Serial changes in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease after sleeve gastrectomy and their associations with abdominal adiposity: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Little is known about the associations between changes in hepatic steatosis and changes in abdominal adiposity after metabolic bariatric surgery.

Objectives: To evaluate the serial changes in hepatic steatosis and abdominal adiposity following sleeve gastrectomy (SG).

Setting: University hospital, Taiwan.

Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes Mitigate Acute Murine Liver Injury via Ets-1 and Heme Oxygenase-1 Up-regulation.

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)-derived exosomes have been previously demonstrated to promote tissue regeneration in various animal disease models. This study investigated the protective effect of exosome treatment in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced acute liver injury and delineated possible underlying mechanism.

Methods: Exosomes collected from conditioned media of previously characterized human umbilical cord-derived MSCs were intravenously administered into male CD-1 mice with CCl-induced acute liver injury.

Improvement in Skin Penetration Capacity of Linalool by Using Microemulsion as a Delivery Carrier: Formulation Optimization and In Vitro Evaluation.

Linalool is an aromatic oil with analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-UVB-induced skin damage effects. The aim of this study was to develop a linalool-loaded microemulsion formulation for topical application. In order to quickly obtain an optimal drug-loaded formulation, statistical tools of the response surface methodology and a mixed experimental design with four independent variables of oil (X), mixed surfactant (X), cosurfactant (X) and water (X) were used to design a series of model formulations in order to analyze the effect of the composition on the characteristics and permeation capacity of linalool-loaded microemulsion formulations and to obtain an appropriate drug-loaded formulation.

Effect of Bacillus species-fermented products and essential oils on growth performance, gut morphology, cecal short-chain fatty acid levels, and microbiota community in broilers.

In this study, the effects of Bacillus species-fermented products (synbiotics [SYNs]) and essential oils (EOs) on the growth performance, gut morphology, cecal short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) levels, and microbiota of broilers were investigated. A total of 180 one-day-old unsexed broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to 5 dietary treatments as follows: basal diet (control group), basal diet plus enramycin (10 mg/kg; A group), basal diet plus SYNs (3 × 10 CFU spore/kg of feed; SYN group), basal diet plus EOs (100 mg/kg; EO group), and basal diet plus SYNs and EOs (SYN + EO group), with 6 replicate cages per treatment group and 6 birds per cage. The SYN+EO treatment resulted in a higher (P = 0.

Low disease awareness as a contributing factor to the high prevalence of hepatitis C infection in Tzukuan, a hyperendemic area of southern Taiwan.

Understanding the barriers and tackling the hurdles of hepatitis C virus (HCV) care cascades is key to HCV elimination. The current study aimed to investigate the rates of disease awareness, link-to-care, and treatment uptake of HCV in a hyperendemic area in Taiwan. Tzukuan residents from 2000 to 2018 were invited to participate in the questionnaire-based interviews for HCV.

Capsaicin attenuates imiquimod-induced epidermal hyperplasia and cutaneous inflammation in a murine model of psoriasis.

Psoriasis is one of the most common chronic inflammatory diseases that is characterized by well-defined erythematous plaques, with typical histopathological findings of lymphocytic infiltration and epidermal hyperplasia. Topical treatments of psoriasis are either associated with limited response or with side effects. Up to date, topicals targeting neuroimmune axis in psoriasis or psoriasiform dermatitis have not been explored.

Changing epidemiology and viral interplay of hepatitis B, C and D among injecting drug user-dominant prisoners in Taiwan.

The spreading of viral hepatitis among injecting drug users (IDU) is an emerging public health concern. This study explored the prevalence and the risks of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis D virus (HDV) among IDU-dominant prisoners in Taiwan. HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV) and HDV (anti-HDV), viral load and HCV genotypes were measured in 1137(67.

Significant amelioration of hepatitis C virus infection in a hyperendemic area: longitudinal evidence from the COMPACT Study in Taiwan.

Objectives: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the leading cause of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. Tzukuan, located in the southwestern area of Taiwan, is an HCV hyperendemic area (>30%). This study aimed to assess the changing epidemiological characteristics of HCV infection and to evaluate the long-term outcomes after the implementation of public health strategies for two decades.

Using Microemulsion as Carrier for Drug Transdermal Delivery: The Effect of Surfactants and Cosurfactants.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of types of surfactants and cosurfactants on physicochemical properties and permeability of sumatriptan-loaded microemulsions through rat skin.

Methods: Different types of surfactants and cosurfactants were used to prepare drug-loaded microemulsions. The physicochemical characters and permeability parameters of these formulations were measured.

Risk stratification of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease across body mass index in a community basis.

Background: The features and risk analysis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in a community-based setting remain elusive. The predictors between obese and lean subjects need further clarification. We aimed to assess the characteristics of NAFLD during a community screening.

Super-SILAC mix coupled with SIM/AIMS assays for targeted verification of phosphopeptides discovered in a large-scale phosphoproteome analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Unlabelled: Plentiful studies have established a close association between aberrant phosphorylation and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we applied a quantitative phosphoproteomics platform combining dimethylation labeling and online 3D strong cation exchange chromatography (SCX)-titanium oxide (TiO)/RP-LTQ-Orbitrap to compare phosphoproteomes between three pairs of HCC tissues and non-tumor counterparts. This analysis yielded 7868 quantifiable phosphopeptides and numerous up- or down-regulated candidates.

The feasibility of using manual segmentation in a multifeature computer-aided diagnosis system for classification of skin lesions: a retrospective comparative study.

Objectives: To investigate the feasibility of manual segmentation by users of different backgrounds in a previously developed multifeature computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) system to classify melanocytic and non-melanocytic skin lesions based on conventional digital photographic images.

Methods: In total, 347 conventional photographs of melanocytic and non-melanocytic skin lesions were retrospectively reviewed, and manually segmented by two groups of physicians, dermatologists and general practitioners, as well as by an automated segmentation software program, JSEG. The performance of CADx based on inputs from these two groups of physicians and that of the JSEG program was compared using feature agreement analysis.

Huge gap between clinical efficacy and community effectiveness in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C: a nationwide survey in Taiwan.

Peginterferon/ribavirin provides a substantially high treatment efficacy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections in Asians. Whether the clinical efficacy can be translated to community effectiveness remains unclear. The disease awareness, treatment accessibility, recommendations, acceptance, and barriers to anti-HCV treatment were explored to clarify the issue with a 3-step nationwide investigation in Taiwan.

Computer-aided diagnosis of skin lesions using conventional digital photography: a reliability and feasibility study.

Background: Computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) software that provides a second opinion has been widely used to assist physicians with various tasks. In dermatology, however, CADx has been mostly limited to melanoma or melanocytic skin cancer diagnosis. The frequency of non-melanocytic skin cancers and the accessibility of regular digital macrographs have raised interest in developing CADx for broader applications.

A robust hair segmentation and removal approach for clinical images of skin lesions.

Artifacts such as hair are major obstacles to automatic segmentation of pigmented skin lesion images for computer-aided diagnosis systems. It is even more challenging to process clinical images taken by a regular digital camera, where the shadows of the skin texture may mimic hair-like curvilinear structures. In this study, we examined the popular DullRazor software with a dataset of 20 clinical images.

Viral hepatitis infections in southern Taiwan: a multicenter community-based study.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are major causes of liver disease in Taiwan and have a great impact on the health of this country. This study investigated the seroprevalence of HBV and HCV in southern Taiwan. Screening programs were performed from September 1999 to August 2005 for community-based surveillance of liver disease.

Early identification of achieving a sustained virological response in chronic hepatitis C patients without a rapid virological response.

Background And Aim: A number of hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients without a rapid virological response (RVR) achieved a sustained virological response (SVR) with peginterferon-alpha-2a/ribavirin. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with SVR in non-RVR patients.

Methods: Baseline and on-treatment factors were used to explore the prognostic factors for SVR in 113 HCV genotype-1 (HCV-1) and 20 HCV-2 non-RVR patients in two randomized trials.

Efficacy and safety of topical tacrolimus for the treatment of face and neck vitiligo.

Vitiligo is a common acquired idiopathic hypomelanotic disorder characterized by circumscribed depigmented maculae. The conventional treatments are limited by their inconsistent and incomplete responses, relapse rate, inconvenience to apply, side-effects and especially long-term effects. The aim of the present study was to determine the efficacy and safety of topical tacrolimus as monotherapy for the treatment of face/neck vitiligo in Taiwan.

Efficacy and safety of pegylated interferon combined with ribavirin for the treatment of older patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Background: The present study evaluated the efficacy and safety of pegylated interferon (PegIFN)/ribavirin treatment in elderly patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Methods: Seventy elderly patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (group A; age, > or = 65 years) and 140 sex- and HCV genotype-matched controls (group B; age, 50-64 years) were allocated to receive a PegIFN-alpha-2a/ribavirin standard-of-care regimen.

Results: Group A had a significantly higher rate of treatment discontinuation (21.