Effects of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibition on portal hypertensive and cirrhotic rats.

Background: Portal hypertension is a pathophysiological abnormality with distinct vascular derangements associated with liver cirrhosis. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors are antidiabetic agents which exert pleiotropic vascular effects, but their relevant impact on portal hypertension and liver cirrhosis remains unclear. This study aims to clarify this issue.

Implantation of monocusp valve prolongs the duration of chest tube drainage in children with tetralogy of fallot after corrective surgery.

Background: Right ventricular outflow tract obstruction relief is one of the major procedures during the total correction of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). Pulmonary insufficiency (PI) is usually inevitable after a transannular incision with a patch repair is performed. Therefore, some surgeons advocate to place a monocusp valve within the transannular patch (TAP) in order to decrease the severity of the PI.

Safety and immunogenicity of CpG 1018 and aluminium hydroxide-adjuvanted SARS-CoV-2 S-2P protein vaccine MVC-COV1901: interim results of a large-scale, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial in Taiwan.

Background: MVC-COV1901, a recombinant protein vaccine containing pre-fusion-stabilised spike protein S-2P adjuvanted with CpG 1018 and aluminium hydroxide, has been shown to be well tolerated with a good safety profile in healthy adults aged 20-49 years in a phase 1 trial, and provided a good cellular and humoral immune responses. We present the interim safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity results of a phase 2 clinical trial of the MVC-COV1901 vaccine in Taiwan.

Methods: This is a large-scale, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial done at ten medical centres and one regional hospital in Taiwan.

The clinical significance of esophagogastric varices in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Background: The prevalence of esophagogastric varices (EGV) in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer is not rare. However, its clinical significance has never been investigated. This study was aimed to explore the clinical implication and outcomes of these patients.

Machine Learning Analysis of Time-Dependent Features for Predicting Adverse Events During Hemodialysis Therapy: Model Development and Validation Study.

Background: Hemodialysis (HD) therapy is an indispensable tool used in critical care management. Patients undergoing HD are at risk for intradialytic adverse events, ranging from muscle cramps to cardiac arrest. So far, there is no effective HD device-integrated algorithm to assist medical staff in response to these adverse events a step earlier during HD.

Effect of a Novel Macrophage-Regulating Drug on Wound Healing in Patients With Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Delayed healing of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) is known to be caused by dysregulated M1/M2-type macrophages, and restoring the balance between these macrophage types plays a critical role in healing. However, drugs used to regulate M1/M2 macrophages have not yet been studied in large randomized clinical trials.

Objective: To compare the topical application of ON101 cream with use of an absorbent dressing (Hydrofiber; ConvaTec Ltd) when treating DFUs.

Prevalence Trend of Myopia after Promoting Eye Care in Preschoolers: A Serial Survey in Taiwan before and during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

Purpose: To report the prevalence of preschool myopia after implementing a policy intervention promoting outdoor activities and the secular trend of myopia before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in a Taiwan preschool population.

Design: Repeated countywide population-based, cross-sectional surveys based on the Yilan Myopia Prevention and Vision Improvement Program (YMVIP).

Participants: Among 23 930 kindergarteners 5 to 6 years of age from 7 school-year cohorts in Yilan County from 2014 through 2020, a total of 21 761 children (90.

Analysis of NOTCH2NLC GGC repeat expansion in Taiwanese patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The GGC repeat expansion in the 5'-untranslated region of NOTCH2NLC was recently identified as the cause of neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease (NIID). To determine if the NIID repeat expansion contributes to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we screened 304 unrelated ALS patients and 637 healthy controls for the GGC repeat expansion in NOTCH2NLC using repeat-primed PCR and fragment analysis. None of the ALS patients carried the GGC repeat expansion.

Herbal and dietary supplement-induced liver injury in Taiwan: comparison with conventional drug-induced liver injury.

Background And Aims: Whether herbal and dietary supplements (HDS) are safer than Western conventional drugs is controversial. The aim of this study was to explore the characteristics and risk factors for HDS-induced liver injury (HILI) in Taiwan.

Methods: This is a 9-year multi-center prospective study conducted in Taiwan from 2011 to 2019.

Predictors of long-term recurrence and survival after resection of HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma: the role of HBsAg.

The recurrence rate remains high even under nucleos(t)ide analogues (NUCs) therapy in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after resection. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prognostic role of HBsAg in patients undergoing surgical resection for HBV-related HCC in NUCs era. Consecutive 522 patients undergoing surgical resection for HBV-related HCC were retrospectively enrolled.

Expanding the phenotype of AFG3L2 mutations: Late-onset autosomal recessive spinocerebellar ataxia.

The AFG3L2 gene encodes AFG3-like protein 2, which is a subunit of human mitochondrial ATPases associated with various cellular protease activities (m-AAA). The clinical spectrum of AFG3L2 mutations is broad. Dominant AFG3L2 mutations can cause autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxia type 28 (SCA28), whereas biallelic AFG3L2 mutations may lead to spastic ataxia 5 (SPAX5).

Visual outcomes and incidence of pseudophakic cystoid macular oedema in eyes with cataract and idiopathic epiretinal membrane after two-step sequential surgery.

Objectives: To determine whether pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) or cataract surgery should be performed first in concurrent epiretinal membrane (ERM) and cataract treatment with respect to visual outcome and pseudophakic cystoid macular oedema (PCMO) incidence.

Methods: Patients who underwent PPV and cataract surgery sequentially at a tertiary medical centre were retrospectively recruited. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central macular thickness (CMT) measured from optical coherence tomography (OCT) images collected before and after each surgery were documented.

Induction of Interferon-γ and Tissue Inflammation by Overexpression of Eosinophil Cationic Protein in T Cells and Exosomes.

Objective: T cells play a critical role in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Serum-derived exosomes are increased in SLE patients and are correlated with disease severity. This study was undertaken to investigate whether T cell-derived exosomal proteins play a role in SLE pathogenesis.

Drug-induced liver injury associated with severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions: A nationwide study in Taiwan.

Background & Aims: Severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions (SCARs) including Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) and acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP) are high-mortality adverse drug reactions. The risk factors and prognosis of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) concomitant with SCAR warrant clarification. We aimed to evaluate the characteristics and outcomes of DILI with SCAR.

Association of Immunosuppressants with Mortality of Patients with Bullous Pemphigoid: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study.

Background: Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a common autoimmune blistering skin disease with substantial mortality.

Objective: To identify whether the use of immunosuppressants was associated with reduced mortality in BP patients.

Methods: The data for this study were obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 2013.

Increased risk of short-term depressive disorder after Helicobacter pylori eradication: A population-based nested cohort study.

Background: Depressive disorder is a major psychiatric illness, and a disturbed brain-gut-microbiome axis may contribute to its pathophysiology. Chronic Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections are common in the general population and using multiple antibiotics is required for its eradication, which is associated with gut dysbiosis and may lead to depression.

Impact of dietary intake of sodium and potassium on short-term blood pressure variability.

Background: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-Sodium trial showed that dietary sodium and potassium affect blood pressure (BP). We aimed to investigate whether dietary sodium and potassium affect short-term BP variability (BPV) in addition to BP.

Methods: A total of 343 participants from the DASH-Sodium trial (age 48.

Clinical and genetic characterization of hereditary spastic paraplegia type 3A in Taiwan.

Aim: To investigate the clinical and genetic features of hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) type 3A (SPG3A) in Taiwan.

Methods: Mutational analysis of the ATL1 gene was performed for 274 unrelated Taiwanese HSP patients. The diagnosis of SPG3A was ascertained by the presence of a heterozygous pathogenic mutation in ATL1.

Ventilator Parameters in the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Postoperative Patients: A Preliminary Study.

This study investigated the usefulness of ventilator parameters in the prediction of development and outcome of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in postoperative patients with esophageal or lung cancer on admission to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU). A total of 32 post-operative patients with lung or esophageal cancer from SICU in a tertiary medical center were retrospectively analyzed. The study patients were divided into an ARDS group ( = 21) and a non-ARDS group ( = 11).

Hospitalization-associated muscle weakness and functional outcomes among oldest old patients: A hospital-based cohort study.

Aim: To investigate the prognostic significance of hospitalization-associated muscle weakness for short-term and long-term functional declines among oldest old hospitalized patients.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in the Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit (GEMU) of a tertiary medical center in Taiwan. Data from patients admitted to the GEMU were collected, including demographic characteristics, underlying diseases, functional assessments, and nutritional status.

Experience of resources management on coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic at a tertiary medical center in Northern Taiwan.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes infectious symptoms including fever, cough, respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms, and even loss of smell/taste and to date had caused 489 000 people to be infected with 32 000 deaths. This article aims to develop some strategies in dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic to prevent nosocomial infection and ensure the safety of healthcare workforce and employees.

Methods: This is a prospectively registered and retrospective descriptive study investigating the clinical characteristics, results of diagnostic tests, and patients' disposition from February 1, 2020, to April 30, 2020, at a tertiary medical center in Northern Taiwan.

Aortic regurgitation in Marfan syndrome patients who underwent prophylactic surgery: A single-center experience.

Background: Marfan syndrome is an inherited connective tissue disease that causes aortic root dilatation and dissection and requires surgical intervention. Apart from emergent surgery for aortic dissection or aortic aneurysmal rupture, prophylactic surgical intervention can also be administered, depending on the severity of aortic root dilatation. The direct relationship between surgical intervention and aortic regurgitation was seldom mentioned in previous studies.