Molecular epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant group in Taiwan.

particularly the group, is a major cause of nosocomial infections, and carbapenem-resistant spp. are important human pathogens. We collected 492 spp.

Familial coaggregation and shared genetic influence between major depressive disorder and gynecological diseases.

The mechanism underlying the co-occurrence of major depressive disorder (MDD) and gynecological diseases remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the familial co-aggregation and shared genetic loading between MDD and gynecological diseases, namely dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, uterine leiomyomas (UL), and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Overall, 2,121,632 females born 1970-1999 with parental information were enrolled from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD); 25,142 same-sex twins and 951,779 persons with full-sibling(s) were selected.

Sequential use of capsular typing and whole-genome sequencing-based analysis for transmission of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in a tertiary medical center.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increasing trend in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) caused by carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB), posting a global public health concern. The heightened sensitivity of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) renders it an optimal and potent tool for monitoring outbreaks and tracing the transmission routes of nosocomial pathogens.

Method: We collected CRAB isolates from March 1, 2023, to April 6, 2023 in Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Lin Kou branch, a tertiary medical center in northern Taiwan.

A population-based study of familial coaggregation and shared genetic etiology of psychiatric and gastrointestinal disorders.

Background: It has been proposed that having a psychiatric disorder could increase the risk of developing a gastrointestinal disorder, and vice versa. The role of familial coaggregation and shared genetic loading between psychiatric and gastrointestinal disorders remains unclear.

Methods: This study used the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database; 4,504,612 individuals born 1970-1999 with parental information, 51,664 same-sex twins, and 3,322,959 persons with full-sibling(s) were enrolled.

Genomic analysis of penicillin-binding proteins and recombination events in an emerging amoxicillin- and meropenem-resistant PMEN3 (Spain-3, ST156) variant in Taiwan and comparison with global descendants of this lineage.

From 2008 to 2020, the Taiwan National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System database demonstrated that the incidence of non-vaccine serotype 23A invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) approximately doubled. In this study, 276 non-repetitive pneumococcal clinical isolates were collected from two medical centers in Taiwan between 2019 and 2021. Of these 267 pneumococci, 60 were serotype 23A.

Identification of three capsule depolymerases in a bacteriophage infecting Klebsiella pneumoniae capsular types K7, K20, and K27 and therapeutic application.

Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae capsular types K1, K2, K5, K20, K54, and K57 are prevalent hypervirulent types associated with community infections, and worrisomely, hypervirulent strains that acquired drug resistance have been found. In the search for alternative therapeutics, studies have been conducted on phages that infect K. pneumoniae K1, K2, K5, and K57-type strains and their phage-encoded depolymerases.

Associations of polygenic risks, depression, and obesity-related traits in Taiwan Biobank.

Background: The comorbidity of obesity and major depressive disorder (MDD) may be attributable to a bidirectional relationship and shared genetic influence. We aimed to examine the polygenic associations between obesity and MDD and to characterize their corresponding impacts on the obesity mechanism.

Methods: Genome-wide genotyping was available in 106,604 unrelated individuals from Taiwan Biobank.

Causality of abdominal obesity on cognition: a trans-ethnic Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Obesity has been associated with cognition in observational studies; however, whether its effect is confounding or a reverse causality remains inconclusive. This study aimed to investigate the causal relationships of overall obesity, measured by body mass index (BMI), and abdominal adiposity, measured by waist-hip ratio adjusted for BMI (WHRadjBMI), and cognition across European and Asian populations using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.

Methods: We used publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary data of European ancestry, including BMI (n = 322,154) and WHRadjBMI (n = 210,088) from the GIANT consortium, and cognition performance (n = 257,828) from the UK Biobank and COGENT consortium.

Development of Capsule Polysaccharide-Conjugated Vaccine Candidates Using Phage Depolymerases.

is an important pathogen associated with nosocomial infection and has developed increasing resistance to antibiotics such as extended-spectrum β-lactams and carbapenem. In recent years, isolates have emerged as a major cause of global community-acquired infections such as pneumonia and pyogenic liver abscess. Although serotypes K1 and K2 have been identified as the predominant capsular types associated with invasive infections, no vaccine is commercially available, probably due to immunogenicity loss in the traditional depolymerization method to obtain capsule polysaccharide (CPS) for the preparation of conjugated vaccine.

Unprecedented outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus in Taiwan associated with ON1 variant emergence between 2010 and 2020.

An outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been observed in Taiwan since August 2020. We reviewed a central laboratory-based surveillance network established over 20 years by Taiwan Centres for Disease Control for respiratory viral pathogens between 2010 and 2020.A retrospective study of children <5 years old hospitalized with RSV infection at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital between 2018 and 2020 was conducted, and samples positive for RSV-A were sequenced.

Familial aggregation and shared genetic loading for major psychiatric disorders and type 2 diabetes.

Aims/hypothesis: Psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia (SCZ), major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BPD), are highly comorbid with type 2 diabetes. However, the mechanisms underlying such comorbidity are understudied. This study explored the familial aggregation of common psychiatric disorders and type 2 diabetes by testing family history association, and investigated the shared genetic loading between them by testing the polygenic risk score (PRS) association.

Global Genome Diversity and Recombination in Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Genomic changes in Mycoplasma pneumoniae caused by adaptation to environmental or ecologic pressures are poorly understood. We collected M. pneumoniae from children who had confirmed pneumonia in Taiwan during 2017-2020.

Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Reduce Second Cancer Risk in Patients With Breast Cancer: A Nationwide Population-Based Propensity Score-Matched Cohort Study in Taiwan.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) reduce mortality in patients with cancer, especially breast cancer, but their influence on second cancer risk is uncertain. This study aimed to examine whether NSAID use is associated with second cancer risk in patients with breast cancer. This population-based propensity score-matched cohort study using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database enrolled patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer (n = 7356) with and without (n = 1839) NSAID therapy from 2000 to 2009.

Exploring the association between capsular types, sequence types, and carbapenemase genes in Acinetobacter baumannii.

Acinetobacter baumannii is the main cause of nosocomial infections, which are increasingly difficult to treat due to the emergence of carbapenem resistance. This study focused on major carbapenemase genes and explored the association between carbapenemase genes, sequence types (ST types), and capsular types (K types). A total of 98 carbapenem-resistant A.

An Outbreak of (X6)-Carrying Tigecycline-Resistant Isolates with a New Capsular Type at a Hospital in Taiwan.

Dissemination of multidrug-resistant, particularly tigecycline-resistant, is of critical importance, as tigecycline is considered a last-line antibiotic. Acquisition of (X), a tigecycline-inactivating enzyme mostly found in strains of animal origin, imparts tigecycline resistance to . Herein, we investigated the presence of (X) variants among 228 tigecycline-non-susceptible isolates from patients at a Taiwanese hospital via polymerase chain reaction using a newly designed universal primer pair.

Bacterial factors required for Streptococcus pneumoniae coinfection with influenza A virus.

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae is a common cause of post-influenza secondary bacterial infection, which results in excessive morbidity and mortality. Although 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) vaccination programs have decreased the incidence of pneumococcal pneumonia, PCV13 failed to prevent serotype 3 pneumococcal disease as effectively as other vaccine serotypes. We aimed to investigate the mechanisms underlying the co-pathogenesis of influenza virus and serotype 3 pneumococci.

Associations Between Antidepressant Use and Advanced Diabetes Outcomes in Patients with Depression and Diabetes Mellitus.

Context: Comorbid depression in patients with diabetes deteriorates the prognosis. Antidepressants might attenuate the adverse effects of depression; however, they are associated with cardiometabolic adverse effects.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the association between antidepressant treatment and advanced diabetic complications and mortality among patients with depression and diabetes mellitus.

Association between the polygenic liabilities for prostate cancer and breast cancer with biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer.

Prostate and breast cancers are hormone-related malignancies and are characterized by a complex interplay of hundreds of susceptibility loci throughout the genome. Prostate cancer could be inhibited by eliminating androgens through castration or estrogen administration, thus facilitating long-term treatment of prostate cancer; however, the role of estrogen in prostate cancer remains unclear. This study aimed to determine whether polygenic risk scores (PRSs) comprising combinations of genome-wide susceptibility variants influence the clinical outcomes of prostate cancer patients.

Association between statin use and second cancer risk in breast cancer patients: a nationwide population-based cohort study.

Purpose: Many studies have revealed that statin therapy reduced mortality in cancer patients, especially in breast cancer, but the effect for second cancer was unclear. We, therefore, performed a comparable cohort study to determine the risk of second cancer in breast cancer patients with statin therapy.

Methods: Using claims data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Program, this study enrolled newly diagnosed breast cancer patients from 2000 to 2007 with and without statin therapy as the statin (n = 1222) and nonstatin (n = 4888) cohorts, respectively.

Association of capsular types with carbapenem resistance, disease severity, and mortality in .

emerged as one of the most important pathogens that causes nosocomial infections due to its increased multidrug resistance. Identifying capsular epidemiology in can aid in the development of effective treatments and preventive measures against this emerging pathogen. Here we established a -based method, and combined it with -PCR to determine capsular types of causing nosocomial bacteraemia collected at two medical centres in Taiwan from 2015 to 2017.

Novel Circulating Tumor Cell Assay for Detection of Colorectal Adenomas and Cancer.

Objectives: There is a significant unmet need for a blood test with adequate sensitivity to detect colorectal cancer (CRC) and adenomas. We describe a novel circulating tumor cell (CTC) platform to capture colorectal epithelial cells associated with CRC and adenomas.

Methods: Blood was collected from 667 Taiwanese adults from 2012 to 2018 before a colonoscopy.