Functional assessments of L. and L. leaf extracts on postprandial glucose control.

Diabetes is a leading cause of death, according to statistics published by the Department of Health, Executive Yuan of Taiwan. In modern medicine, diabetes can be controlled using various medications; however, some drugs often have undesirable side effects. It therefore became a goal to find plant-based material that can reduce glucose concentration in the blood while reducing the incidence of complications and not causing side effects.

, and extracts of guava and mulberry leaves present good inhibiting potential on obesity and associated metabolic disorders in high-fat diet obesity mice model.

This study aimed to investigate the anti-obesity effects of BALASAN (combinational guava leaf extract and mulberry leaf extract), and CC/BALASAN (CC/BAL) on high-fat diet-induced obese C57BL/6 mice and to explore possible mediating mechanisms in 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes. Oil red-O stain was used to test the effects of CC, BALASAN, and CC/BAL on the differentiation of 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes. Additionally, real-time PCR was used to detect the expression of genes involved in adipocyte differentiation and inflammation-related genes in adipose tissue of mice that were fed a high-fat diet.

The effects of NOS1 gene on asthma and total IgE levels in Taiwanese children, and the interactions with environmental factors.

Asthma is a complex disorder, which is known to be affected by interactions between genetic and environmental factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the three microsatellite polymorphisms of GT repeats in intron 2, AAT repeats in intron 20, and CA repeats in exon 29 of the NOS1 gene in 155 asthmatic children and 301 control children, and the interaction with environmental factors in southern Taiwan. Total serum IgE, phadiatop test and genetic polymorphisms were measured.

Extreme BMI predicts higher asthma prevalence and is associated with lung function impairment in school-aged children.

Background: The prevalence of obesity and asthma has increased in recent decades. We investigated the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and lung function, and also tried to determine if asthma prevalence differs between obese and non-obese children.

Methods: An International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) video questionnaire survey that included 170,457 students in junior high school was conducted during a 1-year period.

Exercise behavior in asthmatic children: effects of a summer camp fitness program in Taiwan.

This quasi experimental study aimed to examine the effects of a swimming-focused summer camp program on self-efficacy and exercise behavioral change in schoolchildren with asthma and their parental support. Forty-one asthmatic schoolchildren were recruited from a medical center and an asthma education association in southern Taiwan. The participants in the summer camp program were assigned to the experimental group; the control group comprised those who did not attend the summer camp program.

Efficacy of sublingual immunotherapy with high-dose mite extracts in asthma: a multi-center, double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled study in Taiwan.

Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) has been recommended as a viable alternative to subcutaneous injection therapy in the treatment of airway allergies, though more data is needed from well-controlled studies for documenting its efficacy in different ethnic populations. Ninety-seven children (age range 6-12 years), mild-to-moderate asthma with a single sensitization to mite allergen, were enrolled from 5 medical centers in Taiwan to evaluate the efficacy and safety of SLIT with standardized mite extracts, which contain Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (D.p.

Synergistic effect of multiple indoor allergen sources on atopic symptoms in primary school children.

Accumulating data show that the complex modern indoor environment contributes to increasing prevalence of atopic diseases. However, the dose-response relationship between allergic symptoms and complexity of indoor environmental allergen sources (IEAS) has not been clearly evaluated before. Therefore, we designed this study to investigate the overall effect of multiple IEAS on appearance of asthma (AS), allergic rhinitis (AR), and eczema (EC) symptoms in 1472 primary school children.

Cell-specific and developmental expression of phospholipase C-gamma and diacylglycerol in fetal lung.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR) regulates development of cell-cell communication in fetal lung, but the signal transduction mechanisms involved are unknown. We hypothesized that, in late-gestation fetal rat lung, phospholipase C-gamma (PLC-gamma) expression and activation by EGF is cell specific and developmentally regulated. PLC-gamma immunolocalized to cuboidal epithelium and mesenchymal clusters underlying developing saccules.