlighting the importance of an effective detection method. Here, we developed a urine DNA methylation diagnostic panel for distinguishing between BCa and non-BCa. In the discovery stage, an analysis of the TCGA database was conducted to identify BCa-specific DNA hypermethylation markers.

Platelet-derived circulating soluble P-selectin is sufficient to induce hematopoietic stem cell mobilization.

Background: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-mediated mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) is a well-established method to prepare HSCs for transplantation nowadays. A sufficient number of HSCs is critical for successful HSC transplantation. However, approximately 2-6% of healthy stem cell donors are G-CSF-poor mobilizers for unknown reasons; thus increasing the uncertainties of HSC transplantation.

Association between antihyperlipidemic agents and the risk of chronic periodontitis in patients with hyperlipidemia: A population-based retrospective cohort study in Taiwan.

Background: The lipid-lowering and anti-inflammatory effects of statins and fibrates may ameliorate periodontitis. Patients with hyperlipidemia tend to have a worse periodontal status. This study assessed the association between the use of statins/fibrates and the incidence of chronic periodontitis in patients with hyperlipidemia in Taiwan.

Prenatal DEHP exposure predicts neurological disorders via transgenerational epigenetics.

Recent experimental and observational research has suggested that childhood allergic asthma and other conditions may be the result of prenatal exposure to environmental contaminants, such as di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). In a previous epidemiological study, we found that ancestral exposure (F0 generation) to endocrine disruptors or the common plasticizer DEHP promoted allergic airway inflammation via transgenerational transmission in mice from generation F1 to F4. In the current study, we employed a MethylationEPIC Beadchip microarray to examine global DNA methylation in the human placenta as a function of maternal exposure to DEHP during pregnancy.

Association between statin use and the risk of gout in patients with hyperlipidemia: A population-based cohort study.

To investigate the association between statin use and risk of gout in patients with hyperlipidemia. In this population-based retrospective cohort study, patients ≥20 years and diagnosed as having incident hyperlipidemia between 2001 and 2012 were identified from the 2000 Longitudinal Generation Tracking Database in Taiwan. Regular statin users (incident statin use, having 2 times and ≥90 days of prescription for the first year) and two active comparators [irregular statin use and other lipid-lowering agent (OLLA) use] were compared; the patients were followed up until the end of 2017.

PCDHB15 as a potential tumor suppressor and epigenetic biomarker for breast cancer.

Breast cancer is among the most frequently diagnosed cancer types and the leading cause of cancer-related death in women. The mortality rate of patients with breast cancer is currently increasing, perhaps due to a lack of early screening tools. In the present study, using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) breast cancer dataset (n=883), it was determined that methylation of the protocadherin β15 () promoter was higher in breast cancer samples than that in normal tissues.

Firing up Cold Tumors-Targeting the Epigenetic Machinery to Enhance Cancer Immunotherapy.

Cancer immunotherapy using monoclonal antibodies targeting immune checkpoint proteins, such as PD-L1 or PD-1 (i [...

Exposure of Platelets to Dengue Virus and Envelope Protein Domain III Induces Nlrp3 Inflammasome-Dependent Platelet Cell Death and Thrombocytopenia in Mice.

In tropical and subtropical regions, mosquito-borne dengue virus (DENV) infections can lead to severe dengue, also known as dengue hemorrhage fever, which causes bleeding, thrombocytopenia, and blood plasma leakage and increases mortality. Although DENV-induced platelet cell death was linked to disease severity, the role of responsible viral factors and the elicitation mechanism of abnormal platelet activation and cell death remain unclear. DENV and virion-surface envelope protein domain III (EIII), a cellular binding moiety of the virus particle, highly increase during the viremia stage.

AQP0 is a novel surface marker for deciphering abnormal erythropoiesis.

Background: Hematopoiesis occurs in the bone marrow, producing a complete spectrum of blood cells to maintain homeostasis. In addition to light microscopy, chromosome analysis, and polymerase chain reaction, flow cytometry is a feasible and fast method for quantitatively analyzing hematological diseases. However, because sufficient specific cell markers are scarce, dyserythropoietic diseases are challenging to identify through flow cytometry.

Cyproheptadine, an epigenetic modifier, exhibits anti-tumor activity by reversing the epigenetic silencing of IRF6 in urothelial carcinoma.

Background: Urothelial carcinoma (UC) is the second most common malignancy of the urinary system with high rate of recurrence, UC patients therefore needed to be treated with surgery followed by chemotherapy. Development of novel therapeutics with minimal side-effect is an urgent issue. Our previous study showed that cyproheptadine (CPH), an anti-histamine, exhibited antitumor activity in UC in vitro and in an xenograft model.

Epigenetic Silencing of STAT3-Targeted miR-193a, by Constitutive Activation of JAK/STAT Signaling, Leads to Tumor Progression Through Overexpression of YWHAZ in Gastric Cancer.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify genes that were epigenetically silenced by STAT3 in gastric cancer.

Methods: MBDcap-Seq and expression microarray were performed to identify genes that were epigenetically silenced in AGS gastric cancer cell lines depleted of STAT3. Cell lines and animal experiments were performed to investigate proliferation and metastasis of miR-193a and YWHAZ in gastric cancer cell lines.

Different effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and erythropoietin on erythropoiesis.

Background: Red blood cells are the most abundant cells in the blood that deliver oxygen to the whole body. Erythropoietin (EPO), a positive regulator of erythropoiesis, is currently the major treatment for chronic anemia. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a multifunctional cytokine and a well-known regulator of hematopoietic stem cell proliferation, differentiation, and mobilization.

Suppressive effect of dengue virus envelope protein domain III on megakaryopoiesis.

Dengue virus (DENV) infection can cause severe, life-threatening events, and no specific treatments of DENV infection are currently approved. Although thrombocytopenia is frequently observed in dengue patients, its pathogenesis is still not fully understood. Previous studies have suggested that DENV-induced thrombocytopenia occurs through viral-replication-mediated megakaryopoiesis inhibition in the bone marrow; however, the exact mechanism for megakaryopoiesis suppression remains elusive.

Megakaryocytic differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells via coculture with immortalized OP9 stromal cells.

Established from the calvaria of newborn macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF)-deficient mice, OP9 is a stromal cell line that used as a feeder layer to support the in vitro differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into various hematopoietic lineage cells, including granulocytes, erythrocytes, lymphocytes, and megakaryocytes. However, as a primary culture cell line, OP9 can be used as stromal cells for only 1 month. Therefore, to obtain functional OP9 cells, numerous M-CSF-deficient newborn mice must be sacrificed.

A facile synthesis and antimicrobial activity evaluation of sydnonyl-substituted thiazolidine derivatives.

Some new sydnonyl-substituted thiazolidine derivatives were synthesized in high yields by the modified Knoevenagel condensation of 3-aryl-4-formylsydnones with thiazolidine-2,4-dione and 2-thioxo-thiazolidine-4-one, respectively. All the synthesized thiazolidine derivatives were screened by paper-disc method to identify their antimicrobial activities against three bacteria viz. Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus vulgaris and Escherichia coli, and two fungal cultures viz.

Erythrocytic mobilization enhanced by the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor is associated with reduced anthrax-lethal-toxin-induced mortality in mice.

Anthrax lethal toxin (LT), one of the primary virulence factors of Bacillus anthracis, causes anthrax-like symptoms and death in animals. Experiments have indicated that levels of erythrocytopenia and hypoxic stress are associated with disease severity after administering LT. In this study, the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) was used as a therapeutic agent to ameliorate anthrax-LT- and spore-induced mortality in C57BL/6J mice.

Cell adhesion as a novel approach to determining the cellular binding motif on the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus spike protein.

Emerging life threatening pathogens such as severe acute aspiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV), avian-origin influenzas H7N9, and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have caused a high case-fatality rate and psychological effects on society and the economy. Therefore, a simple, rapid, and safe method to investigate a therapeutic approach against these pathogens is required. In this study, a simple, quick, and safe cell adhesion inhibition assay was developed to determine the potential cellular binding site on the SARS-CoV spike protein.

Novel synthesis of palladium (II) complexes derived from 3-arylsydnone-4-carbaldehyde N(4)-phenylthiosemicarbazones and biological activity.

Objectives: The aim of this research is to investigate whether the oxygen atom O(6) in the sydnone ring of 3-arylsydnone-4-carbaldehyde N(4)-phenylthiosemicarbazones (HArSYTSCs, 3a-d) is a good electron donor atom upon metal complexation. Furthermore, ligands 3a-d and the corresponding palladium complexes (Pd(ArSYTSC)Cl, 4a-d) would be expected to find their potent biological activities.

Methods: The desired palladium complexes 4a-d were first synthesized from thiosemicarbazones 3a-d.

Suppressive effects of anthrax lethal toxin on megakaryopoiesis.

Anthrax lethal toxin (LT) is a major virulence factor of Bacillus anthracis. LT challenge suppresses platelet counts and platelet function in mice, however, the mechanism responsible for thrombocytopenia remains unclear. LT inhibits cellular mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), which are vital pathways responsible for cell survival, differentiation, and maturation.

Trimucytin, a collagen-like snake venom protein, activates platelets independent of I-domain within alpha2 subunit of alpha2beta1 integrin.

Trimucytin is a powerful platelet aggregation inducer isolated from the venom of Taiwan habu snake (Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus). In this study, we found that the snake venom protein, crovidisin, which prevents collagen-platelet interaction through its high-affinity binding to collagen, inhibited competitively trimucytin-induced aggregation of washed human platelets with a pA(2) value of 6.65.