Extracorporeal shockwave therapy rescued mouse critical limb ischemia via upregulating GPR120 against inflammation and promoting angiogenesis for restoring the blood flow in ischemic zone-experimental study.

Background: This study tested the hypothesis that extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ECSWT) effectively rescues critical limb ischemia (CLI) in mice through the upregulation of GPR120, which protects against inflammation and angiogenesis to restore blood flow in the ischemic area.

Methods And Results: Compared with the control, ECSWT-induced GPR120-mediated anti-inflammatory effects significantly suppressed the expression of inflammatory signaling biomarkers (TAK1/MAPK family/NF-κB/IL-1β/IL-6/TNF-α/MCP-1) in HUVECs, and these effects were abolished by silencing GPR120 or by the GPR120 antagonist AH7614 (all P < 0.001).

High Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index Risk as a Predictor of Postoperative Complications and Early Mortality in Older Adult Patients Undergoing Pancreatoduodenectomy for Periampullary Malignancies.

Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is a major surgery associated with significant morbidity and mortality, especially in older adult patients. Malnutrition is a common complication in these patients and is linked to poorer outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the associations between preoperative nutritional status using the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) and postoperative outcomes in older adult patients who underwent PD.

A novel mutation, T96I, is associated with sperm head and annulus defects.

Infertility affects around 8%-12% of reproductive-aged couples and is a major health concern. Both genetic and environmental factors influence male infertility. is a crucial testis-specific gene essential for the final differentiation of male germ cells and is strongly linked to male infertility due to numerous detected mutations.

Surgical interventions for degenerative cervical disease: Impact on patient quality of life, mental health, pain relief, and spiritual health.

Introduction: Degenerative cervical diseases can severely affect patients' quality of life (QOL), mental health, and physical function. While surgical intervention is a common treatment, its impact on holistic well-being, including spiritual health, has not been thoroughly explored. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of surgery on QOL, pain-related disability, mental health, and spiritual well-being in patients with degenerative cervical diseases.

Integrated multi-omics analyses of oral squamous cell carcinoma reveal precision patient stratification and personalized treatment strategies.

Oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), a leading subtype of head and neck cancer, exhibits high global incidence and mortality rates. Despite advancements in surgery and radiochemotherapy, approximately one-third of patients experience relapse. To improve current targeted and immunotherapy strategies for recurrent OSCC, we conducted multi-omics analyses on pretreatment OSCC samples (cohorts 1 and 2, n=137) and identified A3A and EGFR, both at the RNA and protein levels, as inversely expressed markers for patient stratification and response prediction.

Prognostic significance of diagnosis-to-surgery interval in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma: A nationwide study.

Background: The question as to whether prolonged diagnosis-to-surgery intervals (DSIs) may compromise survival outcomes in patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) remains unanswered. This nationwide study was designed to address this issue.

Methods: We analyzed data from 26,214 patients with first primary OCSCC identified in the Taiwanese Cancer Registry Database between 2011 and 2021.

Negative Prognostic Factors and Clinical Improvement Prediction Modeling for ESWT in Calcific Shoulder Tendinitis Using Artificial Intelligence Techniques.

Background: The efficacy of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) for treating shoulder calcific tendinitis can be influenced by various prognostic factors. This study aimed to identify prognostic factors associated with the failure of ESWT for symptom relief and to evaluate the predictive capability of the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm of artificial intelligence techniques in this context.

Methods: This retrospective study enrolled patients with persistent shoulder pain attributed to calcific tendinitis who underwent ESWT after failed conservative treatment between January 1998 and December 2022.

Two-year clinical outcomes of Taiwanese and other Asian ethnicities with atrial fibrillation treated with edoxaban in the ETNA-AF Asia registry.

Background: The non-vitamin K oral anticoagulant (NOAC), edoxaban, is approved for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in many Asian countries. Nonetheless, data on its long-term effectiveness and safety in routine clinical practice are limited in Taiwan.

Methods: The Global ETNA-AF (Edoxaban Treatment in routiNe clinical prActice) registry is an observational study that integrates data of AF patients receiving edoxaban from multiple regional registries.

Corrigendum to "Chinese herbal medicine may reduce major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with dialysis hypotension: A Taiwan nationwide cohort study" [J Tradit Complementary Med 14, Issue 5 (September 2024), 550-557].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.jtcme.

A case of Sjögren's syndrome with selective anion exchanger 1 defect causing distal renal tubular acidosis.

Distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA) is a significant clinical expression of Sjögren's syndrome (SS). While SS-related dRTA is traditionally linked to impaired H-ATPase, we report a unique case demonstrating selectively decreased anion exchanger 1 (AE1) expression with preserved H-ATPase expression. A 16-year-old girl with SS presented with muscle weakness, difficulty in ambulation, and severe hypokalemia.

Continuing anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody after secondary resection significantly prolongs overall survival for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who were responsive to first-line anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody plus chemotherapy doublet.

The combination of anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibodies (mAb) and doublet chemotherapy is the standard first-line treatment for patients with wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Some patients may require secondary resection after first-line treatment. However, it remains unclear whether targeted therapy should be continued after liver resection.

Chronic low-dose REV-ERBs agonist SR9009 mitigates constant light-induced weight gain and insulin resistance via adipogenesis modulation.

Background: Obesity and circadian rhythm disruption are significant global health concerns, contributing to an increased risk of metabolic disorders. Both adipose tissue and circadian rhythms play critical roles in maintaining energy homeostasis, and their dysfunction is closely linked to obesity. This study aimed to assess the effects of chronic low-dose SR9009, a REV-ERB ligand, on circadian disruption induced by constant light exposure in mice.

Pancreatic stent improves the success rate of needle-knife papillotomy in patients with difficult biliary cannulation.

Background: Needle-knife precut papillotomy (NKP) is typically performed freehand. However, it remains unclear whether pancreatic stent (PS) placement can improve the outcomes of NKP.

Aim: To explore whether PS placement improves the success rate of NKP in patients with difficult biliary cannulation.

Feasibility and Safety of Distal Radial Artery Access with Recanalization of a Chronic Radial Artery Occlusion for Subsequent Coronary Angiography and Intervention.

Aims: This study aims to verify the feasibility and safety of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) after a distal transradial approach (dTRA) with radial artery occlusion (RAO) recanalization.

Methods: Between July 2018 and January 2022, 30 patients underwent PCI following attempted RAO recanalization via dTRA. Among these cases, the target radial arteries could not be recanalized in five patients, necessitating alternative vascular access.

Audiological Features in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review.

Hearing impairment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis has been underestimated for decades. Rheumatoid arthritis can affect both the middle ear (specifically, the incudomalleolar and incudostapedial joints) and inner ear (including the cochlea and acoustic nerve) simultaneously. Despite ongoing research, consensus on effective treatments for hearing impairment in these patients remains elusive.

Intrauterine Adhesion-Induced Septated Amniotic Cavity: Ultrasonographic Findings in Second and Third Trimesters.

A 40-year-old woman who had obstetric history of one vaginal delivery and two surgical abortions to terminate early pregnancy received regular prenatal care without any systemic maternal diseases. During the detailed second trimester ultrasound, a homogenous adhesion-induced pseudocystic lesion of 8.6 × 7.

Identification of diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common psychiatric condition among children and adolescents, often associated with a high risk of psychiatric comorbidities. Currently, ADHD diagnosis relies exclusively on clinical presentation and patient history, underscoring the need for clinically relevant, reliable, and objective biomarkers. Such biomarkers may enable earlier diagnosis and lead to improved treatment outcomes.

Automatic segmentation of white matter lesions on multi-parametric MRI: convolutional neural network versus vision transformer.

Background And Purpose: White matter hyperintensities in brain MRI are key indicators of various neurological conditions, and their accurate segmentation is essential for assessing disease progression. This study aims to evaluate the performance of a 3D convolutional neural network and a 3D Transformer-based model for white matter hyperintensities segmentation, focusing on their efficacy with limited datasets and similar computational resources.

Materials And Methods: We implemented a convolution-based model (3D ResNet-50 U-Net with spatial and channel squeeze & excitation) and a Transformer-based model (3D Swin Transformer with a convolutional stem).

Circulating resistin levels and mutation burden of the RETN gene variants predict long-term mortality in a Taiwanese population.

Human resistin is a proinflammatory cytokine involving the development and progression of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. However, prediction of long-term outcome using circulating resistin level and its genetic determinants in a population-based study remain to be explored. After genome-wide association study (GWAS), DNA methylation (DNAm) analysis and functional assays of a RETN rs370006313 variant, we tested whether resistin level and its genetic determinants can be used to determine the long-term outcomes of 5678 Taiwan Biobank (TWB) participants.

Correlation Between Low Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and High Mortality Rates in Adult Trauma Patients With Moderate-to-Severe Brain Injuries.

White blood cell (WBC) subtypes reflect immune and inflammatory conditions in patients. This study aimed to examine the association between the ratio of platelets to WBC subtypes and mortality outcomes in patients with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). The Trauma Registry System of the hospital was retrospectively reviewed to gather medical records of 2397 adult patients who were hospitalized from 2009 to 2020 and had moderate-to-severe TBI with a head abbreviated injury scale (AIS) score of 3 or higher.

Generalized pustular psoriasis: immunological mechanisms, genetics, and emerging therapeutics.

Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is a rare human autoinflammatory disorder with life-threatening systemic effects. Keratinocyte-derived interleukin (IL)-36 signaling has been identified as a key mediator of immune response in the skin of affected individuals. Recognition of various mutations along the IL-36 axis and the downstream nuclear transcription factor κB (NF-κB) signaling have established GPP as genetically, immunologically, and histopathologically distinct and amenable to immunomodulation, which is epitomized by the recent success of IL-36 antagonism.