MMP-10 from M1 macrophages promotes pulmonary vascular remodeling and pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by muscularized pulmonary blood vessels, leading to right heart hypertrophy and cardiac failure. However, state-of-the-art therapeutics fail to target the ongoing remodeling process. Here, this study shows that matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-1 and MMP-10 levels are increased in the medial layer of vessel wall, serum, and M1-polarized macrophages from patients with PAH and the lungs of monocrotaline- and hypoxia-induced PAH rodent models.

Combination therapy of iPSC-derived conditioned medium with ceftriaxone alleviates bacteria-induced lung injury by targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome.

The lung is the first and most frequent organ to fail among sepsis patients. The mortality rate of sepsis-related acute lung injury (ALI) is high. Despite appropriate antimicrobial therapy, no treatment strategies are available for sepsis-induced ALI.

Dual trajectories of loneliness and depression and their baseline correlates over a 14-year follow-up period in older adults: Results from a nationally representative sample in Taiwan.

Aims: To explore the codevelopment between loneliness and depression in older adults, and to identify its potential baseline individual, family and extrafamilial correlates.

Background: The number of older adults around the world has steadily increased over the last decades. Later life is a particularly vulnerable life stage due to multiple unfavourable conditions, and mental health in this stage appears to become an inescapable issue.

Impact of statin on long-term outcome among patients with end-stage renal disease with acute myocardial infarction (AMI): a nationwide case-control study.

Background: Use of statin has been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases events and mortality. However, in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), the protective effects of statin are controversial. To evaluate the impact of chronic statin use on clinical outcomes of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with ESRD.

Dexamethasone Downregulates Expressions of 14-3-3β and γ-Isoforms in Mice with Eosinophilic Meningitis Caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis Infection.

Steroids are commonly used in patients with eosinophilic meningitis caused by A. cantonensis infections. The mechanism steroids act on eosinophilic meningitis remains unclear.

Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester Rescues Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension through the Inhibition of AKT/ERK-Dependent PDGF/HIF-1α In Vitro and In Vivo.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by pulmonary arterial proliferation and remodeling, resulting in a specific increase in right ventricle systolic pressure (RVSP) and, ultimately right ventricular failure. Recent studies have demonstrated that caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) exerts a protective role in NF-κB-mediated inflammatory diseases. However, the effect of CAPE on PAH remains to be elucidated.

Effects of epinephrine on heart rate variability and cytokines in a rat sepsis model.

Catecholamines have both anti-inflammatory and vasoactive properties. A decreased cardiac response to catecholamines has been associated with a high risk of death in sepsis and septic shock. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of epinephrine (EPI) on heart rate variability (HRV) and autonomic balance, as well as cytokine levels, in a rat sepsis model.

Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Was Diagnosed Initially by the Computed Tomographic Angiogram.

Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) is a rare and progressive disease with non-specific signs and symptoms. A 50-year-old woman with IPAH presented to the emergency department (ED) with a complaint of episodic dyspnea that had persisted for the previous two months. Based on the fi ndings of the initial chest computed tomographic angiography conducted in the ED, we suspected pulmonary hypertension.

Application of time series analysis in modelling and forecasting emergency department visits in a medical centre in Southern Taiwan.

Objective: Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is acknowledged as an increasingly important issue worldwide. Hospital managers are increasingly paying attention to ED crowding in order to provide higher quality medical services to patients. One of the crucial elements for a good management strategy is demand forecasting.

Disseminated Nocardiosis with Lung, Liver and Spleen Abscesses in Sweet Syndrome: A Case Report.

Hepatic abscesses are rarely encountered in disseminated nocardia infections. We report a rare case of idiopathic Sweet syndrome (SS) who responded well to steroid therapy. However, he developed multiple abscesses in the lung, liver and spleen after 6 months of systemic steroid therapy.

Contribution of Hepatitis B to Long-Term Outcome Among Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Nationwide Study.

Although a possible association between hepatitis B and cardiovascular disease has been identified, the impact of viral hepatitis B on long-term prognosis after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is uncertain. Therefore, the aim of our study was to evaluate the specific impact of viral hepatitis B on survival after a first AMI through a retrospective analysis of data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database.This was a nationwide, propensity score-matched case-control study of patients admitted to hospitals between January 2000 and December 2012 with a primary diagnosis of a first AMI.

Therapeutic Benefits of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in Monocrotaline-Induced Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by progressive increases in vascular resistance and the remodeling of pulmonary arteries. The accumulation of inflammatory cells in the lung and elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines in the bloodstream suggest that inflammation may play a role in PAH. In this study, the benefits of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and iPSC-conditioned medium (iPSC CM) were explored in monocrotaline (MCT)-induced PAH rats.

Hepatic angiosarcoma may have fair survival nowadays.

Hepatic angiosarcoma (HAS) is rare but often fatal. A review of literature in 1979 found that only 3% of the 70 patients lived for more than 2 years, but the survival might have been improved over the years. We conducted a retrospective study and reviewed the medical records of patients who visited a teaching hospital in Taiwan from January 2000 to August 2010 and had pathological proof of HAS.

A rare but potentially lethal case of tuberculous aortic aneurysm presenting with repeated attacks of abdominal pain.

Tuberculous aortic aneurysm is an extremely rare disease with a high mortality rate. The clinical features of this condition are highly variable, ranging from asymptomatic with or without constitutional symptoms, abdominal pain to frank rupture, bleeding and shock. We herein report the case of a 56-year-old man with a large tuberculous mycotic aneurysm in the abdominal aorta with an initial presentation of repeated attacks of abdominal pain lasting for several months.

Recurrent Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis Unmasks Sjogren Syndrome without Sicca Symptoms.

Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis (HPP) may occur as a rare complication of Sjogren Syndrome (SS) and Renal Tubular Acidosis (RTA). A 64-year male patient came with HPP, and was later diagnosed with distal RTA. The patient, who had no xerostomia and xerophthalmia, was diagnosed with primary SS from serologic and histologic findings of minor salivary gland biopsy.

Chemokine co-receptor usage in HIV-1-infected treatment-naïve voluntary counselling and testing clients in Southern Taiwan.

Objective: The goal of this present study was to determine the proportion of CCR5-tropic and CXCR4-tropic viruses and impact of tropism test on clinical presentation, CD4 cell counts, viral load and genotypic drug resistance from drug-naïve, voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) clients in southern Taiwan.

Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Plasma samples were collected from HIV-1-infected patients from January 2013 to December 2013; subjects were recruited from free VCT centres in southern Taiwan.

Dexamethasone inhibits brain apoptosis in mice with eosinophilic meningitis caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection.

Background: Angiostrongylus cantonensis, the rat lungworm, is the major cause of eosinophilic meningitis worldwide. Rats serve as the definitive host of the nematode, but humans can be infected incidentally, leading to eosinophilic meningitis. A previous BALB/c animal study has demonstrated increased apoptotic proteins and decreased anti-apoptotic proteins in mice infected with A.

Ankylosing spondylitis associated with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a frequent complication of connective tissue diseases, such as systemic sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. However, the occurrence of PAH in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) has not been previously reported with a detailed clinical description in the English literature. We herein report the first case of AS associated PAH in a 27-year-old Taiwanese man with a chief complaint of intermittent palpitations lasting for two years.

Isolated hepatic tuberculosis mimicking liver tumors in a dialysis patient.

Cases of isolated hepatic tuberculosis (TB) are rare. The diagnosis is often delayed or missed because of nonspecific symptoms and laboratory findings. Besides, the disease is extremely rare even in a country where TB is an alarming public health problem.

Expression of CXCL2 in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with HIV and syphilis or neurosyphilis.

The potential mechanisms for blood-brain barrier damage and the diagnosis of neurosyphilis in HIV patients co-infected with syphilis (HIV-S) are unclear. The aim of the study was to determine the expression of CXCL2 in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of HIV-S patients. A total of 34 HIV patients and 7 controls were enrolled in a HIV clinical cohort for diagnosis of neurosyphilis in Taiwan.

Dexamethasone downregulated the expression of CSF 14-3-3β protein in mice with eosinophilic meningitis caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection.

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is the main causative agent of human eosinophilic meningitis in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. A previous study demonstrated that the 14-3-3β protein is a neuropathological marker in monitoring neuronal damage in meningitis. Steroids are commonly used in patients with eosinophilic meningitis caused by A.

The effect of failure mode and effect analysis on reducing percutaneous coronary intervention hospital door-to-balloon time and mortality in ST segment elevation myocardial infarction.

Background: Door-to-balloon (D2B) time is an important factor in the outcome of ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention. We aimed to use failure mode and effect analysis to reduce the D2B time for patients with STEMI and to improve clinical outcomes.

Methods: There were three stages in this study.