Publications by authors named "Ming-Feng Liao"
Introduction: For patients with acute intermittent porphyria (AIP), a true attack could be difficult to distinguish from chronic abdominal pain. This study focused on treatment responses from two patients with confirmed elevated biochemical data (delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), porphobilinogen (PBG)) and clinical evidence for acute attacks before starting givosiran.
Methods: Data from patients who participated in the phase III givosiran trial in Taiwan between May 2018 and May 2021 were reviewed.
Article Synopsis
- - This study investigates the relationship between nerve ultrasound imaging and conventional nerve conduction studies in patients with distal symmetric sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN) caused by type 2 diabetes.
- - Researchers analyzed data from 103 diabetic patients, noting that a higher severity of DSPN correlated with larger cross-sectional area (CSA) of nerves, especially the tibial and ulnar nerves.
- - The findings indicate that the number of abnormal nerves is a strong predictor for ultrasound pattern scores (UPSS), highlighting a significant link between abnormal nerve conduction study results and ultrasound findings in DSPN patients.
Aims: This study aimed to identify metabolic markers for diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain (DPNP) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Materials And Methods: Blood metabolite levels in the amino acid, biogenic amine, sphingomyelin, phosphatidylcholine (PC), carnitines, and hexose classes were analyzed in nondiabetic control (n = 27), T2DM without DPNP (n = 58), and T2DM with DPNP (n = 29) using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Variable importance projection (VIP) evaluation by partial least squares discriminant analysis was performed on clinical parameters and metabolites.
Article Synopsis
- - This study explores the effects of comorbidities on the relapse rates of patients with Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) in Taiwan, based on data collected from 485 patients over 15 years.
- - The results showed that the median annualized relapse rates (ARR) were similar for adult and pediatric patients and that common comorbidities like malignancy and autoimmune diseases did not significantly affect ARR in the first three years post-diagnosis.
- - The researchers found a notably higher risk of malignancy in adult NMOSD patients compared to the general population, suggesting the need for further investigation into how these two conditions may be related.
Article Synopsis
- Various COVID-19 vaccines, including viral vector, mRNA, and inactivated types, have been linked to central nervous system inflammatory demyelinating diseases (CNS IDDs), with a case study highlighting the AstraZeneca vaccine and 78 other reported cases.
- The majority of the CNS IDD cases involved patients who received viral vector vaccines (62%), followed by mRNA (25.3%) and inactivated vaccines (12.7%), with male patients being more affected by viral vector vaccines.
- The study identified significant correlations between vaccine type, age, gender, and the presence of specific autoantibodies (like anti-MOG and anti-AQP4), suggesting the need for further research to understand underlying mechanisms and guide
Background: Distal symmetric sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN) is a common neurologic complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but the underlying mechanisms and changes in serum metabolites remain largely undefined. This study aimed to characterize the plasma metabolite profiles of participants with T2DM using targeted metabolomics analysis and identify potential biomarkers for DSPN.
Methods: A combined liquid chromatography MS/MS and direct flow injection were used to quantify plasma metabolite obtained from 63 participants with T2DM, 81 with DSPN, and 33 nondiabetic control participants.
Article Synopsis
- - The study focuses on myasthenia gravis (MG) patients experiencing myasthenic crises (MC) triggered by infections, highlighting a gap in prognostic factors for recurrent MC, which can worsen patient outcomes.
- - A total of 272 MG patients were analyzed, revealing that older patients and those with certain comorbidities, such as diabetes and specific electrolyte imbalances, are more likely to face recurrent infections.
- - Key findings indicated that pneumonia was the most common infection and identified various associated risk factors for recurrent infection-triggered MC, which can aid clinicians in tailoring prevention strategies.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the glymphatic system's role in clearing amyloid and tau proteins from the brain in Alzheimer's disease (AD), as previous research primarily focused on animal models without clear human evidence.
- A sample of 50 participants with AD and normal controls underwent various imaging and neuropsychological assessments, revealing that glymphatic activity negatively correlated with amyloid and tau deposits and positively correlated with cognitive function.
- Findings suggest that glymphatic system activity could mediates cognitive dysfunction in AD, indicating its potential as a biomarker for disease progression or treatment effects.
Article Synopsis
- - The study aimed to create a predictive model for how CIDP patients respond to immunotherapy by analyzing a variety of clinical and laboratory features from 172 untreated patients over a 16-year period.
- - Researchers identified three distinct clusters of patients based on their characteristics, with notable differences in disability scores, eligibility for demyelinating criteria, and responsiveness to pulse steroid therapy among the clusters.
- - The findings suggest that the new classification system, which demonstrated high accuracy (89.5%), could aid clinicians in selecting effective treatments and guide researchers in organizing patients for clinical trials.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the links between small fiber neuropathy, age, sex, and pain intensity in patients with Fabry's disease, aiming to clarify these relationships.
- Male Fabry patients experience higher pain thresholds and show a correlation between increasing age and pain intensity, with peak pain scores occurring between their 20s and 40s.
- Female Fabry patients display variable pain intensity and nerve fiber damage, resulting in less consistent associations compared to males, suggesting potential differences in disease progression between genders.
Neuropathic pain indicates pain caused by damage to the somatosensory system and is difficult to manage and treat. A new treatment strategy urgently needs to be developed. Both autophagy and apoptosis are critical adaptive mechanisms when neurons encounter stress or damage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Isaacs' syndrome is a peripheral nerve hyperexcitability (PNH) syndrome due to peripheral motor nerve instability. Acquired Isaacs' syndrome is recognized as a paraneoplastic autoimmune disease with possible pathogenic voltage-gated potassium channel (VGKC) complex antibodies. However, the longitudinal correlation between clinical symptoms, VGKC antibodies level, and drug response is still unclear.
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- Traumatic brain injury (TBI), especially mild TBI in juveniles (mTBI-J), can lead to long-term effects such as depression and other mental disorders, as studied in young male rats.
- While physical brain damage was minimal, mTBI-J subjects displayed significant depression-like behaviors, indicated by increased immobility in the forced swimming test and decreased sucrose preference.
- The study found reduced levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus of mTBI-J rats, suggesting a link between this protein and the observed behavioral changes, with potential therapeutic effects noted from a TrkB agonist treatment.
Article Synopsis
- Researchers are investigating plasma biomarkers for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) since no objective markers currently exist for tracking disease progression or treatment effects.
- The study measured 185 metabolites in 36 ALS patients and 36 matched controls using advanced techniques, revealing 44 metabolites that varied significantly between the two groups.
- A machine learning method achieved a high accuracy (AUC of 0.945) in distinguishing ALS from normal controls, indicating that certain metabolites could serve as potential biomarkers for monitoring ALS severity and treatment response.
Article Synopsis
- This study explores how stepper-based exercise training affects the fitness and health of nonambulatory hemiplegic stroke patients, as most existing data focuses on those who can walk.
- A total of 38 patients participated, with one group doing supervised exercise for 36 sessions, while the other group received usual care; various blood and fitness markers were tracked before and after the intervention.
- Results showed significant improvements in aerobic fitness and reductions in harmful blood components in the exercise group, suggesting that this type of exercise could be included in stroke rehabilitation programs for better outcomes.
Neuromuscular ultrasound is a complementary technology that aids in the diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy. The interpretation of neuromuscular ultrasound results requires the use of accurate normative cross-sectional area (CSA) reference values. This study aims to provide CSA reference values specific to Taiwanese adults for Sonography of peripheral nerves in the upper and lower extremities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOur previous studies have shown that early systemic granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) treatment can attenuate neuropathic pain in rats with chronic constriction injury (CCI) by modulating expression of different proinflammatory cytokines, microRNAs, and proteins. Besides the modulation of inflammatory mediators' expression, previous studies have also reported that G-CSF can modulate autophagic and apoptotic activity. Furthermore, both autophagy and apoptosis play important roles in chronic pain modulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a rare neuroinflammatory disorder of the central nervous system that typically involves the optic nerve, the spinal cord and other specific brain regions. In relapse of the disease, factors associated with clinical features and lesion severity are important for clinicians to predict disease-related disability.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 22 female patients with NMOSD who had spinal cord lesions.
Study Objectives: This retrospective study investigated prognostic factors and recovery time in patients with Bell's palsy after different doses and durations of oral glucocorticoid treatments.
Subjects And Methods: A total of 396 patients initially diagnosed with Bell's palsy that had visited the Department of Neurology of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, a tertiary referral medical center in Taiwan, between January 2014 and December 2018 were included. Medical records, facial electroneurography (fENoG), and blink reflex (BR) tests were reviewed and analyzed.
Article Synopsis
- The study examined the occurrence and risk factors for cancer in patients with dermatomyositis (DM) and polymyositis (PM) by analyzing medical records of over 2200 patients between 2001 and 2019.
- 61 patients with DM (5.55%) and 38 patients with PM (3.26%) were diagnosed with malignancies, with a notably higher cancer risk in DM patients compared to PM patients.
- Key risk factors included older age and low levels of creatine phosphokinase (CPK), suggesting potential immune dysfunction linked to cancer, prompting recommendations for annual follow-ups for early detection of malignancies.
Objectives: Blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption is a critical pathological process involved in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). Here, we characterized the profile of five cell adhesion molecules in patients with NMOSD.
Methods: We measured levels of cell adhesion molecules, including ICAM-1, ICAM-2, VCAM-1, PECAM-1, and NCAM-1, in the serum of 28 patients with NMOSD, 24 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and 25 healthy controls (HCs).
This cross-sectional study is aimed at determining the prevalence of distal symmetrical polyneuropathy (DSPN) and diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain (DPNP) in participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM); finding the risk factors for DSPN and DPNP via biochemical tests; and correlating DSPN and DPNP with the results of electrophysiologic studies, quantitative sensory tests, and neurologic examination. The 145 participants with T2DM enrolled were divided into the DSPN (abnormal nerve conduction studies (NCS) with signs of polyneuropathy), subclinical DSPN (abnormal NCS without signs of polyneuropathy), minimal DSPN (normal NCS with signs of polyneuropathy), and no DSPN groups. The biochemical risk factors of diabetic peripheral neuropathy were investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOur previous animal studies and several human clinical trials have shown that granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF) can attenuate neuropathic pain through various mechanisms. GCSF itself is also a multipotent cytokine that can modulate microribonucleic acid (microRNA) expression profiles in vitro. In this study, we used the NanoString nCounter analysis system to screen the expression of different rodent microRNAs at early stage after nerve injury and studied the expression of related cytokines/chemokines in the dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) of rats that underwent chronic constriction injury (CCI) to explore the underlying mechanisms of the analgesic effects of GCSF.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA method to perform exercise testing for patients with hemiplegia is unavailable though over half of them have cardio-pulmonary disorders. We aimed to assess the reliability and validity of using a stepper in cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in this population.14 stroke patients with hemiplegia who failed to ride the stationary bike were included.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVaricella-zoster virus (VZV) infection can cause chickenpox and herpes zoster. It sometimes involves cranial nerves, and rarely, it can involve multiple cranial nerves. We aimed to study clinical presentations of cranial nerve involvement in herpes zoster infection.
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