Efficacy of acupuncture in reducing accidental injury risk in stroke patients: A national-scale cohort study.

Background: Falls among stroke patients pose a significant health concern, leading to injuries, reduced mobility, and functional limitations. Recent research has suggested the potential benefits of acupuncture in enhancing balance and motor function in stroke patients. However, large-scale, long-term studies on acupuncture's role in reducing the risk of accidental injuries are scarce.

Unveiling the age-related dynamics in Sjögren's syndrome: Insights from heart rate variability and autonomic function.

Background: Sjögren's Syndrome (SS), mainly affecting women in their midlife, is characterized by persistent inflammation in glands producing tears and saliva, often leading to significant complications. This study investigates the differences in autonomic system functioning between individuals with SS and healthy controls.

Methods: From April 2019 to December 2022, 329 diagnosed primary SS (pSS) patients and 30 healthy controls were enrolled at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.

Incidence of nerve injury following acupuncture treatments in Taiwan.

Objective: Acupuncture, a widely employed traditional therapeutic modality known for its efficacy in pain alleviation and diverse condition management, may inadvertently result in mechanical nerve injury due to its invasive nature. This research aimed to ascertain the incidence of nerve injuries post-acupuncture, identify associated risk factors, and map the distribution of nerve injury sites.

Methods: A case-control study nested in the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) 2000-2018 two million cohort was conducted.

Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein induces p19(Ink4d) expression and inhibits the proliferation of H1299 cells.

The expression of polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB) is up-regulated in many types of cancer. Here, we studied the role of PTB in the growth of non small cell lung cancer cells. Data showed that PTB overexpression inhibited the growth of H1299 cells at least by inhibiting DNA synthesis.

Gene expression profiling suggests a pathological role of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in aging-related skeletal diseases.

Aging is associated with bone loss and degenerative joint diseases, in which the aging of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (bmMSC)[1] may play an important role. In this study, we analyzed the gene expression profiles of bmMSC from 14 donors between 36 and 74 years old, and obtained age-associated genes (in the background of osteoarthritis) and osteoarthritis-associated genes (in the background of old age). Pathway analysis of these genes suggests that alterations in glycobiology might play an important role in the aging of human bmMSC.

A region within the 5'-untranslated region of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha mRNA mediates its turnover in lung adenocarcinoma cells.

Previously, we showed that CL1-5 cells express more hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) than the parental CL1 cells, which bestows CL1-5 cells a stronger invasive activity. Here, we investigated the mechanisms underlying the differential expression of HIF-1alpha mRNA in CL1 and CL1-5 cells. Data showed that the transcription rate of HIF-1alpha gene in CL1 cells was slightly higher than that of CL1-5 cells, suggesting that the expression of HIF-1alpha mRNA in CL1 cells was repressed by post-transcriptional mechanisms.

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha regulates matrix metalloproteinase-1 activity in human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

We examined the mRNA levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (bmMSCs) of eight osteoarthritis patients. BmMSC-1, expressing higher HIF-1alpha mRNA and protein than bmMSC-5, elicited higher matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP1) activity and stronger invasive capacity. In vitro invasion assays and quantitative PCR analyses showed that targeted inhibition of HIF-1alpha in bmMSC-1 decreased its invasion and expressions of MMP1 and MMP3, whereas overexpression of HIF-1alpha in bmMSC-5 increased its invasion and expressions of MMP1 and MMP3.

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha regulates lung adenocarcinoma cell invasion.

We studied the role of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) in human lung adenocarcinoma cell invasion using a metastatic cell model composed of low invasive CL1 and highly invasive CL1-5 cells. We showed that HIF-1alpha was expressed in CL1-5 but not in CL1 cells under normoxic condition, and that inhibition of HIF-1alpha expression by a small interfering RNA decreased invasiveness of CL1-5 cells. Complementary, overexpression of HIF-1alpha increased the invasiveness of CL1 and gastric cancer SC-M1 cells.