Publications by authors named "Kuang-Che Kuo"

Purpose: To assess the role of the interleukin (IL)-17 A/IL-17 receptor A (IL-17RA) in Kawasaki disease (KD)-related coronary arteritis (CA).

Methods: In human study, the plasma levels of IL-17 A and coronary arteries were concurrently examined in acute KD patients. In vitro responses of human coronary endothelial cells to plasma stimulation were investigated with and without IL-17RA neutralization.

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Background: Vaccinating adolescents is a vital strategy to enhance population protection without imposing overly restrictive measures on our daily lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. As teenagers gain more independence, their willingness to get vaccinated may depend on their own understanding of the pandemic, vaccines, and mental well-being, as well as that of their caregivers. Our study aimed to examine how Taiwanese adolescents and their caregivers perceive COVID-19 vaccination and assess their mental health status.

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  • Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis mainly affecting children under 5, with potential links to genetic factors and infections.
  • A study examined the immune responses of 90 KD patients compared to 69 non-KD controls after COVID-19 infection and varying doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine.
  • Results showed KD patients had lower binding antibodies but higher neutralizing antibodies to certain SARS-CoV-2 variants after receiving one vaccine dose, indicating they may develop a similar immune response to non-KD individuals.
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Hyperbilirubinemia is a common pathological condition in neonates. Free bilirubin can penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which can lead to bilirubin neurotoxicity. In the context of predicting the risk of bilirubin neurotoxicity, although the specificity and sensitivity of free bilirubin levels are higher than those of total serum bilirubin (TSB), free bilirubin is not widely monitored in clinical practice.

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In November 2022, 68% of the population received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines. Owing to the ongoing mutations, especially for the variants of concern (VOCs), it is important to monitor the humoral immune responses after different vaccination strategies. In this study, we developed a SARS-CoV-2 variant protein microarray that contained the spike proteins from the VOCs, e.

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  • A study aimed to update antibiotic resistance data for Salmonella in pediatric patients, focusing on non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) infections from 2004 to 2019.
  • The research found 1583 NTS isolates, with serogroup C2 linked to severe infections in children under 2 years old, while older children mostly had serogroups D and E.
  • Ceftriaxone remains effective as a treatment despite some resistance noted in serogroups B and E, and increased surveillance of antibiotic resistance is recommended.
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  • Ibuprofen, used to treat patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in neonates, may impact bilirubin levels, potentially causing hyperbilirubinemia, prompting a study to evaluate its effects based on birth weight.
  • A retrospective analysis of neonates from a Taiwan hospital was conducted, excluding those with certain conditions, to assess changes in total serum bilirubin (TSB) levels before and after ibuprofen administration and during phototherapy.
  • Results showed that neonates with lower birth weights experienced a greater increase in TSB levels after ibuprofen use, highlighting a correlation where the average TSB increase was inversely related to birth weight.
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Previous studies had showed that indigenous clones of Salmonella Typhi and S. Paratyphi were originally imported from other countries in Taiwan. We presented the clinical manifestations and laboratory findings of indigenous and imported enteric fever cases in Taiwan in the current decade.

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  • * Data from over 1.6 million birth records in Taiwan were analyzed, identifying 285 cases of BA, which contributes to understanding the potential maternal factors influencing this condition.
  • * The findings suggest that addressing maternal health problems could be crucial in preventing biliary atresia, indicating a need for further research into risk factors and the condition’s underlying mechanisms.
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Kawasaki disease (KD) is a febrile coronary vasculitis that affects younger children and includes complications such as coronary artery aneurysm. KD diagnoses are diagnosed based on clinical presentations, a process that still poses a challenge for front-line physicians. In the current study, we developed a novel predictor using the hemoglobin-for-age z-score (HbZ) and plasma hepcidin to differentiate Kawasaki disease (KD) from febrile children (FC).

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Objectives The multi-center clinical microbiological study in Taiwan aimed to evaluate the impact of childhood PCV13 immunization on pneumococcal disease, and the magnitude of serotype replacement in invasive and non-invasive pneumococcal disease among all age groups. Methods The study of culture-confirmed pneumococcal disease (CCPD) was conducted at four hospitals across Taiwan in 2015-2018. Pneumococcal pneumonia was defined as clinical diagnosis with positive sputum or bronchoalveolar lavage culture.

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  • Kawasaki disease (KD) is a serious childhood inflammation that affects blood vessels, particularly the coronary arteries, and this study shifts focus to the genes that are suppressed during the acute phase of the disease.
  • Researchers analyzed gene expression in 18 KD patients and various control groups using advanced techniques and identified 99 genes that were downregulated, including notable targets like CDR2 and DDX24.
  • The findings suggest that understanding these suppressed genes, particularly CDR2, could have important clinical implications and help explain the development of coronary artery lesions (CAL) in KD patients after treatment.
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Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) is a form of febrile vasculitis that primarily occurs in children. It can cause inflammation of the coronary arteries, which leads to aneurysms. The pathogenesis of coronary arteries may be associated with apoptosis or pyroptosis mediated by caspases activity, but this idea has not been discussed much in KD.

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Introduction: Patients with hemoglobinopathies have been reported to have higher rates of pulmonary complications. Few studies have investigated the association between thalassemia and asthma in children.

Methods: We used the data of one million individuals randomly selected from the Registry for Beneficiaries of the National Health Insurance Research Database.

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Prenatal opioid exposure might disturb epigenetic programming in the brain of neonatal offspring with various consequences for gene expressions and behaviors. This study determined whether altered trimethylation of histone 3 at lysine 4 (H3K4me3) in the promoter of the tumor necrosis factor- () gene with neural cell apoptosis was involved in the ventral-medial striatum, an important brain region for withdrawal symptoms, of neonatal rat offspring from morphine-addicted mothers. Female adult rats were injected with morphine before gestation and until 14 days after giving birth.

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Background: Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a pneumonia-causing pathogen commonly found in pediatric patients in Taiwan. Recently, macrolide-resistant (MR) strains have been emerging globally. The prevalence of pneumonia due to MR-M.

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The activation of microglial cells plays an important role in the cascade of events leading to inflammation-mediated neurodegenerative disorders. Precision therapeutics require that adjunctively feasible drugs be found to prevent microglial cell activation and prevent inflammation-mediated neuronal injury. Dextromethorphan (DM) has been reported to possess neuroprotective effects in lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) stimulated animals; however, it remains unclear whether epigenetic regulatory mechanisms in microglial cells are involved in such DM-mediated neuroprotective effects.

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Kawasaki disease (KD) is the most common form of febrile coronary vasculitis disease to occur in children. Early diagnosis and proper therapy can prevent the complication of coronary artery lesions (CAL). The main pathogenesis of KD is an inflammatory process related to the host's genetic characteristics.

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Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common pathogen that causes community-acquired pneumonia. In the past, M. pneumoniae was sensitive to macrolide antibiotics, and M.

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Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa and nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) species may cause enteric illness with sepsis in infancy. The clinical predictors distinguishing the two pathogens have not been comprehensively evaluated in this population in Taiwan.

Methods: A retrospective matched case-control study was conducted in a teaching hospital in southern Taiwan from January 1, 2003 to January 30, 2019.

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Background: Mycoplasma pneumoniae is one of the major pathogens causing community-acquired pneumonia in children. Although usually self-limited, Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) may lead to complicated morbidity that can even be life-threatening. Upon MPP infection, alveolar macrophage becomes attracted and activated and will induce subsequent cytokine and chemokine reaction.

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Background: A regional antibiotic susceptibility data of common pathogens is crucial to first-line physician for clinical judgment and appropriate selection of antimicrobial agents. The aim of this study is to update the epidemiology data of drug resistance of pneumococcus causing invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in adults.

Methods: From the logbooks of microbiology laboratories, we retrospectively retrieved Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates, collected from normally sterile sites in adult patients in three hospitals in Taiwan from July 2011 to June 2015.

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