Treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in a primary care setting in Taiwan: comparison with secondary/tertiary care.

Background: This study investigated the status of diabetes control and management in patients treated in a primary healthcare setting and compared the results with data previously obtained for secondary/tertiary care patients in Taiwan.

Methods: This study was conducted at 51 primary healthcare stations randomly selected island-wide in Taiwan in 2001. A total of 1302 type 2 diabetes patients who had been followed-up for more than 1 year were included.

Human genetics of adiponectin in the metabolic syndrome.

Adiponectin, an adipose-derived plasma protein, has been well established to be an important biomarker for metabolic syndrome and its complications after exhausted studies in humans. Animal and cell culture experiments also support most claims from human observations of its roles in the metabolic syndrome. Reproducible results of human genetic studies of diverse ethnic origin and by different investigators may provide the evidence for its causative roles in the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome and further insight into the genetic constitutions of the metabolic syndrome.

Molecular pathology of Muller's muscle in Graves' ophthalmopathy.

Context: Upper lid retraction is a common sign in Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO). Whether Müller's muscle is involved in upper lid retraction has not been fully elucidated.

Objective: The objective of the study was to understand the molecular pathology of Müller's muscle in GO.

Comparisons of the outcomes on control, type of management and complications status in early onset and late onset type 2 diabetes in Asia.

Objective: To describe the clinical characteristics and chronic diabetic complications in early (EOD) and late onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (LOD) in Asia.

Research Design And Methods: Retrospective collection of information (basic patient data, treatment received for diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, clinical measurements, complications, life-style management, etc.) on paper form and prospective collection of blood samples for HbA(1c) assessment were performed.

Adiponectin levels among patients with chronic hepatitis B and C infections and in response to IFN-alpha therapy.

Aims: The study was designed to survey the change of adiponectin levels before and after interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B and C infections.

Methods: Twenty-one biopsy-proved patients with chronic hepatitis B (10 cases) and hepatitis C (11 cases) were given IFN-alpha for a total of 24 weeks. Fasting plasma glucose, insulin and adiponectin levels were obtained before and 12 weeks after completion of IFN-alpha therapy.

Change in vascular adhesion protein-1 and metabolic phenotypes after vertical banded gastroplasty for morbid obesity.

Objective: The association between circulating vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) and metabolic phenotypes has been shown to be inconsistent. The current study explored whether the changes in serum VAP-1 levels correlate with the changes in metabolic phenotypes after weight reduction surgery.

Research Methods And Procedures: Clinical characteristics and serum VAP-1 levels in 20 morbidly obese subjects (mean BMI 38.

Impact of apolipoprotein A5 polymorphisms on insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function.

Objectives: Alternation in lipid metabolism can affect both insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function. Apolipoprotein A5 (APOA5) is an important determinant of lipid metabolism. The impact of the APOA5 gene on insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function has not been examined.

An autosomal genome-wide scan for loci linked to pre-diabetic phenotypes in nondiabetic Chinese subjects from the Stanford Asia-Pacific Program of Hypertension and Insulin Resistance Family Study.

Type 2 diabetes is a complex disease involving both genetic and environmental components. Abnormalities in insulin secretion and insulin action usually precede the development of type 2 diabetes and can serve as good quantitative measures for genetic mapping. We therefore undertook an autosomal genomic search to locate the quantitative trait locus (QTL) linked to these traits in 1,365 nondiabetic Chinese subjects from 411 nuclear families.

Biethnic comparisons of autosomal genomic scan for loci linked to plasma adiponectin in populations of Chinese and Japanese origin.

Adiponectin is secreted by adipocytes and is thought to have insulin-sensitizing and antiatherogenic effects. Two previous genome scans for plasma adiponectin have identified different regions for European and Pima Indian populations. We here present multipoint linkage analysis of adiponectin levels using a variance-components model for 1007 siblings (from 360 nuclear families) of Chinese origin and 352 siblings (from 147 nuclear families) of Japanese origin.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in protein tyrosine phosphatase 1beta (PTPN1) are associated with essential hypertension and obesity.

Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1beta (PTP-1beta) is involved in the regulation of several important physiological pathways. It regulates both insulin and leptin signaling, and interacts with the epidermal- and platelet-derived growth factor receptors. The gene is located on human chromosome 20q13, and several rare single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been shown to be associated with insulin resistance and diabetes in different populations.

Association of leptin receptor polymorphism with insulin resistance.

Objective: Although the role of the leptin receptor (LEPR) in obesity is well recognized, its role in insulin sensitivity remains unknown.

Design: This was a cross-sectional study to investigate the impact of the Q223R polymorphism of the LEPR gene on insulin sensitivity.

Methods: Sixty-seven glucose-tolerant Caucasians were enrolled.

Association of paraoxonase 1 polymorphism with beta-cell function: a case of molecular heterosis.

Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is an antioxidant enzyme that inhibits the oxidative modification of LDL. Since PON1 has been shown to express in pancreatic islets and oxidative stress plays a role in beta-cell dysfunction, we investigated the impact of the PON1 polymorphisms on beta-cell function. This study included 84 healthy and glucose-tolerant white subjects who underwent an oral glucose tolerance test.

Sex-related differences between adiponectin and insulin resistance in schoolchildren.

Objective: To study the effect of body composition and adiponectin on insulin resistance and beta-cell function in schoolchildren during puberty.

Research Design And Methods: Plasma adiponectin level and its relationships with insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function were analyzed in 500 randomly recruited nondiabetic Taiwanese schoolchildren (245 boys and 255 girls) aged 6-18 years in a national survey program for diabetes in 1999. Insulin resistance and beta-cell function were evaluated by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA).

Plasma adiponectin levels and blood pressures in nondiabetic adolescent females.

Adiponectin is an adipose-derived plasma protein. Recently the plasma adiponectin levels have been linked to most variables of metabolic syndrome (MS) and risk factors of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, its relation with blood pressure is yet unclear.

National surveillance for type 2 diabetes mellitus in Taiwanese children.

Context: Despite a disturbing trend of increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) in childhood, little is known about the epidemiology of childhood type 2 DM, especially in the Taiwanese population.

Objective: To study the rate and risk factors for childhood type 2 DM based on a nationwide screening program in Taiwan.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Screening in 1999 for type 2 DM using urine and blood testing and confirmed by follow-up telephone survey among schoolchildren aged 6 to 18 years in Taiwan, followed by a nested case-control study conducted in 2002 comparing 137 children with type 2 DM with 1,000 randomly selected children without diabetes chosen to represent the age and sex distribution of the whole student population.

Comparison of the impact of the I27L polymorphism of the hepatocyte nuclear factor-1alpha on estimated and measured beta cell indices.

Objective: We investigated the impact of the I27L polymorphism of the hepatocyte nuclear factor-1alpha gene on measured and estimated beta cell indices. We also examined the conservation of this amino acid among different species.

Design And Methods: Estimated first and second phase insulin responses (1stPH(S) and 2ndPH(S)) were estimated from oral glucose tolerance tests in 78 glucose tolerant subjects.

Allele-specific differential expression of a common adiponectin gene polymorphism related to obesity.

Adiponectin gene polymorphisms have recently been reported to be associated with obesity, insulin sensitivity, and the risk of type 2 diabetes. We examined a T94G polymorphism of the adiponectin gene in 245 ostensibly normal nondiabetic subjects. The G allele frequency was lower among subjects with higher BMI (> or =27) than in those with lower BMI.

mRNA levels of the insulin-signaling molecule SORBS1 in the adipose depots of nondiabetic women.

Objectives: The SORBS1 gene has been shown to be an important adaptor protein in the insulin-signaling pathway in many molecular and cellular biology studies. However, its roles in humans either in health or disease are rarely explored. In this report, we measured the SORBS1 mRNA levels in human adipose tissues.

Childhood diabetes identified in mass urine screening program in Taiwan, 1993-1999.

Objective: To describe the gender differences in cases and characteristics of diabetes mellitus (DM) that can be identified from a mass urine screen program for school children in Taiwan.

Method: Screening for the childhood asymptomatic proteinuria and glucosuria began in 1992 for school children. Students were instructed to collect mid-stream samples of the first morning urine for glucosuria and proteinuria tests using urine strip devices.

A genome scan for hypertension susceptibility loci in populations of Chinese and Japanese origins.

Background: Our understanding of genes that predispose to essential hypertension is poor.

Methods: A genome-wide scan for linkage at approximately 10 cM resolution was done on 1425 sibpairs of Chinese and Japanese origins that were concordant for hypertension (N = 661), low-normal blood pressure (BP) (N = 184), or discordant for BP (N = 580).

Results: There was no significant evidence of linkage to a single locus in the genome.

Low birth weight and high birth weight infants are both at an increased risk to have type 2 diabetes among schoolchildren in taiwan.

Objective: To study the effect of birth weight on risk of type 2 diabetes in the schoolchildren in Taiwan.

Research Design And Methods: From 1992 to 1997, all schoolchildren aged 6-18 years were screened for diabetes in Taiwan Province. This cohort consisted of 1,966 patients with diabetes and 1,780 randomly selected subjects with normal fasting glycemia (NFG).

Plasma adiponectin levels in overweight and obese Asians.

Objective: Hypoadiponectin has been documented in subjects with obesity, diabetes mellitus, or coronary heart disease, suggesting a potential use of plasma adiponectin in following the clinical progress in subjects with metabolic syndrome (MS). In this study, we investigated the plasma adiponectin levels in relation to the variables of MS among overweight/obese Asian subjects.

Research Methods And Procedures: The plasma adiponectin, anthropometric and biochemical measurements, oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT), and modified insulin suppression tests were performed on 180 overweight/obese Asian subjects [body mass index (BMI) >or= 23 kg/m(2)], including 47 subjects with morbid obesity (BMI >or= 40 kg/m(2)).

The Arg16Gly polymorphism of human beta2-adrenoreceptor is associated with type 2 diabetes in Taiwanese people.

Objective: The significance of the association of amino terminal polymorphisms in beta2-adrenoreceptor (ADRB2) with obesity and type 2 diabetes is controversial and differs among ethnic groups. In this study, the association of ADRB2 with risk and age of onset of type 2 diabetes has been examined in a Taiwanese population.

Design: The study design is a case-control study to investigate the impact of the two amino acid polymorphisms in ADRB2.

Clustering and heritability of insulin resistance in Chinese and Japanese hypertensive families: a Stanford-Asian Pacific Program in Hypertension and Insulin Resistance sibling study.

The clustering between hypertension and other metabolic abnormalities related to insulin resistance syndrome (IRS) has been investigated in cross-sectional and prospective studies. Offspring studies have revealed that the clustering characteristics of IRS have familial components. However, it is not known whether the clustering also occurs in siblings (sibs) with different levels of blood pressure (BP).