Transfer of patient's peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) disrupts blood-brain barrier and induces anti-NMDAR encephalitis: a study of novel humanized PBMC mouse model.

Background: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is a severe autoimmune neuropsychiatric disease. Brain access of anti-NMDAR autoantibody through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is essential for pathogenesis. Most previous animal models limit the investigation of etiologies of BBB damage in patients.

Advanced liver fibrosis predicts heart failure and hospitalizations in people with type 2 diabetes: A prospective cohort study from Hong Kong Diabetes Register.

Aims: We aimed to examine the impact of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) on the clinical outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Methods: Between 2013 and 2014, 1,734 patients with T2D underwent transient elastography (TE) to assess liver status indicated by controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) and liver stiffness measurement (LSM). Liver steatosis was defined by CAP ≥ 248 dB/m and advanced liver fibrosis by LSM ≥ 10 kPa.

Fusaric acid inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis through triggering endoplasmic reticulum stress in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.

Breast cancer has replaced lung cancer to be the leading cancer in the world. Currently, chemotherapy is still the major method for breast cancer therapy, but its overall effect remains unsatisfactory. Fusaric acid (FSA), a mycotoxin derived from fusarium species, has shown potency against the proliferation of several types of cancer cells, but its effect on breast cancer cells has not been examined.

A differentiation protocol for the generation of pancreatic beta-like cells from human embryonic stem cells.

By virtue of their capability to replicate and regenerate, human stem-cell-derived beta-like cells could be a valuable resource for cellular therapy targeting insulin-dependent diabetes. Here, we present a protocol to generate beta-like cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). We first describe steps for differentiation of beta-like cells from hESCs and CD9-negative beta-like cell enrichment through fluorescence-activated cell sorting.

Performance of eye sign combined with increased interleukin-6 in cerebrospinal fluid in patients with neuropsychiatric lupus erythematosus.

Objectives: To ascertain whether microvascular alterations of eye sign combined with intrathecal concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6) can predict the development of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE).

Methods: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples of IL-6 were collected and measured at the same time for patients with SLE who were consecutively enrolled. Patients with a diagnosis of NPSLE were identified.

Anti-HPV16 oncoproteins siRNA therapy for cervical cancer using a novel transdermal peptide PKU12.

In this study, an innovative transdermal peptide, #PKU12, was developed based on transdermal peptide TD-1, and the anti-tumor effect of PKU12-based siRNA against HPV was investigated . Furthermore, transcriptome differences between PKU12 + siRNA treatment and control groups were compared to assess treatment effects. The top five upregulated and downregulated genes identified by RNA sequencing were further subjected to survival analysis.

Neuroimaging standards for research into small vessel disease-advances since 2013.

Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is common during ageing and can present as stroke, cognitive decline, neurobehavioural symptoms, or functional impairment. SVD frequently coexists with neurodegenerative disease, and can exacerbate cognitive and other symptoms and affect activities of daily living. Standards for Reporting Vascular Changes on Neuroimaging 1 (STRIVE-1) categorised and standardised the diverse features of SVD that are visible on structural MRI.

The role of m6A mRNA modification in normal and malignant hematopoiesis.

Hematopoiesis is a highly orchestrated biological process sustaining the supply of leukocytes involved in the maintenance of immunity, O2 and CO2 exchange, and wound healing throughout the lifetime of an animal, including humans. During early hematopoietic cell development, several waves of hematopoiesis require the precise regulation of hematopoietic ontogeny as well as the maintenance of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in the hematopoietic tissues, such as the fetal liver and bone marrow. Recently, emerging evidence has suggested the critical role of m6A messenger RNA (mRNA) modification, an epigenetic modification dynamically regulated by its effector proteins, in the generation and maintenance of hematopoietic cells during embryogenesis.

Inflammation is associated with incident hypertension in patients with axial spondyloarthritis: A longitudinal cohort study.

Objectives: To elucidate the risk factors for the development of incident hypertension (IHT) in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in axSpA patients who were recruited from 2001 to 2019 from a university clinic in Hong Kong. Patients with HT and/or anti-hypertensive drug use at baseline were excluded.

Risk factors for sessile serrated lesions among Chinese patients undergoing colonoscopy.

Background And Aim: Serrated polyps have been recognized as a premalignant lesion accounting for a significant proportion of colorectal cancer. Limited data are available regarding the risk factors for colorectal sessile serrated lesions (SSLs). We aimed to investigate clinical risk factors of SSLs and compared them with colorectal adenomas in a study population of Chinese individuals.

Comparing machine learning-derived MRI-based and blood-based neurodegeneration biomarkers in predicting syndromal conversion in early AD.

Introduction: We compared the machine learning-derived, MRI-based Alzheimer's disease (AD) resemblance atrophy index (AD-RAI) with plasma neurofilament light chain (NfL) level in predicting conversion of early AD among cognitively unimpaired (CU) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subjects.

Methods: We recruited participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) who had the following data: clinical features (age, gender, education, Montreal Cognitive Assessment [MoCA]), structural MRI, plasma biomarkers (p-tau , NfL), cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers (CSF) (Aβ42, p-tau ), and apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 genotype. We defined AD using CSF Aβ42 (A+) and p-tau (T+).

Team-Based Diabetes Care in Ontario and Hong Kong: a Comparative Review.

Purpose Of Review: There are gaps in implementing and accessing team-based diabetes care. We reviewed and compared how team-based diabetes care was implemented in the primary care contexts of Ontario and Hong Kong.

Recent Findings: Ontario's Diabetes Education Programs (DEPs) were scaled-up incrementally.

SVsearcher: A more accurate structural variation detection method in long read data.

Structural variations (SVs) represent genomic rearrangements (such as deletions, insertions, and inversions) whose sizes are larger than 50bp. They play important roles in genetic diseases and evolution mechanism. Due to the advance of long-read sequencing (i.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug target gene associations with major depressive disorders: a Mendelian randomisation study integrating GWAS, eQTL and mQTL Data.

Previous observational studies reported associations between non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and major depressive disorder (MDD), however, these associations are often inconsistent and underlying biological mechanisms are still poorly understood. We conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomisation (MR) study to examine relationships between genetic variants and NSAID target gene expression or DNA methylation (DNAm) using publicly available expression, methylation quantitative trait loci (eQTL or mQTL) data and genetic variant-disease associations from genome-wide association studies (GWAS of MDD). We also assessed drug exposure using gene expression and DNAm levels of NSAID targets as proxies.

Effect of food additives on key bacterial taxa and the mucosa-associated microbiota in Crohn's disease. The ENIGMA study.

Food additives have been linked to the pro-inflammatory microbial dysbiosis associated with Crohn's disease (CD) but the underlying ecological dynamics are unknown. Here, we examine how selection of food additives affects the growth of multiple strains of a key beneficial bacterium (), axenic clinical isolates of proinflammatory bacteria from CD patients (, and spp.), and the consortia of mucosa-associated microbiota recovered from multiple Crohn's disease patients.

Implementation of ovarian tissue cryopreservation in Hong Kong.

Introduction: Worldwide, >130 babies have been born from ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) and ovarian tissue transplantation (OTT). Ovarian tissue cryopreservation can improve quality of life among young female cancer survivors. Here, we assessed the feasibility of OTC and subsequent OTT in Hong Kong via xenografts in nude mice.

Updated epidemiology of gastrointestinal cancers in East Asia.

Globally, gastrointestinal cancers represent more than one-fourth of all cancer incidence and one-third of cancer-related mortality. Although there has been much progress in screening colorectal cancer, the prognosis of other gastrointestinal cancers tends to be poor. The highest burden of gastrointestinal cancers, including stomach, liver, oesophageal and gallbladder cancers, was observed in regions in East Asia.